Students in Serbia call for immediate parliamentary elections following months of demonstrations
movements by the student activists, who have been demonstrating against the government of Aleksandar Vučić for six months, to push for early elections.
This demand stemmed from the aftermath of the deadly awning collapse at a train station in Novi Sad in November 2024, which caused a series of arrests, resignations, and the fall of the government. A student activist, Nikola Lončarević, told our website Serbia that "the voice of the youth is not just noise, but a force that can initiate changes, restore dignity, and awaken hope for justice and freedom."
However, the ruling coalition, led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has lost its legitimacy to lead the country due to a lack of support for the students' cause, according to the opposition Green-Left Front party. The party believes that both the demand for parliamentary elections and the opposition demand for a transitional government strive for the same goal: the democratization of society.
Uglješa Marković, an SPS party MP and part of the ruling coalition, believes that the parliamentary majority is stable and the way to improve the situation does not go through polling stations but through dialogue. The new Prime Minister, Đuro Macut, and university rector Vladan Đokić are leading this dialogue, as per Marković.
The opposition New Democratic Party of Serbia is not in favor of the idea of new elections, and a vast majority of liberal opposition parties in Serbia have supported the call of student protesters for snap elections. Meanwhile, the president of the SNS, Miloš Vučević, has stated that the demand for snap elections became a priority for the demonstrators "when the revolution and the demand for a transitional government failed."
Challenges have arisen in the form of accusations from politicians that the student protests are merely a political ruse, and the question remains whether these elections will ultimately help in democratizing Serbia's society.
- The student activists in Serbia, who have been demonstrating against the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS)-led government for six months, see early elections as a means to restore their voice and initiate changes.
- The opposition Green-Left Front party accuses the ruling coalition of losing its legitimacy to lead the country due to its lack of support for the students' cause.
- The prospect of the democratization of society is seen by the opposition Green-Left Front party and the student activists as a shared goal, with both demanding parliamentary elections and a transitional government respectively.
- Amidst calls for snap elections by a vast majority of liberal opposition parties in Serbia, the president of SNS, Miloš Vučević, suggests that the demand for snap elections became a priority for the demonstrators when their revolution and demand for a transitional government failed.
