Vucic concedes defeat as student list takes Serbian parliament

Aleksandar Vucic, who has dominated Serbian politics for over a decade, admitted on Sunday that his Serbian Progressive Party lost the snap parliamentary elections. He told a crowd of supporters that the outcome was clear, following early data showing his list would win 105 seats in the 250-member parliament. The Student List, a student-led movement, was projected to capture between 135 and 140 seats. Voter turnout for the Sunday vote was the highest recorded in more than 30 years.

The political shift began in November 2024 when the roof of a train station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. In the aftermath, university students organized protests that evolved into the Student List political platform. The group campaigned on promises to fight corruption, depoliticize state institutions, and restore civil rights. Ilija Srdanovic, a medical professor in Novi Sad, led the movement during the election campaign.

Vucic, born in Belgrade in 1970, entered politics in 1993 with the Serbian Radical Party. His early career was defined by nationalist rhetoric. In July 1995, nine days after the Srebrenica genocide, he told the parliament that killing one Serb would result in the killing of 100 Muslims. His former party leader, Vojislav Seselj, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 for crimes committed during the Balkan wars. Seselj's son, Aleksandar, ran on Vucic's list in the recent election.

Vucic and Tomislav Nikolic founded the Serbian Progressive Party in 2008 to move closer to mainstream European politics. Journalist Safeta Bisevac noted that Vucic served as the party's organizer and was initially less popular than Nikolic. The party took power in 2012 with a pledge to combat corruption and organized crime. Bisevac described the results of that mandate as modest, while authorities increased their control over media and state institutions.

Vucic served as first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, then as prime minister. He became president in 2017 and won re-election in 2022. His term was scheduled to end in 2027, but pressure from the street protests forced his resignation in September. He called for early elections while maintaining significant influence over party policy. Bisevac stated that Vucic made many promises but fulfilled few, while establishing near-total control over the state apparatus.

The economy grew under Vucic's leadership. Official data cited by Reuters shows unemployment falling from 26 percent to between 8 and 9 percent. Nominal GDP nearly tripled to approximately 90 billion euros. Foreign direct investment rose from roughly 800 million euros in 2012 to a record 5.2 billion euros in 2024. The government also built a network of modern motorways. However, critics argue that rising wages did not match the cost of living, and public debt remains a central issue in the political debate.

Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic said the students gave a voice to justified citizen anger. He described the past ten years as a period of systematic pressure and the destruction of social institutions. According to Radosavljevic, intelligence services spent more time monitoring political opponents, while critical thinking was pushed out of public media. The Student List's victory marks the end of Vucic's direct rule, with the new parliament set to form a government.