This Sunday’s Serbian parliamentary election will be the country’s fifth snap election since the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS-EPP) came to power in 2012. Critics have pointed out that since 2014, the country has experienced serious democratic backsliding, mainly due to a systematic capture of state institutions, controlled mainstream media, and a tilted electoral processes. Student protesters and their newly established political coalition are hoping to put an end to the rule of the man they blame.
Under the SNS, Serbia has repeatedly seen wide-spread protests, including those following Aleksandar Vučić’s election as president in 2017, the #1od5miliona protests between 2018 and 2020, the environmental protests in 2021 and 2022, and the Serbia Against Violence protests in 2023. The most recent wave, which has dominated the country since November 2024, has been the anti-corruption movement known as Students in Blockade, which has produced the largest protests in modern Serbian history and has mobilised large sections of Serbian society including many undecided people from younger generations.
The elections this week come more than a year after students first called for early parliamentary elections in May 2025. While initially refusing any call for early contests, Vučić began to hint in May 2026 that both parliamentary and presidential elections could be held earlier than their original dates before dissolving the National Assembly in September.
Contesting Parties
The election is being contested by 18 electoral lists, nine of which are minority lists. This includes the student movement itself which has transformed into a real political actor, officially announcing its participation in the elections under the name Student List (SL-*) and the slogan Students Are Winning (Studenti pobeđuju). The movement has built the first successful grassroots movement in Serbia’s SNS era, organising various events around the country, knocking on doors, and campaigning across rural towns by foot and bikes.
Besides the SNS and the Student List, Factor of Stability, the centre-left Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS~S&D)-led list, is running as well. Other prominent non-minority lists include the Authentic Right led by the right-wing New Democratic Party of Serbia (NDSS~ECR) and monarchist Movement for the Kingdom of Serbia (PKS-*), the pro-European European Serbia coalition led by the centre-left Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP-S&D) and the centrist Serbia Centre (SRCE-*), the conservative Strength of Serbia Movement (PSS BK-*) led by business tycoon Bogoljub Karić, and the Alternative for Serbia coalition led by the national conservative People’s Party (Narodna~ECR) of Vladimir Gajić.
In an unprecedented move, the catch-all SNS-led list, this time named United Serbia, has managed to collect over 200,000 signatures, compared to the roughly 70,000 signatures collected by the Student List although this may stem from the obstruction opposition forces have endured. Public notaries and municipal certifiers have refused to certify their signatures due to limited capacity and prior commitments.
Political scientist Boban Stojanović has expressed his commentary on Twitter/X and television about signature collection, alleging that some signatures for electoral lists were collected in a suspicious way, noting that some lists only collected signatures from municipal certifiers and not public notaries.
The election campaign has again proven itself to be extremely polarising and negative. Tabloids affiliated with the ruling party have published various lies about opposition candidates, including the Student List’s lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović; portraying him as a supporter of Montenegrin independence and former long-time leader Milo Đukanović (DPS-S&D). Other attacks have included labelling members of the opposition as being supportive of the World War II anti-Serb Croatian fascist movement, opposing Russia, and supporting NATO membership.
Lack of Polling
Opinion polling in Serbia is rare and cannot be considered reliable. Most, if not all, pollsters are not transparent and do not display their polling results in detail. What little polling exists is often party affiliated and subject to accusations of partisan bias. Polls from Faktor Plus, which is often labelled by opponents as being government aligned, have the SNS in a comfortable lead, winning around the same voteshare as in the 2023 parliamentary election.
Nova Srpska Politička Misao (NSPM), one of the country’s least reliable pollsters and often alleged to boost support for right-wing actors, has published only one poll during the campaign, showing the Student List slightly ahead of SNS. Ipsos has conducted multiple polls during the campaign, however, they only published one to the public, showing the SNS ahead of the Student List by 7 points. On the other hand, CRTA has only conducted one poll in July which showed the Student List in a significant lead against SNS.
Without clear polling it remains difficult to say whether the students and their new political movement will succeed. Despite everything they have achieved for the past two years, the students face an uphill climb. Previous elections have shown us that various controversies have not impacted the ruling party whatsoever and Vučić has shown himself to be a political survivor.
