Thousands gather at final student-led rally ahead of Serbia election

Tens of thousands of supporters of Serbia's student-led opposition movement have gathered in central Belgrade for their final rally ahead of a parliamentary election in which they hope to oust veteran leader Aleksandar Vucic's party.

Key points

• The Student List, a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates, is seeking to unseat Vucic's right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
• "Really, for the first time in my life, I believe that it is possible, " remarked Marija Nedeljkovic Radic, 47.
• It is running 250 candidates for the 250-seat parliament, plenty of of them academics or political outsiders, on a platform centred on fighting corruption.
• Waving "students are winning" flags and blowing whistles, the marchers converged on Slavija Square, the site of some of the movement's biggest protests.
• The Associated Press news agency documented that polls suggested a close race between the two sides, raising fears of incidents if both claim victory.

As Vucic held a rival rally at a sports hall throughout town, the crowds filled the capital on Thursday.

Sunday's vote is seen as a chance to end Vucic's longtime rule.

"Really, for the first time in my life, I believe that it is possible, " remarked Marija Nedeljkovic Radic, 47. This person stated young individuals had given her hope of "a normal country".

Meanwhile, the vote follows almost two years of student-led protests triggered by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at a newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad that killed 16 residents.

Notably, the Student List, a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates, is seeking to unseat Vucic's right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). It has been in power for more than 14 years.

"We are putting an end to 14 years of humiliation, chaos and betrayal, and to decades of putting personal and party interests above yours, " university professor Jugoslav Gasic, one of the candidates on the Student List, informed the crowd in Belgrade. This person chanted "Victory, victory!"

"You deserve better, and we know how to deliver it. Students are winning!"

For context, the railway disaster, widely blamed on corruption, triggered some of Serbia's largest demonstrations since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, and demands for transparency grew into calls for an early election.

Over the week, students marched for days nationwide, including rural areas that are Vucic's strongholds.

Vucic, who resigned the presidency in September to run for prime minister, called the snap election last month. He has accused the movement of being a foreign-funded coup attempt.

"Let us go out and defeat them! Defeat them decisively!" he informed supporters on Thursday.

Serbia lacks reliable independent polling. But political scientist Dusan Vucicevic informed the AFP news agency he anticipated the students to win more than 40 percent of the vote, far more than any opposition list since the SNS took power in 2012.

For context, the Associated Press news agency documented that polls suggested a close race between the two sides, raising fears of incidents if both claim victory.

Twenty-four Serbian civil society groups cautioned this week that conditions for "free and fair elections" were lacking, and a monitoring group cited more than 100 violent incidents during the campaign.

On Wednesday, prosecutors questioned six individuals arrested on suspicion of plotting "violence, riots and attacks" on election day.

In short, thousands gather at final student-led rally ahead of Serbia election is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.