Student Protesters Seek to Unseat Serbia Ruling Party
The student-led challenge could win more than 40% of the vote, according to one poll, as protesters seek to turn corruption anger into power.
- On Sunday, Serbia faces its most uncertain election in 14 years, as the ruling Serbian Progressive Party encounters its strongest challenge since 2012 from a two-year student-led protest movement.
- The movement emerged following the November 2024 collapse of a Novi Sad train station canopy that killed 16 people, sparking widespread protests against Aleksandar Vucic and the SNS.
- Recent polling shows conflicting results: right-leaning think tank New Serbian Political Thought put the Student List ahead at 44.5 percent versus 42.7 percent for the SNS, while Faktor Plus showed the SNS leading at 48.6 percent.
- Candidate Radomir Saicic says the Student List offers an alternative to "political games," while student activist Masa Perepeliuc believes the grassroots campaign can end more than 14 years of governing party rule.
- Political scientist Dusan Vucicevic expects the students to win more than 40 percent of the vote, yet warns that even an election victory would leave the movement facing immense challenges transforming Serbia into a well-governed state.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Student protesters seek to unseat Serbia ruling party
After nearly two years of protests, student activist Masa Perepeliuc believes Serbia’s grassroots movement can end more than 14 years of rule by the governing party in elections tomorrow.“I am sure we will win, and I am sure that on the 26th, we will wake up in a free Serbia,” the 21-year-old politi
Just over a month ago, the President of Serbia, Alexander Vuccic, addressed citizens on national television; he complained about the difficulty of the current moment, but noted that, despite what had happened, the country "was able to maintain stability." In order for Serbia "to continue to develop and maintain its internal unity in the face of external threats", Vučić announced the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of early elections on…
The day after the rallies, students are returning home to vote on Sunday. In downtown Belgrade, their supporters are already predicting victory. Vučić's supporters, who cannot imagine Serbia without him, are equally convinced.
Serbia organizes early parliamentary elections on Sunday, after two years of student protests that can put an end to Aleksandar Vučić's 12 years of power. The student movement "Students' List – Students Win" is the main challenge for the political domination of the Serbian leader, under conditions where there are also concerns about the correctness of the election, BBC reports.
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