On Oct 25, a student-led protest movement in Serbia achieved an astounding electoral feat: not only did it topple veteran ruler Aleksandar Vučić’s 14-year rule, but it also left every other major party short of the threshold needed to win seats.

The Student List won an outright majority of 140 out of 250 seats with 52.7 percent of the vote, well ahead of the SNS list’s 104 seats and 39.2 percent, based on preliminary results, while the remaining seats were scored by minor parties.

The seismic result has prompted a question closer to home: could a similar people-powered upset happen in Malaysia?

Political observers contacted by Malaysiakini noted that some similarities can be observed between the European nation’s anti-corruption public backlash and Malaysia’s history of mass mobilisation and political change.