Serbia’s Vucic concedes defeat as student movement wins election
File photo: REUTERS
Serbia’s longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led movement in the nation’s snap parliamentary election, acknowledging that the opposition group will secure a majority of legislative seats.
Speaking on Sunday, Vucic said vote samples project the Student List to capture between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member parliament, whereas his own electoral list is expected to obtain 105 seats. Although official final tallies remain pending, the populist leader conceded, “It is clear that we have lost these elections.”
The announcement triggered tears, euphoria, and loud cheering at the Student List headquarters, according to the Belgrade-based FoNet news agency.
Addressing supporters at the movement’s campaign base, Radomir Saicic, a parliamentary candidate for the Students’ List, declared in a speech, “Preliminary results show that students are convincingly leading in almost all polling stations. Students won, and with them also a hope that Serbia can be a country of justice, freedom and dignity. Let this night be the beginning of a new chapter.”
Polls closed at 8pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday, concluding a high-stakes contest determining whether Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) - in power since 2012 - could withstand a challenge spawned by nationwide anticorruption protests. According to the State Election Commission, voter turnout reached 64.9 percent by 6pm (17:00 GMT), representing the highest participation level since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992.
In an interview published on Friday, University of Belgrade researcher Jelena Vasiljevic told Al Jazeera that while the SNS maintained a reliable core base of voters, the student movement needed to mobilize citizens who typically abstain from voting.
Reports of intimidation and procedural flaws accompanied Sunday’s voting process. Observers from the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), an independent election monitoring organization, documented pressure on voters or poll workers at nearly one-third of the 500 polling stations they monitored, along with breaches of ballot secrecy.
Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), another election watchdog, recorded roughly 260 reports of potential violations by 5pm (16:00 GMT), including photographed ballots, group voting, and flaws during voter identification checks.
Following Vucic’s concession, widespread celebrations broke out across Serbia, as fireworks illuminated the night sky. Tens of thousands filled Belgrade’s primary thoroughfares while Student List supporters drove through the streets honking car horns.
Citizens chanted “Aleksandar is gone” and sang songs associated with the student movement. In central Belgrade, crowds dismantled encampments set up in a park where Vucic’s loyalists had camped for over a year.
Voter Jana Vasic told Al Jazeera, “It means freedom from a dictatorship that has lasted for 12 years, that I cannot remember a time before. I’m not completely sure what our candidates will do first, but I think first for tonight, we’ll celebrate. And then tomorrow, the real hard work starts.”
Expressing her excitement to the Associated Press news agency, Belgrade resident Dragana Kovecevic remarked, “Everyone greets with smiles. We are all too happy; finally, we are becoming one normal and free country.”
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered congratulations to the Student List via X, writing, “We stand ready to support reforms on the rule of law, media freedom, the fight against corruption and strong democratic institutions, and to work together to advance Serbia’s future in the European Union.”
Security forces maintained a heavy presence in Belgrade during the election, with riot police equipped with helmets and shields stationed near the election commission’s headquarters, where authorities closed surrounding roads and set up barricades. City prosecutors issued an urgent appeal on Sunday urging all participating parties to refrain from violence.
This election follows nearly two years of student-driven demonstrations sparked by the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. Public demands for accountability rapidly expanded into a broader resistance against alleged government repression and corruption - allegations that Vucic and the SNS firmly deny.
The Student List - Students Win movement, which grew out of those protests, fielded a slate of candidates from fields like medicine and education, many lacking prior political experiences. Campaigning on platform goals of fighting corruption and strengthening democratic institutions, the movement received support from several established opposition parties that chose not to run competing candidates.
To run for prime minister, Vucic resigned from the presidency in September, promising higher public-sector salaries, increased pensions, and economic investments; his supporters credit him with modernizing Serbia’s economy.
In total, around 6.5 million eligible voters cast ballots for 250 parliamentary seats across 18 competing electoral lists, with a 126-seat majority required to form a government.
Source: Al Jazeera (adapted)
