The long-serving right-wing leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat on Sunday in an election that pitted him and his party against a diverse student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting the policies of his government.
The students were on course to win 52.9% of the vote from a 69.34% turnout, the highest in years for an election to Serbia’s 250-member parliament.
The Student List is projected to win between 135 and 140 seats, with Vucic’s right-wing misnamed Serbian Progressive Party winning around 105.
It was a seismic political shift in the Balkan country where Vucic, who denounced the student movement as a foreign-led attempt to unseat him, led with virtually absolute power for 14 years. University students accused the government of corruption and dismantling democracy.
Almost immediately after the result was announced, crowds flooded the streets of the capital, Belgrade, and other Serbian cities in an outburst of euphoric celebration.
Belgrade resident Dragana Kovacevic was thrilled that “everyone greets [you] with smiles.” She said “we are all too happy, finally we are becoming one normal and free country.”
Maja Stetic said she feels “fantastic” and that the removal of Vucic “means liberation for me, means a new future for us and our children.”
Vucic told supporters at his party’s election night event in Belgrade: “It is now clear that we have lost and the Students’ List has won,” though he blamed the media, alleged interference by unnamed European countries, and the “American deep state” for the loss.
Radomir Saicic, a Students’ List candidate, said “tonight is not just about results.
“It is about people who believed and continued to fight,” he said. “This is a victory over fear. It is nobody’s trophy, it is a citizen’s victory. But victory carries responsibility.”
Morning Star
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