Election in Serbia | Protest movement: From the street to parliament

It was already clear to the two of them in May at an anti-government demonstration in Belgrade: “Students will win.” Photo: AFP/Andrej Isakovic Actually the name is not correct: student list. Because there is not a single student on the list with the addition “The students will win”. This was deliberately avoided. Nevertheless, many voters in Serbia will vote for the SL in the early parliamentary elections on Sunday.

It was already clear to the two of them in May at an anti-government demonstration in Belgrade: “Students will win.” Photo: AFP/Andrej Isakovic The list is headed by Ilija Srdanović, a medical professor from the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, and ex-basketball professional Dejan Bodiroga, sociologist Jovo Bakić and environmental activist Zlatko Kokanović are also among the 250 names. They were all named by the grassroots democratic plenary session at the universities, where the candidates had to answer questions from the students beforehand. This created a mixture of representatives from different professional and social groups, whose election was called for by liberal and right-wing opposition parties, as well as civil society initiatives.

The student list (SL) is not lacking in self-confidence. “We know how” is the title of the eleven-point plan for a change of government. The program is divided into three sections; Everything is kept as brief as possible in order to convey it in the many conversations that the student activists have had at doorsteps and on the streets in the past few weeks. Section one “Serbia or the Mafia” describes the fight against corruption, for transparency and free media. The “Knowledge is Power” part gives education and science a special role. “Serbia is growing with us” is about social questions that the SL wants to answer with “a competitive market economy that is oriented towards the interests of Serbia and its citizens”. This is also intended to prevent the departure of young, well-educated people, which has led to the bloodletting of Serbian society in recent years.

And things are looking good for the SL right now. “Judging by the mood in society and the mobilization around the student list, one could come to the conclusion that the students are on the winning side,” says Vladimir Simović to “nd”. In a last survey, the student list was just ahead at 44.5 percent. But the sociologist and author of the blog “Rupture” admits that almost a fifth of those surveyed are still undecided.

With the early elections now taking place, a cycle of protests will end for the time being. It was triggered by the Novi Sad disaster, in which the train station canopy collapsed on November 1, 2024. 16 people were killed. Serbia was in shock. It soon became clear that it was a man-made accident. The building had recently been renovated; Corruption and bungling claimed victims. The collapse became a symbol of a system that goes beyond corpses and is represented by a name and a party: Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

It was and is Brussels and Berlin that always remained loyal to Vučić for the defense of refugees and the promise of Serbian lithium.

The SNS has been in power in Serbia since 2012. Since then, Vučić's threads have come together. First he was head of government, then the president, who was actually limited to representative tasks. But he could also have been the head of the Belgrade Zoo and still be the most powerful man in Serbia. The SNS in the government developed a complex network to provide its members with money, government contracts or jobs. Such a system is designed for growth: the more members, the more power. SNS loyalists occupied positions without being qualified for them, and they reached out to fill their accounts. This is the logic behind the tragedy in Novi Sad, and this is what brought young people to the streets.

The government did not want to admit any mistakes, the SNS was more concerned with covering it up, but the students demanded clarification. When that didn't come and Vučić came under pressure, the university blockades became a nationwide movement. It changed the country, the philosopher Igor Štiks told the “nd” last year. Through creativity and community, but also through mass mobilizations. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Belgrade, tens of thousands in other cities. The state responded with sound cannons and batons, and the student movement moved the fight into the political arena. The idea of ​​the student list was born.

At the beginning of September, Vučić called new elections. He then resigned as president to become prime minister again. The SNS relies on an individual because Vučić left no room next to him. The SL, on the other hand, relies on its entire list. According to the students, a lot of expertise is gathered here. The election program is short and concise. The picture of a different Serbia is drawn in eleven points: a country without corruption, without a mafia, but with good education and medical care. However, there is a gap when it comes to topics that have previously been used by the SNS to polarize: Kosovo, the status of the Republika Srpska in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina, the relationship with the West, Russia or China.

The student movement does not commit itself. Not at the funeral of Ratko Mladić, who was convicted as a war criminal in The Hague and revered as a hero by many in Serbia, and not at the state visit of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. At the same time, there were no usual EU flags at the protests in recent years. Instead, the demonstrators, socialized in the spirit of nationalism that has been prescribed for decades, waved the Serbian flag.

As usual, the government is trying to keep the debate within precisely this nationalist framework and sees itself as a defender of Serbian interests, says sociologist Simović, explaining the SNS's tactics: "It presents itself as a guarantor that Serbia will not impose sanctions against Russia, while it claims that the other side would not only recognize Kosovo, but also that genocide was committed in Srebrenica."

But the country's sellout is being carried out by SNS. It was and is Brussels and Berlin that always remained loyal to Vučić for the defense of refugees and the promise of Serbian lithium. And it was Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner who wanted to build a real estate project in Belgrade. The critics are being persecuted using foreign technology. On Monday it became known that the rector of Belgrade University and the prosecutor who prevented the Trump project were monitored by spy software on their cell phones.

It was not the first time that such action was taken against opposition members. But it shows once again how far state authorities are used to secure the power of the Progressive Party. It has even more opportunities to influence the elections, says sociologist and author Simović: "The SNS has a large number of voters in the public service who are under pressure, as well as an extensive clientelistic network." There are also "well-founded suspicions of electoral fraud."

Intimidation and vote buying were most recently observed in the local elections in March, said Simović. Ultimately, the outcome of the elections will depend on the electoral commission and the judiciary. But so far they have acted in favor of the SNS, according to the sociologist. "There is a lot at stake for the government: Vučić's term as president has expired." Given the government's involvement in criminal networks, a defeat would not only mean loss of power, but also possible investigations and arrests - "which is why they will do everything to stay in power."

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