Student List wins 141 seats in Serbia, starts 90-day clock to form government

The Student List has secured 141 of 250 seats in the Serbian parliament, triggering a 90-day deadline to form a new government. The constitutional clock began ticking after the new assembly convenes within 30 days of the official election results. The movement, which lacks a single leader, must now appoint a prime minister and cabinet before the deadline expires.

Projections from the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy in Belgrade, based on 100% of counted ballots, showed the Student List capturing 53% of the vote. Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 39% of the vote, securing 103 seats. The remaining seats were allocated to national minority party lists. Vučić conceded defeat late on Sunday, ending his 14-year hold on power.

The victory follows two years of anti-government protests that began after a canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station, killing 16 people. Supporters took to the streets in the western Balkan country on Monday to celebrate the result. The Student List is built around collective decision-making and includes candidates from diverse backgrounds, including academics, actors, and farmers.

Prominent figures in the movement include Ilija Srdanović, a cardiologist who headed the candidate list; Dejan Šoškić, a former central bank governor; and Radomir Saičić, a chemistry professor at Belgrade University who represented the list after the victory. The group is deliberately leaderless, with no formal hierarchy to dictate governance strategy.

Ana Mirković, a university educationist and Student List candidate, described the mandate as a "historic debt" to the Serbian people. She stated that the movement’s first priority is the "social and psychological detoxification" of the country. Mirković said the new government will dismantle a "system of intimidation" by urgently opening up media and ending pressure on public-sector workers.

The students’ platform pledges to fight corruption and restore the rule of law. Key proposals include creating an independent police unit accountable to prosecutors rather than the interior ministry and purging police officers linked to organized crime. The movement also aims to ban party loyalists from state-owned companies and establish independent bodies to scrutinize major state infrastructure contracts.

The new government faces the task of overhauling public institutions staffed by civil servants loyal to the outgoing regime. Nikola Burazer, programme director at the Belgrade-based Centre for Contemporary Politics, noted that the movement’s decision-making process needs to be sped up. He observed that the candidate selection process took months and that the focus will soon shift from celebration to governance.

International leaders offered support on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the result a "new chapter" in the country’s history and thanked Serbia for respecting Ukraine’s independence. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would actively support Serbia’s European path, noting that the students’ demand for rule of law had resonated with the public.

The Kremlin expressed hope that the new leaders understand cooperation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests. Dušan Vučićević, an analyst, stated that the movement prioritized dismantling domestic institutions over foreign policy issues. Serbia must also hold new presidential elections before December 27, as Vučić stepped down to run for prime minister.