'Two Years of Anti-Government Protests': Serbia Holds Snap Election; Vučić’s Long Rule vs. Student Coalition Showdown

[Financial News] Voting began on the 25th (local time) in Serbia, a key Balkan country where large-scale anti-government protests have continued for nearly two years. The election is a major turning point that will determine whether former President Aleksandar Vučić, who has governed Serbia for more than a decade, can extend his long rule. It is effectively a head-to-head contest between Vučić’s camp and student-led opposition forces hoping for a change of government.
The decisive trigger for the snap election was a disaster in November 2024, when the roof of a railway station in Novi Sad, northern Serbia, collapsed, killing 16 people. In the wake of the accident, citizens led by students blamed the disaster on corruption-driven disregard for safety regulations and the failings of Vučić’s government, and continued to protest for nearly two years. Faced with strong public demands to establish responsibility for the disaster and hold an early election, former President Vučić eventually dissolved parliament last month and agreed to a snap election.
After serving as prime minister in 2014, Vučić served two consecutive terms as president beginning in 2017. Under the constitution, he cannot serve a third consecutive term. He therefore resigned as president last month to take a roundabout route back to power as prime minister, leading the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the election. Meanwhile, in the opposition, an independent political alliance called “Student List – Students Win” emerged as a challenger to Vučić’s one-man rule. Pledging to eradicate corruption and rebuild democracy, the alliance is seeking voters’ support with an unprecedented move: putting forward 250 ordinary citizens with no political experience—including university professors, farmers, artists and athletes—as proportional-representation candidates.
The election, in which about 6.45 million Serbian voters are choosing members of a 250-seat parliament, is shaping up to be an unpredictable, extremely close race. Reuters and other outlets reported that turnout stood at 12% as of 9 a.m. on the 25th, more than double the turnout at the same time in the previous election, the 2023 general election. An Ipsos poll released on the 22nd put the SNS at 47%, ahead of the student coalition at 40%, but other polls have the student coalition in the lead, leaving the outlook mixed.
Voting is set to close at 8 p.m. that day (4 a.m. on the 26th Korea time), and a clearer picture is expected to emerge around 10 p.m., about two hours later. Major opposition forces and the European Union (EU) are closely monitoring the vote count, wary of the government’s media control and possible involvement in election fraud, concerns that surfaced during the campaign.

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