A Student Movement With No Leader Is Close to Serbia's Ruling Party
It is built on anti-corruption, social media, and village visits, with professors and actors instead of politicians.
Reuters World News · US Starlink requests, Alaska's Senate race and Serbia's electionsA political newcomer that grew out of student protests is running neck and neck against the party that has governed Serbia since 2012, according to Reuters reporting, even though it has no leader and has not said who would serve as prime minister.
The group is called New Serbian Political Thought. Its supporters recently rallied in Belgrade ahead of the election. It wants to be seen as a movement without leadership rather than a conventional party.
The first step was credibility. Ivana Sekularac, a Reuters reporter covering Serbia, says students are a group, in her words, that "everyone can relate with" because "they are young, they cannot be corrupt, they cannot be spoiled." That reputation helped build support for its strong anti-corruption message.
The second step was reach. The students used social media to spread that message, then organized marches and village visits to meet people in remote areas. The combination helped them gradually grow into a strong political force.
The third step was to present itself as a movement, not a party. The movement describes itself as having a broad, horizontal structure, meaning many equals and no boss, rather than a vertical structure with leaders giving orders. Its candidates are not professional politicians but mostly professors and actors, plus one lawyer who is also in a rap band.
The open question is whether the group can govern without a leader. If the students achieve their stated aim of stronger institutions and less corruption, Sekularac says, that would be a major achievement. But she adds that it is unknown how the group would govern, and that both the ruling party and the opposition have criticized its lack of leadership.
Questions people ask
What does a horizontal leadership structure mean?
It means there is no single boss at the top. Decisions are shared among many participants, often through discussion and consensus, rather than passed down through ranks. It can build trust, but it can also make quick or difficult decisions harder.
How does Serbia choose its prime minister?
Voters elect the 250 members of Serbia's parliament. The party or coalition that can command a majority then forms the government and selects the prime minister. That is why a movement can run competitively without naming its choice in advance, though voters are left guessing.
Why can anti-corruption be such a powerful campaign message?
Corruption cases often involve government contracts, jobs, and public money, which are hard for ordinary voters to check. An anti-corruption message promises fairer rules and stronger courts and institutions. For younger or first-time candidates, it also signals that they are outsiders to the existing system.