The Student List took 52.54% of Sunday’s vote, against 39.29% for United Serbia, the alliance built around Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Only national minority parties will join the two lists in the 250-seat parliament.
“And now farewell, citizen Aleksandar Vucic”, Nova television’s news portal wrote, listing “corruption, crime, failed institutions” and a country “sold off” as the legacy of his rule. It said he had seized control of the media, keeping Serbs in the dark about graft among senior SNS officials.
“It lasted long, too long”, Nova said.
The weekly Vreme said the new authorities must now confront a legacy that critics describe as one of corruption, nepotism and the dismantling of democracy. It pointed to a host of unanswered questions, including whether the ideologically diverse student list can stay united, and what course it will set on European Union membership and on relations with Russia and Kosovo.
Vreme also questioned how much room for manoeuvre the new government would have, given that many municipalities and cities remain in SNS hands.
The weekly NIN said the students themselves had been surprised by the scale of their win, having cleared the political scene, eliminated the opposition and defeated the government.
Stefan Surlic, a political science lecturer at the University of Belgrade, called the outcome “a kind of democratic experiment”.
“The students now have a stable parliamentary majority. They do not have to enter coalitions”, he told NIN, adding that this was “a very convenient position for carrying out truly serious reforms”.
Surlic said Serbs could be proud that they had voted peacefully, in a referendum-like atmosphere, and that all parties had recognised the result.
(jh)
Source: PAP