Following the Student List’s victory in Serbia’s snap parliamentary elections, the country faces a series of constitutional deadlines, including the certification of final election results, the constitution of the new parliament, the formation of a new government and early presidential elections, which must be held by the end of December.
The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has published preliminary results from 7,926 polling stations processed so far. According to the figures, the Student List won 52.19 percent of the vote, while the “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list received 39.52 percent.
Vučić conceded defeat on Sunday evening.
Under Serbia’s Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, local electoral commissions have 96 hours from the closing of polling stations to prepare summary reports on the voting results.
Once all reports have been received, the Republic Electoral Commission also has 96 hours to publish the overall results report.
If no complaints are filed and voting is not repeated at any polling stations, the final results could be announced on Thursday, October 29. Any complaints or repeat voting could delay the process.
Article 101 of Serbia’s Constitution stipulates that the first session of the newly elected National Assembly must be convened by the speaker of the outgoing parliament and held no later than 30 days after the final election results are announced.
If the results are certified on October 29, the new parliament must be constituted by November 28.
The session is expected to be convened by Ana Brnabić, speaker of the previous parliament, who is currently serving as acting president of Serbia.
The Constitution requires parliament to elect a new government within 90 days of its constitution.
The president of the Republic or the acting president nominates the candidate for prime minister.
If a government is not elected within that period, parliament is dissolved and new parliamentary elections are called.
If parliament is constituted on the final day of the deadline, the new government must be elected no later than the end of February 2027. This is the constitutional maximum, however, and a government could be formed earlier if the necessary conditions are met.
Vučić resigned as president on September 27 so that he could participate in the election campaign without holding the office. Brnabić assumed the presidential duties the following day.
Under Serbia’s Law on the President of the Republic, the speaker of parliament may serve as acting president for a maximum of three months and must call an election so that voting takes place no later than three months after the presidential term ends.
The period between the announcement of the election and election day must be at least 30 days and no more than 60 days. This means the latest possible date for the presidential election is Sunday, December 27.
In early October, Brnabić said she would call the election within the constitutionally prescribed deadline, but the exact date has not yet been announced.
Vučić is ineligible to run in the presidential election because he has already served two consecutive terms in the office.
