Aleksandar Vučić, who until recently served as Serbia’s President, has conceded that his party lost the parliamentary election to a student-led protest movement.
Reuters reported this, according to Ukrinform.
“It is clear that we have lost these elections, the Student List has won,” Vučić said after the polls closed, adding that the students would have between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-seat parliament and that his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) would have 105, based on preliminary results.
The snap election, called by the head of state in September, was held after nearly two years of student protests against corruption. The protests were sparked by a 2024 tragedy in the city of Novi Sad, where 16 people were killed when a canopy at the railway station collapsed. According to Reuters, the students have gained broad support, emerging as the most serious challenge to Vučić since he first became prime minister in 2014 and later president in 2017.
On October 25, voters elected 250 members of the National Assembly. Vučić, who represents the Serbian Progressive Party, had planned to remain in power by becoming prime minister.
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As reported, at the end of September, Aleksandar Vučić announced in an address to the nation that he had resigned as president in order to take part in the snap parliamentary election and run for prime minister.
Vučić became President of Serbia on May 31, 2017, and was re-elected in April 2022.
Photo: Office of the President