On Monday thousands of people set off alongside the students through the centre of Belgrade - from the Rectorate to the headquarters of the Republic Electoral Commission. They carried boxes of signatures and filed the electoral list of the student movement "Student List - Students Win". The walk lasted around thirty minutes and was called the "Walk of Victory".

At the head of the column was a large group of motorcyclists. Above the crowd flew national flags carrying the message "Freedom has no price", faculty and secondary school flags, and banners of civic groups. The students also carried a replica of Ivan Meštrović's sculpture "The Victor" - the symbol of Belgrade that stands at Kalemegdan.

The signatures people had to queue for

Collecting the signatures did not go smoothly. Despite promises, the organisers could not secure enough notaries for certification, so thousands of people across Belgrade and all of Serbia queued through the weekend just to get a signature certified. An administrative obstacle anyone in the Balkans recognises without explanation.

The answer from the top

Aleksandar Vučić responded with a video on Instagram. He called the student list "nameless", without "programmes and plans", and "a list everyone is ashamed of". He asked why thousands had signed without knowing who the candidates were or what the platform was.

Except the list is not nameless. It contains 250 parliamentary candidates - professors, doctors, artists, actors, athletes, activists and entrepreneurs from various parts of Serbia, chosen through more than a year of faculty assemblies, blockades and collective decision-making. You can like it or not, but "nameless" was the weakest objection available to him.

The electoral commission has so far confirmed the list of the Serbian Progressive Party with its coalition partners, led by Vučić, and the list of the Socialist Party of Serbia under Ivica Dačić. That same Vučić announced he will resign as president on 27 September and campaign as an ordinary citizen - he has bought a truck, a vehicle and a camper trailer to tour remote places and cities, with three or four big rallies and a finale in Niš.

A president resigning so he can run a campaign. Would people here react the same way to a move like that?