On a Sunday night in late October, Aleksandar Vucic, the man who has shaped Serbian politics for more than a decade, acknowledged that his party had lost, as a sample count gave his Serbian Progressive Party far fewer seats than the student-born Student List. The moment carries the weight of a long story: a train station canopy that fell in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing sixteen people, and the grief and anger that turned into a national movement demanding that power answer to the public. Whether this marks a turning point or a pause in a longer struggle over the state's reach will depend
Vucic Concedes Serbian Election Defeat to Student-Led Movement After Nearly Two Years of Protest
Sixteen people were killed when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, the event that sparked the protest movement.
"It is clear that we have lost these elections."
Mark
Why does this concession matter so much?
Mimi
Because Vucic has dominated Serbian politics for over a decade, as prime minister and then president. Losing to a movement that began after 16 people died in Novi Sad is a stunning reversal.
Mark
What did the students actually promise?
Mimi
Tackling corruption, depoliticising public institutions and restoring citizens' rights. Ilija Srdanovic, a medical professor from Novi Sad, led the campaign.
Luke
Let's be careful with the numbers, though. The 105 versus 135 to 140 seats come from a sample of votes, not a final count.
Mimi
Fair. But Vucic himself said the loss was clear, so the direction isn't in doubt even if the exact seats are.
Mark
Does losing parliament end his influence?
Luke
Not necessarily. The source says the presidency is constitutionally limited but that he has kept dominant influence over his party and state policy. What role he takes now is unknown.
Mimi
He also resigned in September under protest pressure, so he was already on the back foot.
Mark
And the economy? He can point to growth.
Luke
He can, using official data cited by Reuters: unemployment down from 26 percent to 8 to 9, FDI at a record 5.2 billion euros. But critics like Bisevac and Radosavljevic are characterising his rule, and those are their assessments, not measurements.
Mimi
And wages rising haven't necessarily meant better living standards, which is where the anger lives.
El Pulso
- Vucic stood before supporters and admitted defeat, a rare and startling break in a decade of dominance.
- A sample count projected his list at 105 seats while the Student List was seen winning 135 to 140 of 250.
- Turnout hit a 30-year high as voters streamed to the polls in a snap election called under street pressure.
- The movement, born from the deaths of 16 people in Novi Sad, now faces the task of turning protest into governance.
- Vucic remains constitutionally limited as president but retains strong sway over his party and state, so the final tally and his next role remain open.
On a Sunday night in late October, Aleksandar Vucic, the man who has shaped Serbian politics for more than a decade, acknowledged that his party had lost, as a sample count gave his Serbian Progressive Party far fewer seats than the student-born Student List. The moment carries the weight of a long story: a train station canopy that fell in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing sixteen people, and the grief and anger that turned into a national movement demanding that power answer to the public. Whether this marks a turning point or a pause in a longer struggle over the state's reach will depend on the final count and on how much influence Vucic keeps behind the scenes.
On Sunday night, Aleksandar Vucic told his supporters what many in Serbia had never expected to hear from him: "It is clear that we have lost these elections." A sample count had put his Serbian Progressive Party at around 105 seats in the 250-member parliament, while the Student List was projected at 135 to 140. The final tally is still to come, but the snap vote drew the highest turnout in more than thirty years.
The movement traces back to a tragedy. On November 1, 2024, a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad and killed 16 people. The youth-led protests that followed grew into a wider wave of unrest and eventually became a political platform promising to fight corruption, depoliticise public institutions and restore citizens' rights. Its campaign was led by Ilija Srdanovic, a medical professor in Novi Sad. Vucic dismissed the demonstrators, including professors, doctors and workers, as "blockaders" trying to destabilise the country. Under pressure from the protests, he resigned in September and called early elections.
Vucic's own path has been long and contested. He came up through the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party in the 1990s, and his record from that era still shadows him. He later co-founded the SNS in 2008 and took power in 2012 promising to fight corruption. Critics say the anti-corruption results stayed modest while control over institutions, media and political life expanded. Supporters point to real gains: unemployment fell sharply, GDP nearly tripled, and foreign investment reached record levels. Yet many citizens still feel the cost of living and public debt weigh heavily on them.
As the count is finalised, the central question is what role Vucic will keep in his party and the state, and whether the anger that filled Serbia's streets can now find its way into lasting institutional change.
On Sunday night, Aleksandar Vucic stood before his supporters and said what Serbia's political class had not heard him say in more than a decade: "It is clear that we have lost these elections." A sample of votes had just shown his Serbian Progressive Party list on course for 105 seats in the 250-member parliament, while the Student List was projected at 135 to 140.
The snap parliamentary vote drew the highest turnout in more than 30 years. It pitted Vucic, who has shaped Serbian politics for over a decade, against a movement that grew out of nearly two years of street protest. The figures are from a sample count, so the final seat tally is still to come.
The movement began with a death toll. On November 1, 2024, a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The youth-led protests that followed widened into a broader wave of social unrest and eventually became the Student List, a political platform promising to tackle corruption, depoliticise public institutions and restore citizens' rights. During the campaign it was led by Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad. Vucic called the demonstrators, among them university professors, doctors and workers, "blockaders" and accused them of trying to destabilise Serbia. In September, under pressure from the protests, he resigned and called early elections.
Vucic was born in Belgrade in 1970 and graduated from the University of Belgrade's faculty of law. He entered politics in 1993 with the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, led by Vojislav Seselj. In July 1995, nine days after the Srebrenica genocide, he said in parliament, "Kill one Serb, and we will kill 100 Muslims," during a debate on possible NATO strikes on Army of Republika Srpska positions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Seselj was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years in prison by the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for persecution, deportation and forcible transfer of non-Serbs during the 1990s wars. Seselj's son, Aleksandar, was on Vucic's list on Sunday.
After a split in the Radicals, Vucic and Tomislav Nikolic founded the SNS in 2008, aiming to move closer to mainstream European politics. Journalist Safeta Bisevac, who has followed his career for years, told Al Jazeera that Vucic then lagged far behind Nikolic in popularity and was essentially the organiser of the new party. The SNS took power in 2012 promising to fight corruption and organised crime. A prominent early case was the December 2012 arrest of businessman Miroslav Miskovic and his son Marko; after years of proceedings both were acquitted and the state paid compensation. Bisevac said the anti-corruption results stayed modest while authorities expanded control over institutions, media and political life.
Vucic was first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, prime minister from 2014, and president from 2017, winning re-election in 2022 with his term due to run to 2027. He cultivated the image of a pragmatic leader with ties to the European Union, Russia, China and, increasingly, Israel. The presidency is constitutionally limited, but he kept dominant influence over his party and state policy. "He made many promises and fulfilled few of them," Bisevac said, "but in the meantime, he established almost complete control over the state apparatus."
The economic record is real but contested. According to official data cited by Reuters, unemployment fell from 26 percent to 8 to 9 percent, and nominal GDP nearly tripled to about 90 billion euros ($101bn). Annual foreign direct investment rose from about 800 million euros in 2012 to a record 5.2 billion euros in 2024, and a network of modern motorways was built. Yet rising wages have not necessarily meant proportionally better living standards, and the cost of living and public debt remain central to the argument over his government.
Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic said the students "simply gave a voice to the justified anger of citizens," describing a decade of systematic pressure and destruction of social institutions, with intelligence services monitoring opponents and critical thinking pushed out of public media. What to watch now is the final seat count and what role Vucic keeps within his party and the state.
Citas Notables
It is clear that we have lost these elections.— Aleksandar Vucic, to supporters
The students simply gave a voice to the justified anger of citizens.— Dusko Radosavljevic, political scientist
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Politics & Governance