Serbia elects student-backed parliament with more than 160 PhD holders on candidate list

Serbia’s student-backed Student List has won the country’s Oct 25 parliamentary election, bringing a large number of academics and professionals into the political arena. More than 160 of the movement’s 250 candidates hold PhD degrees.

The result has drawn attention to the academic backgrounds of the candidates, including university professors, doctors, economists and researchers.

The list was formed by a student-led movement that emerged from protests against corruption and demands for accountability following a deadly railway station accident in Novi Sad in November 2024.

According to the Republic Electoral Commission’s update on Oct 26, the Student List received 52.65% of the votes counted from 8,135 polling stations. The ruling United Serbia list, led by Aleksandar Vučić, received 39.22%. The Student List secured 141 seats in the 250-member National Assembly, according to the UK House of Commons Library’s election briefing.

Academics and professionals enter the political arena

The Student List brought together candidates from several professional backgrounds, with university academics and researchers featuring prominently.

Its lead candidate, Ilija Srdanović, is a cardiologist and professor at the University of Novi Sad. Other prominent names include Dejan Šoškić, a former governor of Serbia’s central bank, and Radomir Saičić, a chemistry professor at the University of Belgrade and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

The list also includes lawyers, teachers, artists, farmers and other professionals. Notably, its candidates were selected by the student movement, but the candidates themselves were not current university students.

Student protests led to an electoral movement

The movement emerged after the collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people. Students organised demonstrations and university blockades, demanding accountability and action against corruption.

The protests continued for nearly two years and developed into a wider political challenge to Vučić’s government. The student movement eventually put forward its own electoral list for the snap parliamentary election.

The Student List campaigned on issues including corruption, institutional accountability, education, media freedom and the independence of public institutions. Its victory gives it a majority in the National Assembly, although the movement has not yet established a conventional party leadership structure or publicly named a prime ministerial candidate.

What could the result mean for universities and research?

The strong presence of academics on the candidate list has drawn attention to issues affecting Serbia’s universities and research institutions.

Researchers have raised concerns about university autonomy, political influence over research funding, academic freedom and the departure of skilled professionals from the country. The election has created expectations among some academics that the new parliament could address these concerns.

However, the professional qualifications of elected representatives do not by themselves guarantee changes in higher education or research policy. The movement will need to translate its campaign commitments into legislation, funding decisions and institutional reforms.

The new parliament’s approach to universities, research funding and academic independence will therefore be important to watch as the movement moves from student-led protests into government formation.