Serbia’s Vučić concedes defeat to student-led protest movement

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat in snap parliamentary elections, acknowledging a victory for the student-led anti-corruption movement after two years of protests against his government.

“We still do not have final results... it is clear that we have lost these elections,” the right-wing populist leader said late on Sunday.

Preliminary figures from Serbia’s election commission indicated record-high turnout, which commentators had suggested would favour the opposition movement. Celebrations erupted across the country following Vučić’s concession.

The elections were called after two years of protests triggered by the collapse of a railway station canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. The disaster became a symbol of alleged corruption and negligence under Vučić’s government.

Vučić, who has served two terms as president and is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, led his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) into the election with the aim of returning to the post of prime minister, which he left in 2017.

The Student List, an anti-corruption movement that attracted government opponents from across Serbia, fielded candidates for all 250 seats in parliament drawn from different sectors of society, including doctors, actors, academics and sports personalities.

Its lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović, told BBC Serbian that the result would usher in a new era for the country.

“This will be a free state,” he said, adding that the movement hoped to “free the country from tyranny”.

The movement campaigned on a manifesto that included removing officials who had broken rules while cracking down on protesters, preventing party loyalists from heading public enterprises and ending political control over the public broadcaster.

Vučić and the SNS have repeatedly denied allegations of corruption.

Celebrations broke out in Belgrade and Novi Sad after the results emerged, with crowds dancing in the streets, chanting “victory”, honking car horns and setting off fireworks.

“Serbia is free,” one student told the BBC, describing the result as a miracle.

During a celebration speech, Student List candidate Radomir Šačić said Serbians had demonstrated that “no obstacle was greater than their will”, Reuters reported.

“No force can forever overpower a people who have decided to take their destiny into their own hands,” he added.

In Belgrade, Selena Lebović described the result as “really fabulous” as crowds celebrated.

“We are all crying, and what to say. We couldn't believe that it would be so easy,” she told Reuters.

Vučić announced his concession at the SNS headquarters in Belgrade, while the centre of Novi Sad, where the protests began, was packed with people celebrating.

“Everything is going to get better now,” David Vasić, one of those gathered in Novi Sad, told BBC Serbian.