The Student List has won the legislative elections in Serbia with 52% of the votes, which is equivalent to 138 of the 250 seats that make up the National Assembly, while Aleksandar Vucic’s United Serbia party, which had been in power for 14 years, has won 39.9% of the votes and 104 seats.
Vucic resigned on September 27 and called these elections with the aim of regaining the position of prime minister. However, this has not been the case and a party has risen to power that is nothing like the typical political formation, which was born from the discontent and protests that have swept the country since 2024 and has a peculiarity: none of its members are students.
A tragedy, the origin of the movement
The Student List was born from a tragedy. On November 1, 2024, a concrete canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad train station, killing 16 people. What happened was interpreted as an example of widespread corruption and was the spark that lit the flame of the protests.
Marches, protests, street blockades… What initially began as student protests asking for improvements on campuses evolved into a generalized protest by all citizens demanding an end to widespread corruption and institutional negligence.
In January 2025, the Prime Minister of Serbia resigned to “calm tensions” and when Vucic called the elections, the Student List had penetrated society so much that its followers were not caught off guard. Thus, they did not hesitate to appear in the elections, but with a very particular organization.
No leader and an 11-point program
The Student List is not made up of students, but there are very varied profiles: teachers, athletes, judges, engineers, doctors, actors… There are a total of 250 and none of them have previous political experience. Furthermore, they have not appointed anyone to serve as prime minister.
The candidate at the top of the list is a cardiologist and professor at the Novi Sad Faculty of Medicine, while in 24th place is the former Barça and Real Madrid basketball player, Dejan Bodiroga. Also in their ranks are the former governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Dejan Soskic, and the actor Tihomir Stanic.
Its political program is very brief, a document of 900 words and 11 points. It has been prepared during a year of meetings and, among its main demands, are eradicating corruption through the formation of a police unit, purging officials from the Ministry of the Interior, reforming Serbia’s biased media landscape or not putting like-minded politicians at the head of public companies.
