Serbia's Vučić Concedes Snap Election to Student-Led Movement
Aleksandar Vučić has conceded Serbia's snap parliamentary election to the student-led Student List, which projects 135–140 seats to roughly 105 for his SNS.
The story in focus
Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat in Sunday's snap parliamentary election to the student-led Student List, which he projected would take 135–140 of 250 seats against roughly 105 for his SNS, ending more than a decade of SNS dominance.
- Vučić conceded late on Sunday, saying it was clear his SNS had lost the snap parliamentary election.
- Vučić projected the Student List at 135–140 seats and the SNS at around 105 in the 250-member parliament.
- The election commission reported turnout of 64.9% by 18:00 local time, two hours before polls closed.
- The vote followed nearly two years of protests triggered by the 2024 Novi Sad canopy collapse that killed 16.
A concession in Belgrade
Aleksandar Vučić told supporters at his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) headquarters in Belgrade on Sunday night that the party had lost the snap parliamentary election, according to the BBC. He projected the student-led Student List at between 135 and 140 seats and the SNS at around 105, per Euronews.
DW reported that the result ends more than a decade of SNS rule. Serbia's election commission put turnout at 64.9% by 18:00 local time, two hours before polls closed, the BBC reported. Polling stations shut at 20:00 local time.
Vučić had spent two terms as president and was barred by the constitution from a third, so he stepped down to lead the SNS into the vote with the aim of returning as prime minister, a post he left in 2017.
From protests to parliament
The election followed nearly two years of demonstrations that began after the 2024 collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people and was widely seen as a symbol of corruption and negligence, the BBC reported.
The Student List, which had no obvious leaders, fielded candidates from medicine, acting, academia and sport. Its manifesto included removing officials who broke rules on protest policing, ending party loyalists' leadership of public enterprises and freeing the public broadcaster from political control. Vučić and the SNS have repeatedly denied corruption.
The Student List's lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović, told BBC Serbian the movement hoped to free the country from tyranny. Celebrations were reported in Belgrade and Novi Sad.
What seat projections did Vučić give for the Student List and the SNS?
Vučić said the Student List would win between 135 and 140 seats and that the SNS would take around 105 seats in the 250-member Serbian parliament, according to Euronews.
Sources & further reading
- Serbia's veteran ruler Vučić concedes election to student-led protest movement ↗BBC News
- Student List wins Serbian election as Vučić concedes defeat ↗Euronews.com
- Serbian strongman leader Aleksandar Vucic concedes defeat to student-led movement shift ↗DW
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