Can a movement of students win a national election without running any students?
In short: Following a tragic railway station collapse in 2024, Serbian students launched a massive protest movement. By 2026, they pivoted to electoral politics, forming the Student List. In a radical departure from tradition, the list features zero students, instead fielding 250 academics and public figures chosen through collective, non-partisan plenums.
The Student List emerged from the Students in Blockade, a movement triggered by the November 2024 collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy, which killed 16 people. Initially, the students strictly avoided party politics, focusing on demands like university funding increases and accountability for the disaster. However, after the government failed to meet their requirements, the students called for early parliamentary elections in May 2025 and decided to contest them directly.
The resulting electoral vehicle, the citizens' group Student List – Students Are Winning, was founded on 9 September 2026. Eschewing conventional leadership, the movement utilized student plenums to select 250 candidates, including academics, experts, and public figures like cardiologist Ilija Srdanović and former National Bank governor Dejan Šoškić. The selection process was marked by secrecy and internal vetting, with student plenums exercising veto power over potential candidates to maintain the list's profile. This collective decision-making process was designed to keep the movement independent from established political parties.
The list's platform, the 11-point Student Plan, prioritizes anti-corruption measures and social reforms. Its emergence forced a major realignment in Serbian politics, with numerous opposition parties withdrawing their own candidacies to endorse the students. Despite this, the movement has faced intense scrutiny. Critics, including pro-government media and some former supporters, have questioned the list's independence, alleging it has been co-opted by figures from the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the students have had to navigate 'fake' associations registered with similar names, which they suspect are government-backed decoys intended to confuse voters.
The movement's electoral journey has been a test of whether a grassroots, non-partisan initiative can successfully challenge established power structures. While the students have secured significant public support—evidenced by the 69,099 signatures certified by the Republic Electoral Commission in September 2026—the transition from protest movement to electoral force remains contested. The outcome of the 2026 parliamentary election serves as the ultimate referendum on their strategy of replacing traditional political leadership with a curated, expert-led coalition.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Student List
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