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- Student-backed list projected to secure 139 seats against 104 for Vucic’s coalition; thousands celebrate across Serbia as Socialist Party faces possible parliamentary exit
REVISES HEADLINE, ADDS LATEST PROJECTIONS, REMARKS FROM STUDENT-BACKED CANDIDATES, REACTIONS FROM REGION, VOTER TURNOUT
By Talha Ozturk
BELGRADE (AA) - Serbia’s student-backed opposition was projected to secure an outright parliamentary majority in Sunday’s snap elections as former President Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat and thousands of people took to the streets across the country to celebrate the results.
The “Students Win” electoral list was projected to win 139 seats in Serbia’s 250-member National Assembly compared with 104 for Vucic’s “United Serbia” coalition, according to projections released by polling agency Ipsos and the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) based on approximately 60% of the processed sample.
The projections indicated that the student-backed list had secured enough seats to form a parliamentary majority, which requires at least 126 lawmakers.
The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), led by Ivica Dacic, was projected to fall below the 3% electoral threshold, potentially leaving the party without parliamentary representation for the first time in more than three decades.
Dacic’s “Factor of Stability” coalition received 2.3% of the vote, according to the projections.
The Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians was projected to secure three seats, while the Albanian Coalition was expected to win two.
Electoral lists headed by Rasim Ljajic and the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak (SDA Sandzaka) were each projected to secure one seat.
The figures remain preliminary and are subject to confirmation by Serbia’s Republic Electoral Commission.
- Vucic concedes defeat, blames foreign interference
Speaking at the headquarters of his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Vucic acknowledged that his electoral list had lost the elections.
“We don’t have the results yet. Many will be surprised, and you will realize how much some people have lied,” he said.
“Based on the stratified sample, it is clear that we have lost these elections,” he added.
Vucic initially estimated that the student-backed list would secure between 135 and 140 seats, while his coalition would win approximately 105 seats.
He also blamed the electoral defeat on what he described as interference by several European countries and the “American deep state.”
He accused foreign actors of influencing Serbia’s political developments and contributing to the election outcome without providing evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Earlier projections by Ipsos and CeSID gave the student-backed list 52% of the vote compared with 39.3% for Vucic’s coalition.
A separate projection by the election monitoring organization CRTA gave the student-backed list 51.47% and Vucic’s coalition 40.42%.
The projected result represents a major setback for Vucic’s SNS, which has dominated Serbian politics since 2012.
In the December 2023 parliamentary elections, the SNS-led coalition secured 46.75% of the vote and 129 seats, winning an outright majority.
The largest opposition coalition at the time, Serbia Against Violence, received 23.66% and 65 seats, while Dacic’s Socialist Party-led coalition won 6.55% and 18 seats.
- Thousands celebrate across Serbia
Thousands of people took to the streets of Serbian cities Sunday evening to celebrate the projected victory of the student-backed electoral list.
Celebrations were reported in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Smederevo, Valjevo, Vranje and Cacak.
Crowds gathered in public squares and streets, waving flags, singing, setting off fireworks and chanting slogans in support of the student-backed movement.
In Belgrade, several thousand people gathered at Republic Square before marching toward Slavija Square.
Traffic was temporarily suspended in parts of the city center because of the gatherings.
According to local media reports, the celebrations proceeded without major incidents.
Ivana Petrovic, a parliamentary candidate on the student-backed list, said the movement owed its victory to citizens who recognized the need for change.
She described the result as a victory for justice and democracy.
- Student-backed candidate calls for peaceful celebrations
Radomir Saicic, a candidate on the student-backed electoral list, declared victory Sunday evening and urged supporters to celebrate peacefully.
“This is a victory of courage over fear, a victory of hope over indifference, a victory of the belief that Serbia can and must be different,” Saicic said, addressing a crowd at the movement’s election headquarters.
He thanked citizens for their support and emphasized that the electoral outcome carried significant responsibility.
Saicic called on supporters to remain peaceful and avoid provocations, stressing the importance of solidarity and nonviolence.
He also said the movement would begin work immediately on strengthening the rule of law and rebuilding state institutions.
“Students have won! And with them, the hope that Serbia can be a country of justice, freedom and dignity has won,” he said.
- Regional leaders congratulate student-backed list
Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic congratulated the student-backed electoral list on its projected victory, expressing hope that the result would improve relations between the neighboring countries.
In a post on the US social media platform X, Milatovic praised Serbian citizens for expressing their democratic will through the vote.
He said he expected the election outcome to contribute to a new chapter in Montenegro-Serbia relations based on friendship, sincere dialogue and a shared European future.
Milorad Dodik, leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also congratulated the student-backed list.
Dodik said Serbia and Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity would continue their close cooperation and mutual support.
He also thanked Vucic for the cooperation and understanding he said the former Serbian president had shown toward Republika Srpska over the years.
Dodik stressed that Serbs on both sides of the Drina River remained one people and expressed confidence that cooperation would continue under Serbia’s new political leadership.
- Bosniak minority representation
The elections also included several political groups representing Serbia’s Bosniak community, particularly in the southwestern region.
Among them were the Justice and Reconciliation Party (SPP), associated with Usame Zukorlic, the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak (SDA Sandzaka), led by Sulejman Ugljanin, and an electoral list headed by Rasim Ljajic.
According to the latest Ipsos and CeSID projections, the lists headed by Ljajic and SDA Sandzaka were each expected to secure one parliamentary seat.
In the 2023 parliamentary elections, Zukorlic’s electoral list received approximately 0.76% of the vote and secured two seats, while Ugljanin’s SDA Sandzaka won approximately 0.57% and also secured two seats.
Ljajic’s Social Democratic Party of Serbia contested the previous elections as part of the SNS-led coalition.
Under Serbian electoral law, recognized national minority lists are exempt from the 3% parliamentary threshold and benefit from special provisions in the allocation of seats.
The final representation of Bosniak minority parties in the new parliament will depend on the official election results.
- High turnout, reports of irregularities
Sunday’s elections were marked by high voter turnout, long lines at polling stations and numerous reports of irregularities.
Turnout was estimated at nearly 70%, according to Ipsos and CeSID projections based on 66% of the processed sample, excluding polling stations abroad.
Earlier, turnout had reached 67.6% by 7 pm, according to Ipsos and CeSID estimates.
The figures exceeded the final turnout of approximately 58.7% recorded in the December 2023 elections.
CeSID said it had received more than 300 reports of possible irregularities by 8 pm.
The reported incidents included voters allegedly casting ballots without identification, photographing completed ballots, group voting, technical problems at polling stations and suspected voter intimidation and vote buying.
The organization said it was continuing to verify the reports.
- Nearly two years of student-led protests
The elections followed nearly two years of anti-government demonstrations triggered by the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people.
The tragedy sparked widespread protests led by university students, who demanded accountability and action against alleged corruption.
The student movement subsequently emerged as a major political challenger to Vucic’s SNS.
Sunday’s vote marked Serbia’s 15th parliamentary election since the reintroduction of multiparty politics in 1990 and its 10th early election.
The Republic Electoral Commission is expected to release further results as vote counting continues.
Mustafa Talha Öztürk
