Serbia's leaderless Student List challenges Vučić in snap election
Born from the 2024 Novi Sad canopy collapse, a leaderless student movement is fielding 250 candidates against Aleksandar Vučić's ruling party.
At a glance
- Serbia holds a snap parliamentary election on Sunday after protests forced Aleksandar Vučić to resign the presidency.
- Student List, a leaderless student movement, is fielding 250 candidates, most of them locally respected academics.
- The movement grew out of the November 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people.
Serbia votes on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election that pits Student List, a leaderless student movement born from the 2024 Novi Sad railway station disaster, against Aleksandar Vučić, who resigned the presidency and called the vote as he seeks to consolidate his 12 years in power by becoming prime minister.
The movement traces back to 1 November 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The youngest was six-year-old Sara Firic, who the Serbian Times reported was still holding hands with her grandfather and older sister when their bodies were recovered. Protesters blocked a nearby crossroads for as many minutes as lives were lost, and anger grew as details emerged of botched refurbishment work that critics described as a corrupt deal with a Chinese consortium.
The Guardian reports that Vučić, described in its briefing as a former henchman of Slobodan Milošević, branded demonstrators western-backed "terrorists" and expected the protests to fade. Instead, the pressure forced him to call the election.
250 candidates
Student List is fielding 250 candidates, mostly locally respected academics alongside actors, musicians and farmers, with each approved by citizens' assemblies. The campaign includes door-to-door canvassing and an "A student in every village" programme aimed at Vučić's rural base. A student organiser, who asked not to be named in keeping with the movement's structure, told the Guardian the essence of the movement is direct democracy: making people feel part of decision-making rather than spectators.
Its slogan, "Serbia or mafia?", highlights repeated allegations of links between Vučić's Serbian Progressive party (SNS) and organised crime, which the government denies. The Guardian's senior international correspondent Julian Borger, who travelled to Belgrade, found canvassers in the suburb of Krnjača met an overwhelmingly positive response, though he notes opinion varies in outlying and rural areas. Polling is mixed, with some surveys suggesting Student List is edging ahead and others that the SNS is consolidating support.
Concerns over fairness
The vote takes place amid concerns about the contest's fairness. A September survey for the Serbian group CRTA found no negative coverage of the ruling majority on the country's television channels, compared with 37% of the time for the opposition. Vučić made 129 live television appearances in August, more than four times the previous month's total. The digital rights group SHARE Foundation found members of the student movement had been targeted with advanced spyware, while Reuters reported intimidation and beatings of protesters by police.
Student List has accused the foreign ministry of rigging the diaspora vote by keeping overseas polling stations open where support for Vučić is strong and closing them in parts of North America where the opposition could be expected to perform well. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The European Council on Foreign Relations has warned of further street protests and possible violent repression, depending on the outcome and margin of victory. Preliminary results are expected in the early hours of Monday morning.
Source: The Guardian.
Questions and answers
- What is Serbia's Student List?
- It is a leaderless, grassroots student-led movement that grew out of protests after the 2024 Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse. It is fielding 250 candidates in Sunday's snap parliamentary election.
- When are Serbia's election results expected?
- Preliminary results are expected in the early hours of Monday morning. The European Council on Foreign Relations has warned of possible further street protests and violent repression depending on the outcome.
- Who is Aleksandar Vučić?
- Serbia's long-serving leader, described by the Guardian as a former henchman of Slobodan Milošević. He resigned the presidency and called the snap election as he seeks to become prime minister.
