Kostres Says LSV Is Close to Backing the Student List
LSV leader Bojan Kostres said his party is close to a decision to back the student list in the parliamentary election, with the final call resting with the Main Board once the election is called.
Bojan Kostres, president of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, said his party is closer than ever to a decision to back the student list in the upcoming parliamentary election. He made the statement as a guest on Zrenjanin’s KTV television, marking the first time the party’s own president, rather than just its spokesman, has spoken publicly about possible support.
Kostres said the decision has not yet been formalized. LSV’s final position will be set by the Main Board, which will meet only once the election is officially called. President Aleksandar Vucic has previously said the election could be held on October 18 or 25, so the Main Board session where LSV would adopt a formal decision is expected within that window.
What Kostres said
The LSV president also explained why the party is leaning that way. According to him, LSV wants change and a normal, healthy democratic society, and the force capable of delivering that change is the student movement.
“If we make that decision, LSV will put all its resources at the student list’s disposal. We will call on our voters to vote for the student list,” Kostres said as a guest on KTV from Zrenjanin.
Kostres was confirmed for a second term as LSV president by a majority vote at the party’s 15th congress, so the statement comes from a leader who has just secured a new mandate and who, by his own account, is now publicly taking ownership of a decision that until now only the party’s spokesman had floated.
Marton predicts consensus on the Main Board
Before Kostres spoke, LSV spokesman and Main Board member Aleksandar Marton addressed the same question. Marton told Danas that LSV’s statute requires the Main Board to wait until the election is called before adopting an official decision on how the party will run, but that the mood inside the body is already clear.
“Still, as a member of the Main Board, I can say openly that a very strong belief and a consensus among the vast majority already exists within this body in favor of supporting the student list,” Marton explained.
That puts the president’s and the spokesman’s statements in line with each other: both describe the same process, a formal decision only after the election is called, and the same outcome, which the party already treats as all but settled. LSV runs under its full name, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, Vojvodjani.
The bigger picture: who else has pledged support
The student list has not yet confirmed that it will accept support from opposition parties. The students behind the blockades maintain that they will run on their own, without formal coalition partners from the party opposition. Even so, the list of parties announcing support keeps growing week by week.
Before LSV, support for the student list was announced by:
- the Green-Left Front, which said about two weeks ago that it will definitely back whatever list the Students in Blockade field
- the Democratic Party
- the non-parliamentary movements Kreni-Promeni and Dveri
LSV would become yet another parliamentary party directing its resources and voters toward a list carrying someone else’s name, even as the election date itself, October 18 or 25, has still not been officially set. Whether LSV’s Main Board will act as soon as the election is called or wait to see what other parties do remains an open question, one that will be answered no later than the day the deadline for filing electoral lists begins to run.
