Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has approved the government’s proposal to dissolve Serbia’s National Assembly and called a snap parliamentary election for 25th October. The official campaign will begin once the decisions are published in the Official Gazette and will last 45 days, the shortest period permitted under Serbian law.
The election follows a prolonged political crisis triggered by the November 2024 collapse of the railway station canopy in the city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. The disaster prompted nationwide protests centred on corruption, transparency, institutional accountability and the rule of law. University students emerged as the movement’s principal organizers and later demanded an early parliamentary election. They have prepared a 250-candidate list that will contest the vote through a citizens’ group rather than a traditional political party.
The campaign will be framed primarily as a contest between the Vučić-led Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) coalition and the student-backed list, although several established parties and electoral lists of minorities will also participate. SNS has major organizational and media advantages, but the student movement could mobilize younger voters, those normally abstaining from politics and voters beyond the reach of the traditional opposition. Conflicting polls provide no reliable basis for determining which list will finish first or whether either side can form a governing majority.
The credibility of the process may prove as important as the result. Allegations of unequal media access, pressure on voters and public-sector employees, misuse of public resources, voter-register manipulation and the alleged surveillance of activists could lead opposition participants to contest the outcome. A close or disputed result may therefore trigger legal challenges and renewed protests rather than resolve Serbia’s political crisis.
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