Ljajic Says SNS Ousted Five SDPS Officials in a Month
Rasim Ljajic says Aleksandar Vucic learned of his resignation from the media, and for the first time lists the SDPS officials removed by the SNS over the past month.
Former Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS) president Rasim Ljajic has explained his resignation from the party leadership for the first time, and in doing so made a claim that changes the picture around the decision. He says Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was not informed of the resignation in advance, but learned about it from the media. Ljajic made the statement to the daily newspaper Danas, published on August 4 and 5.
In the same interview, Ljajic said the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) had, over the past month, unjustifiably removed five SDPS officials at the local, provincial and national level. The party was taken over on Sunday by film director Jug Radivojevic, until then its deputy president, as we have already reported.
What Ljajic said about a deal with the government
“Aleksandar Vucic learned about my resignation as president of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia from the media. So much for the idea that this was some backroom deal with the SNS. There are no backroom calculations here, but there are real political dilemmas.”
The claim pushes back against the interpretation that emerged as soon as the resignation was announced, that the change at the top of the party was part of a post election arrangement. Ljajic specified that there had been no secret agreements, either with the ruling party or with the student movement, and that he stepped down because he could not be as active as the pre election period would require.
Four names, a fifth left unspoken
The dismissals he is talking about are not abstract. Ljajic pointed to Tatjana Matic, removed as director of the Development Fund, Natasa Mihajlovic Vacic, who headed the city’s Secretariat for Culture, Andrija Bojanic, until then director of Dom omladine, and Dragan Djekic, director of the Spens center in Novi Sad. He did not name the fifth official, even though he says five were removed.
“That same SNS has, over the past month, unjustifiably removed five of my officials at different levels of government, from local through provincial to national.”
The timing of those dismissals is what gives the statement its weight. A national fund, a city secretariat and two cultural institutions in two cities, all within thirty days, does not look like routine personnel turnover but like a systematic removal of a partner from positions of power. Friction between SDPS and the SNS is nothing new, it is why the Social Democrats have run alone in some local elections before, but until now it had stopped short of affecting electoral arrangements.
Asked about relations with the largest ruling party, Ljajic gave a short answer: “If everything were as it should be with the SNS, we would be going into the next parliamentary elections together as well.”
Why can’t SDP and SDPS run together?
Because the law does not allow it in a form that would work for them. Ljajic founded two parties, the Sandzak Democratic Party in 1994 and the Social Democratic Party of Serbia in 2009, and the two have always run together until now, in local and national races, as part of broader coalitions. That math no longer works.
“Until now, SDP and SDPS have always run together, both locally and in national elections, as part of broader coalitions. Now the situation is somewhat more complicated. SDP would rather run on its own as a minority list, while SDPS still has no final decision. Running together as a minority list is legally impossible. Running together as a civic list, it is not realistic that we would clear the threshold in this atmosphere of complete polarization and division into two blocs.”
That, in his words, is the real dilemma behind the resignation: how two parties he is tied to can survive politically as the electorate splits into two blocs. A minority list and a civic list are two different legal regimes, and neither, as things stand, offers a safe path into parliament under one roof.
A decision still to come
SDPS still has no final decision on how it will run in the next parliamentary elections, and Ljajic has tied his own involvement in the campaign to that very choice. The party’s new leadership, headed by Radivojevic, is making that call at a moment when four of its officials have lost their posts within a month.
“What I can responsibly tell you is that there were no secret agreements, either with the students or with the SNS. If there had been, do you really think it would have stayed hidden? Because that is impossible. At this moment, that is really how things stand. What decisions will be made, I honestly cannot prejudge at this point. My own political involvement in the campaign will depend on that decision. I truly cannot stop all the speculation and conspiracy theories, but I am telling you how things really stand right now.”
