Vucic concedes coalition defeat in Serbian parliamentary election

The ruling political camp in the Republic of Serbia has formally conceded defeat, according to preliminary results from the snap parliamentary election. Former President Aleksandar Vucic, who resigned in September to lead the election campaign, said his coalition had lost.

“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports that Vucic, speaking at his party’s campaign headquarters, said the opposition list formed by the student movement had won the vote.

Vucic assessed the preliminary election picture as follows:

“It is clear that we lost this parliamentary election. We were defeated by the protest list of young people and students. According to preliminary calculations, they are expected to win 135-140 of the 250 seats in the Skupstina (Serbian parliament), while our ‘United Serbia’ coalition is expected to secure about 105 seats. The other political parties and blocs have failed to clear the electoral threshold required to enter parliament,” the former president said.

Vucic said he accepted the results and would not prevent the winning forces from forming a new government, in the interests of maintaining domestic political stability.

Vucic’s second and final presidential term was due to end in May 2027. However, amid the country’s political developments, he resigned early on September 27, deciding to lead the election list of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and formally put himself forward for prime minister in the snap parliamentary election.