Serbia's Student List Wins Election as Leadership and Media Questions Mount

The Student List grew out of a nationwide protest movement triggered by the collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024. Sixteen people died, according to News18.

The movement's electoral vehicle was broader than its name suggests. Student assemblies selected academics, engineers, artists and activists to contest the election against Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, according to the coverage of those assemblies published on October 27 here.

On October 25, the Student List won the parliamentary election. Deutschlandfunk reported that it secured an absolute majority with just over 52 percent of the vote.

Vucic conceded that Sunday. "It is clear that we have lost these elections," he said in an unusually early speech congratulating his opponents, according to The New York Times.

Celebrations continued into Monday, October 26. Thousands gathered in the Serbian capital after the movement's victory, The Globe and Mail reported.

Monday evening also brought a confrontation at Informer, a television station supportive of Vucic. Protesters entered its Belgrade studios and interrupted a live broadcast, according to De Telegraaf. The New York Times described those involved as supporters of the victorious opposition movement.

By October 27, another broadcaster had offered an apology. Radio Television of Vojvodina apologised to viewers for years of one-sided reporting, according to Times Now.

The election has produced a clear winner, but not a settled leadership team. The Student List had yet to nominate a prime minister candidate, the Financial Times reported on October 26. Reporting from Il Post the following day identified two unresolved decisions: the next prime minister and the movement's relationship with its elected lawmakers, who are not students.

The precise parliamentary tally differs in the supplied coverage. La Repubblica reported 140 elected deputies, while The Conversation cited preliminary results giving the Student List 141 of parliament's 250 seats. Both accounts indicate a majority.

The Informer incident has also made media freedom an immediate issue after the vote. Vucic called it an attack on free speech and the freedom of journalism, according to Al Jazeera.

The first concrete test is the choice of prime minister and how authority will be shared between the student movement and its parliamentary representatives. An analyst in Belgrade told Reuters that the new government would probably have a limited remit focused on fighting corruption and reforming the state, according to CNN Brasil. That remains an assessment, not an announced governing programme.

Foreign policy is another unresolved question. Euronews reported that the victory raised hopes of improved relations with the European Union, while the movement's positions on Russia sanctions and Kosovo left Brussels cautious. Al Jazeera cautioned that those expecting a shift towards the West may have to wait while domestic issues take priority.