\n<\/p>\n
BELGRADE: Serbia woke to a new era on Monday after a student-backed protest movement unseated longtime leader \u200bAleksandar Vucic in a historic landslide election that sparked nationwide celebrations, although few had an idea of how they would govern.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tens \u200cof thousands took to the streets of Belgrade and other cities and towns across Serbia after Vucic conceded defeat late on Sunday, capping two years of peaceful anti-government protests calling for the populist ruler to step down.<\/span><\/p>\n With almost 99% of votes counted, the students\u2019 candidates had secured a commanding 52.7% of the vote, according to the State \u200bElection Commission, versus 39.2% for Vucic\u2019s Serbia Progressive Party (SNS)-led alliance.<\/span><\/p>\n That gives the students 139 seats in the 250-seat parliament, leaving the SNS \u200balliance with 97, and the remainder held by minority parties. The constitution allows up to 90 days for the \u2060creation of a government, once the parliament is convened after the announcement of final results by the state election commission.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was unbelievable, \u200bI still do not believe it. It was too long, and (Vucic) was pressuring us for a long, long time,\u201d said university administrator Marijana Radovanovic Pajovic.<\/span><\/p>\n Vucic \u200bdominated Serbian politics as prime minister or president from 2014. But he was swept from power by a list of student-backed candidates born out of anti-corruption protests following the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of a train station canopy in the city of Novi Sad.<\/span><\/p>\n The students\u2019 win marks a profound political shift in the \u200bcountry of some 6 million people and is reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orban in April. It may also offer inspiration to other student \u200bmovements that have cropped up across Europe in recent weeks demanding better education standards and prospects.<\/span><\/p>\n While the students\u2019 candidates include university professors, actors and farmers, the movement is \u200cwithout a \u2060leader \u2013 a strategy employed during protests to avoid any smear attempts by the government. It is unclear who will become prime minister and assume other key positions in order to enact the students\u2019 domestic agenda, which aims to root out graft and improve schooling, and manage the country\u2019s place on the international stage.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis corruption that has entered into all pores of our lives\u2026of course it will change, we are hoping we will slowly go into \u200bthat direction of a normal community,\u201d \u200bsaid 60-year-old insurance worker Svetlana \u2060Karagkozidou.<\/span><\/p>\n Prominent figures include the head of the students\u2019 candidate list, cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic, former central bank governor Dejan Soskic and Radomir Sajcic, a professor at Belgrade University, who spoke on behalf of the students following their victory.<\/span><\/p>\n However, not \u200beveryone welcomed the change.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cChanging the country like that so suddenly and all at once, I don\u2019t like \u200bit. I don\u2019t even \u2060know who is standing behind, who those people are, who will be leading the country,\u201d said 60-year-old civil worker Senka Radakovic.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, supporters of the student movement set about cleaning up a park near the parliament building in Belgrade that had long been used as a camp by Vucic\u2019s supporters. They removed \u2060metal barricades \u200band tents and cleaned stickers off children\u2019s play equipment.<\/span><\/p>\nPROFOUND POLITICAL SHIFT<\/span><\/h2>\n