Serbia’s student bloc wins 52.7%, ending Vucic’s long rule
Why it matters: The upset hands the movement 139 of 250 seats, but it still has no clear prime minister candidate or leadership structure.
Serbia entered a new political era after a student-backed protest movement defeated Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling alliance in a landslide parliamentary election. With nearly 99% of votes counted, the State Election Commission put the Student List at 52.7% and 139 seats in the 250-member parliament, while Vucic’s Serbia Progressive Party-led bloc took 39.2% and 97 seats. Vucic conceded defeat after two years of anti-government protests fueled by corruption anger and the Novi Sad station canopy collapse that killed 16 people. The movement now faces pressure to turn a broad anti-graft coalition of professors, actors and farmers into a governing team, with no obvious prime minister yet in place.