The morning after the surprise defeat of longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian voters still didn’t know who will replace him.
Vucic was ousted by a grassroots student movement, Student List, that swept 53% of the vote in a snap election he had called in response to demonstrations against alleged government corruption.
The group is now slated to take power within weeks. But the organization’s decision making process is deliberately opaque, and it’s not clear how it will pick a governing cabinet.
Why all the uncertainty?
Student List’s top candidate was Ilija Srdanovic, a 56-year-old medicine professor and cardiologist. He isn’t necessarily the group’s choice for prime minister, as it avoided naming a preferred candidate.
That decision kept with the political startup’s decentralized structure. The movement has had no clear leader and operates through plenums — grassroots cells that each contribute ideas to an umbrella group that sets the general direction. Members take turns making public appearances so that no single figure gains too high a profile.
What are Student List’s policies?
Fighting corruption is the group’s top priority. Vucic oversaw a revival of Serbia’s economy; the nation’s economic output tripled during his tenure. But he gained a reputation for micromanaging, and his government handed out big contracts directly instead of using public tenders, leading to allegations of corruption.
Student List says it would fight graft that drains money from the public purse, break up monopolies that hinder fair competition and review all large contracts signed by Vucic’s administration. It would also challenge the sale of national assets to foreign investors and prioritize domestic control of mineral and other resources.
To bring more transparency to public life, the party would crack down on perceived corruption in the legal system, overhaul the judiciary and investigate suspiciously acquired or undeclared assets. Its leading activists have talked of creating a special prosecutorial police force to investigate abuses of power.
On some issues, the party has signaled continuity.
Vucic maintained, but did not decisively push, Serbia’s longstanding bid to join the European Union, while seeking US and Chinese investments and maintaining cordial relations with Russia to preserve access to its cheap natural gas. Like him, Student List wouldn’t join western sanctions on Russia, which it sees as an influential nation and an important source of energy. The movement rejects any recognition of Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Russia and China have long supported Serbia’s claim over the territory.
Vucic cultivated the backing of the Serbian Orthodox Church to bolster his nationalist agenda, and Student List activists displayed similar support for the institution at some of their rallies.
How did Serbia’s student movement become so popular?
Household incomes in Serbia have almost tripled and massive infrastructure projects have changed Belgrade’s landscape under Vucic. But accusations of routine graft have undermined popular support for his administration. Many Serbs are frustrated with his party’s overwhelming dominance of national life and reputation for favoring loyalty over competence in key appointments.
In 2024, a canopy at a newly refurbished train station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. University students and their professors led anti-government rallies, blaming corruption and official incompetence for the deaths. The following year, the students seized control of university premises and began to demand early elections. They flooded social media with catchy campaign slogans, and opposition media outlets ran their ads. By mid-2025, the ad-hoc protest movement had coalesced into a formidable political operation. Vucic’s allies have denied the country has a corruption problem. Government officials have said Student List is funded by foreign actors to destabilize Serbia. The movement denies this.
This report is auto generated from the Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.