Serbia votes in snap parliamentary election on October 25 as Vučić's list faces student challenge

Serbia holds an early parliamentary election next Sunday, October 25, to choose all 250 members of the National Assembly. The date is officially set. Then-President Aleksandar Vučić signed a decree on September 9 dissolving parliament and calling the vote on the government’s proposal, the Serbian government said. AP reported that he cited ongoing tensions and divisions in the country.

Mr Vučić resigned as president on September 27, saying he wanted to take part in the election “as an ordinary citizen”, according to the government. He leads the ruling Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) list, “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia”, and is seeking to become prime minister, Reuters reported. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, an SNS vice-president, is acting president.

No presidential election date has been set as of 3.20pm AEDT on Sunday. The constitution requires a new president to be elected within three months of the resignation. Ms Brnabić said on October 5 she would call the vote “when the time comes” within that deadline, Tanjug reported. Analysts at Poland’s OSW put the latest possible date at December 27.

Who is running

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has approved 18 lists with 2,418 candidates, and says 6,450,523 people are registered to vote. Besides United Serbia, they include “Student List – Students Win”, backed by the student protest movement; “European Serbia”, led by Marinika Tepić and Zdravko Ponoš; a Socialist Party-led list headed by Ivica Dačić; and Miloš Jovanović’s nationalist “Authentic Right”.

Polls differ. Faktor Plus (986 people, September 16–20) put United Serbia on 48.6% and the Student List on 37.1%. NSPM, in a survey released on September 30, had the Student List on 44.4% and United Serbia on 41.7%, the regional news site Mr. East reported, citing the pollsters.

What each side says

The protests began after a canopy at Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 people. Protesters linked the disaster to alleged corruption and corner-cutting and later added early elections to their demands, BBC News reported.

At an SNS rally in Novi Sad on Friday, Mr Vučić said “billions of euros” had come from abroad “to destroy Serbia” and called for justice over the disaster that is “real, not political”, BBC News Serbian reported. Ms Brnabić has called the Student List a “fraud”.

The Student List’s 11-point plan calls for a special police unit to investigate corruption, a law on the origin of assets, open public procurement and a review of past infrastructure projects. Its supporters are walking to Belgrade for a final rally on Wednesday, October 22, N1 reported. European Serbia says the country must stay on the path to EU membership.

OSCE election observers said in an October 9 interim report that the campaign was “highly polarized”. Some parties and civil groups had complained of misuse of state resources, including one-off payments of almost €1 billion to adults, the observers said.