It all began on the streets.

A student-led movement has emerged as the most serious challenger to the long rule of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its leader, Aleksandar Vucic, ahead of Sunday’s election.

Over the past two years, many citizens, teachers, professors and other experts have joined the students, a protest group that has evolved into a political movement: “Student List–Students Win” (Studentska lista–Studenti pobeđuju).

The catalyst came after the collapse of a concrete canopy at the renovated Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024. Sixteen people were killed in the tragedy, which triggered public outrage over alleged corruption and raised questions about construction safety, the quality of renovation work, and government oversight. Students who led protests have sought a fundamental overhaul of a system they deem rotten.

‘Serbia belongs to people, not to criminals’

Kosta Golubovic, a law student at the University of Novi Sad, has been involved since day one.

“Change is clearly necessary. The state must belong to its people, not to the mafia and criminals,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The way they treat the judiciary, the catastrophic conditions at the local level, mayors resorting to violence, dying villages – along with dubious privatisations, money laundering, the erosion of every single institution, police being replaced by thugs, and an education system vanishing before our eyes… these are some of the reasons why change is needed,” said Golubovic.

Demonstrations transformed into the biggest protest movement in Serbia in years, joined by tens of thousands.

The students have not called for the overthrow of Vucic. But their persistence created one of the biggest threats to the president’s long grip on power.

Vucic became prime minister in 2014. In 2017, he was elected president, a traditionally ceremonial role that he has bolstered by maintaining influence over his SNS party.

‘Vucic is afraid of us’

Opposition parties and rights watchdogs accuse Vucic and his SNS party of bribing voters, stifling media freedom, violence against opponents, and ties with organised crime.

Vucic and his allies deny these allegations. But Serbia’s rating on Transparency International’s global corruption index has worsened gradually in recent years.

“Vucic is clearly afraid of us – it’s obvious. He knows that, for the first time in 16 years, the SNS is no longer the most popular political option in the country,” Golubovic said.

The students’ efficiency is down in part to its structure.

The old student parliament at the University of Belgrade has been replaced with plenums – daily assemblies where each group votes on its course of action. Working groups focus on strategy, donations, and security. Universities in different cities coordinate so demands remain broadly aligned.

This is why the students say they do things differently. One rule is to be leaderless, making it harder for authorities to disrupt the protests. Also, demonstrations must be peaceful, and any debris has to be cleaned up. Third, all decisions must be made democratically during hour-long plenary sessions in their university faculties.

“Even though the authorities mobilised criminal groups against the students and citizens participating in the protests, the students have remained focused on their goal: to oust a government they view as authoritarian and deeply corrupt,” said Natasa Kandic, a Serbian peace activist, sociologist, and founder of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in Belgrade.

“For the first time in Serbia, they have managed to lead protests entirely without violence,” she said. “The video clips we see daily represent a new culture – one defined by irony, laughter, and the deliberate disregard for primitivism and political depravity.”

‘Serious and comprehensive plan’

State-affiliated media have maligned the students. Some Serbian authorities claimed that the group has no programme, and Vucic labelled them as “terrorists”. But their leaders, experts from different fields, claim that they have a plan.

The platform is officially titled the “Student Plan” and is divided into three sections. There are 11 points.

Ilija Srdanovic, a cardiologist and the lead candidate and ballot holder for the Student List, explained that the platform deliberately avoids setting fixed, precise deadlines for the proposed changes. He argued that such timelines can only be determined once contributors have gained insight into the “full current state of affairs”.

“[We plan] many things – too many to list – but the goal is to change the system,” said Srdanovic in a brief call to Al Jazeera.

During debates, the establishment of a special prosecutorial police unit, a law on the origin of assets, transitional justice and the renovation of rural medical clinics are some frequent themes.

Could this be implemented in the case of a victory? Kandic is sceptical.

“The student movement doesn’t possess a transformative potential – the capacity to drive social change, break with the past, and alter a political climate where convicted war criminals are celebrated, Kosovo is treated as part of Serbia, and politicians from neighboring countries are branded as enemies,” he said.