Serbia's Gen Z Revolution a New Political Model for Pakistan
OpinionCan Pakistan's Youth Break the Cycle of Family-Inherited Politics?
By Major (R) Haroon Rasheed. Defense and Strategic Analyst specializing in South Asian military dynamics, deterrence strategy, and defense modernization, and a member of the Research and Evaluation Cell for Advancing Basic Amenities.
He is a former Pakistan Army officer with experience and research interests spanning military affairs, strategic studies, geopolitics, national security, conflict history, and regional security dynamics.He is also associated with research and social-development activities and is a builder, developer, and philanthropist involved in running numerous madrassas and schools throughout Pakistan.
Sometimes, a national tragedy becomes the starting point of a political transformation. Serbia has recently witnessed such a development, offering an important lesson for Pakistan, particularly its younger generation.
On 1 November 2024, a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia, collapsed, killing 16 people. The tragedy shocked the nation and raised serious questions about corruption, government oversight, and institutional accountability.
Students took to the streets, demanding a transparent investigation and accountability for those responsible. Their protests gradually developed into a nationwide movement. However, when conventional political pressure failed to deliver the changes they wanted, the students decided to pursue a different strategy.
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Instead of becoming politicians themselves, they decided to identify and support competent people who could govern the country.
A Different Approach to Politics
The Serbian students adopted an unusual political approach. Rather than creating another conventional political party dominated by ambitious individuals, they organised a movement to identify qualified professionals from different walks of life.
Their proposed parliamentary candidates included academics, doctors, professors, economists, administrators, and other accomplished professionals.
The underlying philosophy was simple: students did not necessarily want political positions for themselves. They wanted honest, educated, and professionally capable people to represent the nation.
Their role was to organise, mobilise public opinion, and provide political support to credible candidates.
In October 2026, the student-backed movement achieved a remarkable electoral victory, securing approximately 140 seats in Serbia's 250-member parliament.
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The victory demonstrated how an organised younger generation could challenge established political structures through democratic participation rather than violence or confrontation.
The real test, of course, will be whether the new representatives can translate their promises into better governance.
Nevertheless, Serbia has presented an alternative political model worthy of serious consideration.
The Message for Pakistan's Gen Z
Pakistan should pay particular attention to this development.
For decades, our political landscape has largely revolved around established political families, inherited leadership, personal loyalties, and traditional power structures.
Political positions are frequently treated as family legacies rather than public responsibilities. This does not mean that every member of a political family lacks competence or integrity. The real problem is a political culture that often gives preference to family connections over merit and performance.
Pakistan's Gen Z must ask itself a fundamental question:
Are we prepared to continue accepting inherited political leadership, or are we ready to introduce a new culture of merit, accountability, and public service?
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Our younger generation is educated, digitally connected, and increasingly aware of national and international developments. However, criticising politicians on social media and participating in occasional demonstrations will not transform Pakistan.
The Serbian experience offers a more constructive lesson: organise, identify credible professionals, develop a national program, and participate through constitutional and democratic means.
Pakistan's youth could establish an independent platform to identify capable candidates from different professional backgrounds, including doctors, engineers, economists, educationists, scientists, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and experienced administrators.
These candidates should be selected on the basis of professional achievements, integrity, public reputation, and commitment to national service.
Gen Z does not necessarily have to contest elections itself. Its greatest contribution could be identifying and supporting the right people.
Pakistan Needs a New Political Culture
Pakistan faces enormous challenges: economic instability, unemployment, corruption, declining educational standards, and institutional weaknesses.
These problems require professional solutions, not merely political slogans.
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We need representatives who understand economic management, technology, education, agriculture, industrial development, and international relations. Public office must be considered a responsibility rather than an opportunity to acquire wealth, influence, or family prestige.
Pakistan does not need to copy Serbia blindly. Our political, constitutional, and social circumstances are different. But the principle is universal: political leadership should be earned through competence and public confidence, not inherited through family connections.
It Is Time to Serve Pakistan
I believe Pakistan's Gen Z has reached a stage where it must move beyond political arguments and social media campaigns and start thinking seriously about the country's future.
This is not a call for confrontation or the destruction of existing institutions. It is a call for peaceful, organised, and constitutional political participation.
Gen Z celebrates in Serbia after student-led movement defeats Aleksandar Vučić. CREDIT: Daily Jang.
Serbia's students have demonstrated that young people do not necessarily need to occupy positions of power to change their country's destiny. Sometimes, their greatest contribution is to identify the right people and give them an opportunity to serve.
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Pakistan has no shortage of educated and capable individuals. What we need is a credible mechanism to bring them into politics.
The time has come for Pakistan's Gen Z to stop merely criticising the system and start building an alternative.
Our country needs our abilities, our honesty, our education, and our commitment.
It is high time to come forward, serve Pakistan, and do something meaningful for the nation.
Pakistan belongs to all of us. Its future must not remain the inheritance of a few political families.
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By Major (R) Haroon Rasheed. Defense and Strategic Analyst specializing in South Asian military dynamics, deterrence strategy, and defense modernization, and a member of the Research and Evaluation Cell for Advancing Basic Amenities.
He is a former Pakistan Army officer with experience and research interests spanning military affairs, strategic studies, geopolitics, national security, conflict history, and regional security dynamics.He is also associated with research and social-development activities and is a builder, developer, and philanthropist involved in running numerous madrassas and schools throughout Pakistan.
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