Serbia's Student List presses for accountability as Vucic warns of 'revolutionary terror'

Five days after Serbia's 25 October election, the Student List — which took 53% of the vote while Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party received 39% — is pushing to dismantle his apparatus while Aleksandar Vucic warns of retaliation.

Vucic complained at a press conference, attended by fewer microphones than usual, that the winners were practising what he called "revolutionary terror." He threatened that if "beatings, destruction and all the rest" continued without state intervention, his supporters would "be forced to organize" themselves.

The list, made up of professors, activists and artists that emerged from the student revolt, has already seen swift institutional change. The general director of state broadcaster RTS has resigned, senior editors have been dismissed, and the public prosecutor's office for organised crime has opened investigations including into electoral fraud. A special commission is also examining the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, which critics accused of acting on Vucic's behalf.

Citizens in many cities peacefully removed Vucic's portraits from municipal buildings. Tabloid outlets formerly loyal to him have shifted tone.

Yet the new parliament has not been convened and the SNS retains control of significant state machinery. Dejan Bursac of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at Belgrade University told DW that people were growing impatient in the power vacuum. Zlatko Minic of Transparency Serbia warned that outgoing officials still have time to award contracts without necessarily committing a criminal offence.

On Wednesday the Student List again demanded resignations of leading police and judiciary officials and asked whistleblowers to come forward if the outgoing government attempts to destroy documents.