Student List wins 141 seats in Serbian parliament

Serbia’s Student List won a decisive majority in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

Projections from the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy in Belgrade show the movement captured 53% of the vote. This result secures 141 of the 250 seats in the national assembly. Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive party finished second with 39% and 103 seats. The remaining positions went to national minority lists. Vučić conceded defeat late Sunday, ending his 14-year hold on political power.

The movement has no formal leader or hierarchical structure. It is unclear who will serve as prime minister. Prominent figures on the list include cardiologist Ilija Srdanović, former central bank governor Dejan Šoškić, and chemistry professor Radomir Saičić. The group includes academics, actors, and farmers alongside students. They must now begin the process of forming a government within a strict legal timeline.

Serbian law requires the new parliament to convene within 30 days of the official result. A new government must be formed within 90 days of that convention. The country must also hold a new presidential election before December 27 because Vučić stepped down from the presidency to run for prime minister.

Ana Mirković, a university educationist and candidate, said the group’s first priority is the social and psychological detoxification of the country. She described the win as taking on a historic debt to the people. Mirković said the new administration will dismantle a system of intimidation by opening up the media and ending pressure on public-sector workers. The platform pledges to create an independent police unit accountable to prosecutors and to purge officers linked to organized crime.

The movement faces a state staffed by civil servants loyal to the outgoing regime. Dušan Vučićević, an analyst, noted that the group focused on domestic issues first. He said the experiment in grassroots democracy secured over 50% of the vote but it is unclear if the model works elsewhere. Nikola Burazer, director at the Centre for Contemporary Politics, said the decision-making process needs to speed up. He noted that candidate selection took months and that the focus is now shifting from celebration to governance.

Vučić blamed his defeat on support from European countries and the US deep state. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the result a new chapter in Serbian history. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would support Serbia’s European path. The Kremlin expressed hope that the new leaders understand that cooperation with Russia serves Serbia’s interests.