Serbia votes in parliamentary election

Serbs began voting on Sunday in the country's most uncertain parliamentary election in years, a contest that has shaped up as Aleksandar Vučić's right-wing Progressive Party, in office for 14 years, against a leaderless student movement that has protested against him for almost two years. Local monitors reported that turnout in the first three hours was more than double the same stage of the last parliamentary election, in 2023. On its website the movement called the morning lines 'queues of hope.'

Roughly 6.4 million voters are choosing among 18 parties competing for the 250-seat parliament, and the main contenders — the Progressives and the students' list — are polling neck-and-neck. A high turnout is expected to push smaller parties below the 3 per cent threshold for seats.

The campaign has not been even. International and local monitors have expressed concern about the safety and fairness of the contest, which has been marked by detentions, near-total government control over the media, and reports of surveillance and cyberattacks against activists. Local elections in ten municipalities earlier this year saw violent attacks on journalists and activists, and the 2023 parliamentary vote was followed by opposition protests alleging fraud. This time supporters of the student list plan to gather outside polling stations to guard the ballot boxes, and the movement says it will present its own results on Sunday evening and issue recommendations on what to do next.

In Belgrade, Vučić stood in line alongside his wife for nearly two hours before casting his ballot, telling reporters that his camp would announce reliable projections about three hours after polls close at 8pm. 'The will of the people is the will of God: vox populi, vox dei,' he said, adding that he hopes for a peaceful election day and that his party will respect the result. Ilija Srdanovic, a physician and the first of 250 candidates on the students' list, voted in Novi Sad and said the lines heralded 'record turnout in Serbia's recent history,' expressing hope that the country would 'legitimately choose a new government.'

A student victory would resonate beyond Serbia at a moment when youth and student protests are stirring elsewhere in Europe. Serbia is a candidate for EU membership, and Brussels is watching the conduct of the vote closely. If the Progressives finish first, Vučić will become prime minister.

'If we lose, we will recognize the electoral will,' he said. 'If we win, no one will take it away from us.'