Serbian Student Movement Challenges Ruling Party in Parliamentary Elections

On a crisp autumn evening, student volunteers moved through the housing estates of Krnjača, a Belgrade suburb, carrying lanyards and canvassing for votes. They are part of a broad grassroots movement known as the Student List, which has maintained a state of near-constant protest across Serbia for the past two years. This Sunday, the group takes a pivotal step by fielding 250 candidates in national parliamentary elections, mounting what experts describe as the most serious threat to the government’s 14-year rule. A stock list of questions and a mobile app that mapped visited homes and the level of support in each, they were equipped with lanyards emblazoned with the word “victory”. On Sunday, the group will represent the most serious challenge Aleksandar Vučić has faced in his 12 increasingly authoritarian years in power, by putting forward their own candidates in parliamentary elections. The students’ list of 250 candidates would have to break the mould of Serbian politics, along with Vučić’s grip on the country, in order to win. Law student Zak Veličković and campaign photographer Danijela Radojković were welcomed with overwhelming support, in the section of the suburb assigned to them. From those claiming they had no interest in politics, people seized the opportunity to air their grievances, apart from a small handful of polite doorstep rejections. “Turnout is the key,” one said, adding: “Orbán fell with 80%” – a reference to the Hungarian elections in April. Who supported the policies of Serbian expansion and ethnic cleansing led by Slobodan Milošević, who died of a heart attack in detention in The Hague during, vučić rose to prominence in the 1990s as a radical nationalist. He served as Milošević’s information minister throughout the Kosovo conflict. The Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) and Stanford University showed significantly more support for the students (45%) than for the SNS (36%), but that was well before Vučić announced his resignation on 27 September and his election machine went into top gear, a survey published in July by a Serbian pro-democracy group.

The campaign aims to dismantle the political dominance of the Serbian Progressive party (SNS). Aleksandar Vučić, the party’s leader, resigned as president last month—five months before his second and final constitutional term was set to expire—to pivot toward consolidating power as prime minister. Observers say this move signals his intent to tighten his grip on the nation.

Campaigners are drawing inspiration from political shifts in neighbouring Hungary, hoping to mirror the recent electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán. The students hope their campaign triggers a democratic resurgence. While polling data remains inconsistent, many analysts believe a highly competitive race is unfolding, with neither the establishment nor the grassroots coalition willing to accept a defeat as legitimate. To secure victory, the students must overcome deep-seated political machinery and established voting patterns. But many expert observers say a close race is quite possible, with neither side prepared to accept a loss as a legitimate result, raising the risk of post-election unrest and clashes, opinion polls have varied wildly. But there is a widespread opinion that the fruits are not being fairly distributed, the economy has been growing in recent years. Porsche and Land Rover car showrooms have been established in Krnjača but public spaces look neglected. But so far there has been no official finding on the cause, and no official has been held accountable, evidence pointed to botched modifications made during refurbishment work.

Field Canvassing and Voter Sentiment

• Community feedback: Residents frequently voiced frustration with the status quo, often responding to questions about societal problems with laughter or weary skepticism regarding the amount of time required to list their grievances.
• Voter engagement: Many individuals pledged their support, with a notable minority of locals, including taxi drivers, offering to assist by transporting people to polling stations.
• Strategic outlook: Volunteers emphasized that high voter participation is the deciding factor, often citing the example of Hungary’s April elections where an 80% turnout contributed to an incumbent’s downfall.

Corruption remains the primary concern for voters. According to Transparency International, Serbia’s standing on global corruption indices lags significantly behind its regional neighbors. The Student List’s campaign slogan, “Serbia or Mafia?,” directly addresses persistent allegations linking the SNS to organized crime. While the government officially denies these accusations and claims to be actively combating criminal elements, the perception of systemic corruption is widespread. Corruption was the most frequent single complaint. On the corruption index run by Transparency International, Serbia ranks far worse than any of its neighbours, as the most corrupt country in Europe bar the dictatorships in Belarus and Russia. That was partly an ideological choice and partly practical.

Local infrastructure issues, such as the deteriorating road bridge in Krnjača and a failing sewage system prone to flooding during heavy rains, underscore the disconnect between government promises and residents’ daily reality.

In the capital, some trams in service are over 50 years old.

This climate of neglect reached a breaking point on 1 November 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station, resulting in the deaths of 16 people. When students subsequently organized a vigil in Belgrade, the resulting confrontation with an SNS mob transformed the localized outcry into a nationwide movement.

To maintain their independence, the students have eschewed traditional hierarchy and avoided alignment with existing opposition parties. This approach has proven difficult for the government to suppress, as previous tactics of division and denigration have largely failed. Vučić has responded by dramatically increasing his media presence, logging 129 live television appearances in August alone. Despite this, Raša Nedeljkov of the watchdog group CRTA noted that the ruling party’s once-homogeneous structure is showing signs of fragmentation. Making 129 live television appearances in August, more than four times the previous month’s total, vučić himself shows signs he is taking the political threat seriously enough to throw himself into the campaign.

The Student List is preparing to deploy an unprecedented number of election monitors on Sunday to counter concerns regarding historical practices of ballot box stuffing, voter intimidation, and bribery. Concerns over election integrity remain high; for instance, Momcilo Marjanovic, a whistleblower, recently alleged to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network that he was paid to lead groups intended to use force against opposition and student gatherings.

The movement’s 250 candidates are primarily academics—including over 160 individuals holding doctorates—supported by a cross-section of farmers and professionals. Their platform was established through a collective plenum process, which prioritized consensus and downplayed potentially divisive topics like foreign policy. As polling approaches, candidates such as University of Belgrade assistant professor Milica Jovanović argue that the movement’s lack of traditional political experience is an asset rather than a liability in their efforts to reform a system they believe has become an electoral autocracy. According to most promised their vote and a large minority offered help: some taxi drivers with flats in the low-rise apartment blocks, They would help ferry voters to the polling stations.

Important Details

• A query that often raised a laugh and replies such as: “How much time do you have?”, veličković began each conversation by asking what was the biggest problem in Serbian society.