Former Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic has conceded defeat in the country’s snap parliamentary election, after independent projections and leaders of a student-backed movement confirmed an outright majority that ends the Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) 14-year grip on power.
Initial projections released by polling agencies Ipsos and CeSID showed the “Student List — Students Win” taking 52 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Vucic’s SNS-led coalition, “Aleksandar Vucic — United Serbia,” which stood at 39.3 per cent.
Speaking at his campaign headquarters in Belgrade before official results were available, Vucic said a stratified sample indicated the student-backed list would win between 135 and 140 of the 250 parliamentary seats, compared with around 105 for his coalition. “I want to inform you that based on the stratified sample, it is clear that we have lost these elections,” he said. “The student-backed list has won.” According to his projections, the student list received roughly 2.2 million votes, against about 1.72 million for his bloc.
As victory celebrations erupted at the Student List’s headquarters, prominent candidate Radomir Saicic, a University of Belgrade professor and member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, declared a historic triumph. “Tonight the voice of the people is heard,” he said, citing preliminary results showing the list leading convincingly across polling stations. “This is a victory of courage over fear, a victory of hope over apathy, a victory of faith that Serbia can and must be different… This victory is no one’s personal trophy. It belongs to all of us.” Saicic stressed that the electoral will of the public “must be respected without exception” and urged supporters to celebrate peacefully, avoid provocations and refrain from conflicts.
Sunday’s vote determined all 250 seats in Serbia’s unicameral parliament, with 126 needed for a majority. About 6.45 million voters were eligible to cast ballots at 8,392 polling stations, where 18 electoral lists competed. Polls closed at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), though voters already in line were allowed to vote.
The outcome marks a dramatic shift in Serbian politics, where Vucic and the SNS have dominated since 2012. Vucic resigned as president on September 27 to run in the parliamentary election, with a new presidential vote required by the end of December.
The student-backed movement grew out of nearly two years of anti-corruption protests and university blockades triggered by the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people, a tragedy that became a focal point for public anger over corruption. Its electoral list, formally headed by Novi Sad university professor Ilija Srdanovic, campaigned on institutional reform and anti-corruption measures, challenging not only the ruling bloc but also established opposition parties, including the Socialist Party of Serbia and other pro-European and right-wing groups.
Vucic said he announced the projections early to spare his supporters uncertainty and counter claims he would refuse to acknowledge defeat. He attributed his bloc’s loss to foreign support for the protest movement, calling the result a “verification of a revolution,” thanked his supporters and pledged his movement would stay united in opposition. The projections represent the SNS’s most significant electoral setback since 2012 and position the student-backed movement to form a single-party parliamentary majority.
Original Source: https://assamtribune.com/international/student-led-movement-wins-in-serbia-as-vucic-concedes-defeat-1621214
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Publish Date: 2026-10-26 13:25:00
