How Serbia’s 250-member parliament will look after the student-led movement’s win

Candidates of the Students' List celebrate on stage along with staff members after polls closed in the parliamentary election

Serbia’s Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat to a student-led movement in a historic election, marking a potential political turning point after more than a decade of his dominance.

While the choice of the next prime minister remains uncertain, the movement has brought together several prominent Serbian figures, reflecting its growing political influence.The Student List, a political grouping of 250 representatives comprising academics, doctors, engineers, actors and sports personalities, secured a majority in the 250-member parliament, although its diverse political positions could complicate efforts to form a government.The Student List won 2,267,615 votes, or 52.71%, translating into 140 seats. The “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list secured 1,685,022 votes, or 39.17%, winning 104 seats.

Who makes up the Student List?

Unlike conventional parties, the Student List has no single leader. During nearly two years of protests, students made decisions through closed-door meetings known as “plenums”, avoiding a formal leadership structure they feared could be targeted by the authorities.

According to Guardian, at the movement’s headquarters in Belgrade, professor Radomir Saičić said, “Dear Serbia, tonight the voice of the people is being heard. Tonight we celebrate victory, tomorrow we build the future.”According to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, among its prominent figures is Dejan Šoškić, a former governor of the National Bank of Serbia, who has called corruption “much more prevalent [in Serbia] than in neighboring countries.”

He has pledged investigations into public officials’ property and reforms linked to Serbia’s European Union membership, while criticising Western sanctions against Russia.Ilija Srđanović, a cardiologist and university professor named the list’s lead candidate in September, has said it will prioritise tackling “organized crime and corruption”. He has not ruled out becoming prime minister, saying the grouping has “more than one candidate for every position.”Former basketball star Dejan Bodiroga is another prominent name, although his political positions remain unclear. Other candidates include heritage expert Zivkov, who challenged the government over plans for a Trump-branded hotel at Belgrade’s NATO-damaged General Staff site, and engineer Zoran Djajić, who raised concerns about construction work before the fatal Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse.Farmer Zlatko Kokanović, is a prominent opponent of Rio Tinto’s proposed Jadar lithium and boron mining project. He has pledged to pursue a permanent ban on exploration and extraction, bringing environmental protection into the movement’s political agenda.Playwright Željko Hubač, helped establish the citizens’ group through which the movement contested the election, while actor Tihomir Stanić, ranked eighth, publicly backed its campaign.

Other candidates include Mirjana Nikolić, rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade; civil engineering academic Sanja Frić; geological engineer Zoran Đajić; and lawyer Sarah El Sarag, reflecting the list’s diverse professional backgrounds.

How will the new parliament differ?

The Student List spans pro-European liberals and Kremlin-friendly nationalists, leaving its policy direction uncertain. Its victory follows protests triggered by the November 2024 station collapse, which killed 16 people and fuelled allegations of corruption and poor construction oversight.Pollsters and the election commission ​put turnout close to 70 per cent, the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992.The movement must now agree on a prime minister and cabinet, reconcile differences over Europe and Russia, and deliver on demands for accountability.