Declaration of final vote results in Serbia paves way for student movement to form government

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's election authorities on Thursday declared the final results of the Oct. 25 vote, paving the way for the formation of a new Parliament and government that will be dominated by the student movement that defeated former strongman Aleksandar Vucic 's government.

The Students' List group will have 140 lawmakers in the 250-member assembly while Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party will have 103 lawmakers, the Republic Election Commission said. The rest of the parliamentary seats will belong to the parties of ethnic minorities in Serbia.

The students led two years of street protests before they toppled Vucic in the election. Protests erupted in response to a train station canopy collapse that killed 16 people in the country's north in November 2024, and which many in Serbia blamed on corruption in state infrastructure projects.

The Students' List election candidates included mostly professors, teachers and various other experts in their fields but with hardly any political experience, who will now take up parliamentary seats. The group promised to restore the rule of law and terminate corruption that they said flourished under Vucic.

Serbian election rules now envisage that the election commission must formally allocate the parliamentary mandates to the candidates before an inaugural session of Parliament is then held within 30 days.

Though the election winners have yet to take office, the change in the balance of power has led to a series of detentions relating to cases of suspected election fraud, attacks on student protesters and corruption. Vucic has accused his opponents of a “revolutionary terror” though his right-wing party still controls the outgoing government and police.

The SNS party has ruled the country almost unchallenged for 14 years, controlling all layers of power and state institutions. The party has faced accusations of corruption and cronyism and of organized crime links, which it has denied.

Those detained so far include senior police officials, a bank owner and various other officials, such as the head of Serbia's meteorological institute whom prosecutors suspect of money laundering. On Wednesday evening, nine policemen were detained for alleged torture and harassment of protesting students last August. The suspects included the commander of an elite anti-terrorist unit, Igor Zmiric.

The student movement's victory has resonated beyond Serbia's borders at a time when many European countries face youth-led protests. Serbia is formally seekin g European Union entry but the process has stalled under Vucic, who has maintained close relations with Russia and China.