Serbia Votes Sunday in Snap Parliamentary Election Seen as a Threat to Vučić's 12 Years in Power

Serbians will vote for a new parliament on Sunday, 25 October, in an election that the BBC reports threatens the 12 years in power of President Aleksandar Vučić. It is a snap election, meaning one held earlier than scheduled. Vučić called it, and Serbia's government had earlier asked the president to dissolve parliament ahead of the vote, which ends the current legislature early.

Vučić has served two terms as president and cannot seek a third. His second presidential term ends in 2027. He left the post of prime minister in 2017 and now leads the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which he founded, with the aim of returning to that office. At the 2023 election, the SNS faced a loose coalition of pro-European Union parties that later fell apart.

The current political struggle grew out of protests. Serbia has seen two years of student-led demonstrations. On 1 November 2024, a concrete canopy collapsed outside Novi Sad train station, killing 16 people. Belgrade saw one of its biggest-ever protests in March 2025, and months of demonstrations included university shutdowns. Police clashed with protesters calling for an early election.

The main challenge to Vučić's dominance comes from the student movement, which goes by the name "Student List-Students Win." The movement is two years old, and its lead candidate is cardiologist Ilija Srdanović. Reuters reports that a poll shows the student movement roughly level with Vučić ahead of the vote. The Associated Press reports that the SNS and the Students' List are believed to be running close, which makes the outcome uncertain.

Thursday is the final day of campaigning, with rallies taking place across Serbia. Authorities arrested six people suspected of plotting election-day violence, according to Reuters.

Serbia continues to back its candidacy for membership of the European Union. At the same time, it refuses to impose sanctions, which are trade and financial penalties imposed by governments, on Russia over its full-scale war in Ukraine.

The parliament has 250 seats, all filled from a single national constituency under proportional representation, a system that divides seats according to each list's share of the national vote. A party list must win more than 3% of the vote to gain seats. Sunday's ballot includes 18 lists, but only seven are fielding the full 250 candidates. Serbia has 6.45 million registered voters, and polling stations open at 07:00 and close at 20:00 local time.