Serbia's count nears the end: the Students' List holds 52.7 percent and 139 seats

Serbia's election count is nearly finished, and the size of the change is now a matter of official arithmetic.

With almost 99 percent of votes counted, the State Election Commission gives the student backed candidates 52.7 percent of the vote against 39.2 percent for the alliance led by Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, as of October 26. The students take 139 seats in the 250 seat National Assembly, the SNS alliance takes 97, and minority parties hold the rest. A majority is 126.

Vucic conceded late on Sunday, and tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Belgrade and other cities and towns to celebrate. "I thought it was unbelievable, I still do not believe it. It was too long, and (Vucic) was pressuring us for a long, long time," said Marijana Radovanovic Pajovic, a university administrator.

Vucic dominated Serbian politics as prime minister or president for more than a decade. The movement that removed him grew out of the protests that followed the collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people and set off almost two years of demonstrations against corruption. The students ran a list of experts and public figures rather than their own names, and they have built no government before. Reuters reported on Monday that few in Serbia, including the winners, have a clear idea of how they will govern.

The formal steps come next. Final results from the Republic Electoral Commission are due in the coming days. Once parliament convenes after those results, the constitution allows up to 90 days for the formation of a government.

Reuters noted that the result recalls the defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April and that student movements in other European countries have drawn on the Serbian example in recent weeks, demanding better education standards and better prospects. Serbia's new majority will take over a country of about 6 million people whose politics one man ran for a generation, and it will take over with the count, not a promise, behind it.