In Serbia, student-led anti-corruption protests have grown into calls for snap elections. Will they get them?
Beginnings
On 1 November 2024, the canopy of the Novi Sad railway station collapsed, killing 14 people instantly. The government declared a nationwide day of mourning for 2 November, and protests against how government negligence and corruption may have contributed to the disaster began soon after.
Initially organised by the opposition, these gatherings were quickly complemented by vigils initiated by students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at the University of Belgrade in front of their faculty.
On 22 November, a group — which allegedly included multiple activists and elected officials affiliated with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS-EPP) — attacked Faculty of Dramatic Arts students. In response, students began an occupation (also referred to as a “blockade”) of their school. Others soon followed suit, and by mid-December, all faculties at the University of Belgrade, the University of Novi Sad, the University of Niš, and the University of Kragujevac, as well as other higher education institutions, were occupied by students. All classes were cancelled indefinitely while students rallied around four demands:
- Publication of all documentation regarding the reconstruction of the Novi Sad railway station
- The identities of all persons suspected of physically attacking students and professors, as well as the initiation of criminal proceedings against them and, if they are found to be public officials, their dismissal
- Dismissal of criminal charges against students arrested and detained during protests, as well as suspension of any criminal proceedings already initiated,
- An increase in the budget for higher education by 20%.
Since then, students and their supporters have held numerous massive protests, including one on 22 December in Belgrade’s Slavija Square that was attended by around 100,000 people — roughly 1.5% of the entire country’s population. On 15 March, at least 300,000 demonstrators — or approximately 1 in every 22 Serbian resident — converged in Belgrade.
Following that protest, the students expanded their demands to include a snap parliamentary election.
That demand, specifically, has become the key goal of the movement as students now see elections as the only way out of the crisis.
Will the SNS Call An Election?
Ultimately, the responsibility to call a snap parliamentary election lies with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić (SNS-EPP), and it is unlikely that he will agree to do so. He has previously rejected calls for an early election, instead stating that it would most likely be held in early 2027, concurrently with the presidential election.
Since 2012, only one parliamentary election has been held on schedule. The SNS has used snap elections as a way to increase their share of the National Assembly. After the 2014 early election, the SNS doubled their seats, while in 2020, amidst an election boycott, they won 188 out of 250 MPs.