Student protest movement aims to defeat former Serbian leader in parliamentary election

People in Serbia are voting in a parliamentary election that is being viewed as a showdown between former president Aleksandar Vucic and a university student protest movement.

The main contenders are Mr Vucic's right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and the youth-backed Students' List, and they are thought to be running close in the polls.

A survey published on Thursday put Mr Vucic's party in the lead with 47% compared to 40% for the students. But other polls have the students in front.

It means the snap election is the most uncertain in recent years and is the biggest challenge to the long-time populist leader's rule in more than a decade.

The contest was called in September by Mr Vucic, who resigned from his second term as president to run to be prime minister again.

It comes after almost two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism, sparked by the ​deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in 2024.

Youth protests demanded accountability for the disaster as well as justice for the victims, and the students have gained widespread support in the Balkan country, which has a population of more than six million.

Serbians are choosing from 18 parties hoping to enter the 250-member parliament.

But with turnout expected to be high, smaller parties could fail to reach the 3% threshold needed to make it into the assembly. Voting in Sunday's election ends at 8pm local time (7pm UK time) with first indications of results expected around two hours later.

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Students' List is led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic and a victory for the party would be a big political shift in Serbia, reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban in April.

It also potentially offers a blueprint for other student movements across Europe, which have recently taken to the streets to protest, in some cases violently, against poor education standards.

But Mr Vucic, has had a firm grip on power since his party took office 14 years ago. And many Serbians back him after a period ⁠of modernisation including new highways, railways, schools and hospitals.

He was first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, then prime minister between 2014 and 2017 before becoming president after that until he quit last month as he called the election.

On the domestic front, Mr Vucic has pledged to improve pensions and public sector salaries, invest in public healthcare and subsidies for ‌young couples.

On the international stage, he has balanced closer links with major investor China and traditional ally and main natural gas supplier Russia, while being open to joining the European Union.

But relations with the EU have been strained as the bloc ​becomes more frustrated with Serbia's lack of reforms over the judiciary, rule of law and corruption.

The students' domestic agenda aims to improve education, but ‌they have been quieter on their international ambitions.

(c) Sky News 2026: Student protest movement aims to defeat former Serbian leader in parliamentary election