Serbia’s election result reflects widespread exhaustion with the political system built under Aleksandar Vučić, but the real nature of the victorious Student List will become clear only after it forms a government, veteran Serbian politician Nenad Čanak told BalkanView.
BELGRADE, Oct. 29, 2026 (BalkanView) — Serbian politician Nenad Čanak said the Student List’s election victory demonstrated that a large majority of voters were exhausted by what he described as the “clerical fascism” that had taken hold of the country, warning that the political direction of the incoming government remained uncertain.
In a statement to BalkanView.com, Čanak said voters had been willing to support an unfamiliar political alternative simply to remove Aleksandar Vučić and Ivica Dačić from the political scene.
“This election result has shown that a large majority of people in Serbia are utterly exhausted by the clerical fascism that has taken hold of the country and are prepared to vote even for a ‘cat in a bag’ just to see Vučić and Dačić leave the political stage,” Čanak said.
“They have lost, and now we will see the cat.”
Čanak drew on a well-known saying associated with former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to illustrate the uncertainty surrounding the victorious movement.
“On the one hand, ‘It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice,’ as Deng Xiaoping said,” Čanak told BalkanView.
“But only when the bag is opened — when the government is formed — will we see what colour the cat is, how many kittens it has and, most importantly, whether it is actually a cat at all, or something entirely different.”
His remarks highlight a central question facing Serbia following the Student List’s victory: whether a movement united by opposition to the previous government can develop a coherent political programme and deliver meaningful change once in power.
Čanak’s assessment combines a strong rejection of the outgoing political establishment with caution about the ideological character and governing priorities of its successors.
For Čanak, the election has settled who lost power. What remains unanswered is what kind of government Serbia has elected.