Parliamentary election: Student movement wins elections in Serbia – Vucic admits defeat

Belgrade. The list of the new opposition student movement surprisingly won the early parliamentary elections in Serbia and inflicted a bitter defeat on long-time ruler Aleksandar Vucic.

According to a projection by the election research group Cesid, the opposition movement won an absolute majority with a good 52 percent of the vote. Vucic, who has virtually single-handedly determined Serbian politics in various roles since 2012, admitted his defeat. Despite the student movement's brilliant election victory, it is still unclear who will become head of government.

The vote was widely seen as a referendum on the leadership of the country under Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which this time only received just over 39 percent of the vote. Voter turnout reached a record high of almost 70 percent.

After the results were announced, boundless cheers erupted in the streets and squares across the country. In the capital Belgrade, motorcades raced through the city honking and fireworks lit up the night sky. Tens of thousands of people celebrated wildly in the central Slavija Square.