Aleksandar Vucic said his party had lost Serbia's election, a vote he and others had described as a referendum on the country's future. The president, who has held high office for 12 years, told the public the result was clear. Defeat ends an unbroken run of victories that began when he became prime minister in 2012.
Students had filled streets for months, accusing the government of corruption and of failing to keep people safe. The protests grew from universities into a national movement that opposition parties then joined. They argued that only a change at the ballot box could restore independent institutions.
Vucic built a formidable party organization and won repeated elections. Those who backed him point to new roads, foreign factories and a calmer Serbia than the one that emerged from the 1990s. Those who opposed him say journalists and judges worked under pressure and that power sat too close to the presidency.
It is clear his party has lost
The immediate question is how a protest movement becomes an administration. Serbia remains a candidate country for the European Union, a status that has produced more talks than results. Whoever forms the next government will have to decide how to handle the courts, the news media, and relations with Brussels and Moscow.
By conceding, Vucic lowered the chance of a drawn out fight over the count. Whether the new majority can stay united will decide if this election is remembered as a true transfer of power.
