Politics

Student‑Led Winners Demand Resignations of Police, Intelligence and Judiciary Leaders

By Today News Hours Editorial Desk

Serbian students who won the recent parliamentary election have called for the immediate resignation of top officials in the police, intelligence and judiciary. The newly elected MPs from the Student List stood in Pioneers’ Park opposite the parliament and demanded that all police officers who had broken the law be dismissed, naming the heads of the police, the BIA security agency and the anti‑terror unit. The movement, which emerged from protests after the fatal collapse of a railway station canopy that killed 16 people in November 2024, had previously called for a complete overhaul of the country’s political system. The Student List, composed of intellectuals, professors, artists, athletes and up to 12 medical doctors and surgeons, won 141 seats. The new MPs have already begun purging Vučić loyalists, with the director of state broadcaster RTS, Manja Grčić, stepping down. They also plan to replace the head of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lučić. Acting president Ana Brnabić has accused the opposition of seeking “revolutionary justice” and of wanting to shut down “all of the media they dislike.” Dejan Šoškić, a former central bank governor, says that in the first six months the new government should liberate the media, fight corruption, ensure institutions operate according to law and introduce a lustration law that would bar former Vučić government officials who have violated citizens’ rights from public office. The Student List’s manifesto promises to halt plunder, return stolen goods to the state budget and invest directly in education and the economy. The EU has welcomed the victory and pledged support for reforms to the rule of law, media freedom and anti‑corruption measures, although the students’ manifesto lists the EU mainly as Serbia’s “most important economic partner.” Serbia remains a candidate for EU membership while maintaining close ties with Russia and China. The new government’s first priority is likely domestic reform, with presidential elections scheduled for December. Aleksandar Vučić, who is barred from a third term, has vowed that his defeated Serbian Progressive Party will retaliate.