150,000 rally in Belgrade as Serbia heads to pivotal poll

Around 150,000 supporters of Serbia's opposition student movement gathered in central Belgrade on Thursday to rally against the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its leader, Aleksandar Vucic. The Student List, a leaderless movement of student-backed candidates, aims to end more than 14 years of SNS rule in Sunday's parliamentary elections. This represents the most significant challenge Vucic has faced in his over a decade-long political dominance in Serbia.

The rally in Belgrade was described as the largest the independent crowd size monitoring group, the Archive of Public Gatherings, has recorded, with 150,000 people converging on Slavija Square. The demonstration, organized by the Student List, marched through the city before gathering at the square, where they chanted "Victory, victory!" and danced traditional folk dances with supporters holding the Serbian constitution.

Prime Minister Vucic, who addressed supporters at a sports hall in the capital earlier, accused the student movement of being a foreign-funded coup attempt. He vowed to "defeat them decisively" and urges voters to "send a message of love and peace" at the polls. The movement's candidates, drawn from academia and political outsiders, pledge to fight corruption, a central issue for the opposition.

While polling in Serbia is unreliable, some political scientists predict the Student List could secure over 40% of the vote, a significant victory in the party's history.