Student movement takes Serbia's Vučić to the wire in neck-and-neck election

The Student List has emerged from almost two years of anti-corruption protests to form the biggest challenge to Vučić's rule. The Student List is Number 3 on Serbia's ballot paper, so the figure seen being hugged by this supporter has become a symbol of the movement's fight for change If Sunday's parliamentary elections really are a battle for the heart of Serbia, then who better than a cardiologist to be one of the leading figures in the race. Ilija Srdanović appears an unlikely opponent for Serbia's long-serving leader, Aleksandar Vučić, arriving for an interview by motorbike sporting a fluorescent yellow jacket emblazoned with pro-student slogans. He has been selected as top candidate for an opposition movement posing the most serious challenge to Vučić since the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) entered government in 2012.

The Student List has emerged from almost two years of anti-corruption protests led by young Serbians, outraged by the deaths of 16 people when a railway station's canopy collapsed in Serbia's second city Novi Sad. Instead of running for office themselves, student-led assemblies at the country's university faculties have chosen 250 candidates to stand in the parliamentary election, with Srdanović, professor at Novi Sad University, heading the list. "It is absolutely normal to stand with my students to help them in their fair struggle," Srdanović told the