Branko Ruzic Returns Parliamentary Mandate to SPS
A day after his expulsion from SPS, Branko Ruzic said in a written statement that he is returning his parliamentary mandate and that the decision to expel him was made elsewhere.
Branko Ruzic, the former deputy president of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), issued his first statement on September 1, a day after being expelled from the party. In a written statement released around 6 p.m., he announced he is returning his parliamentary mandate to SPS and said that although the decision to expel him was formally made within the party, he believes it originated somewhere else.
Ruzic had been a member of SPS for more than three decades. The party’s Statutory Committee expelled him a day earlier, on August 31, in a unanimous decision reached with all 11 members elected at the Congress present. Srpske Vesti has already covered that decision and its stated grounds, so this piece does not repeat them. What had not been known until now was how Ruzic would respond, and that is the subject of this article.
Mandate Goes Back to the Party
Before getting to the substance of his response, Ruzic drew a sharp line between the formal decision and what, in his view, it cannot touch.
“An administrative decision can expel a man from a party. It cannot expel an idea from a man.”
The first concrete step he announced concerns his seat in the Serbian parliament. He said he would not keep the mandate as a personal privilege after leaving a party he had belonged to for three decades.
“I will return my mandate as a member of parliament to the Party. I believe that is proper, civilized, and socialistically responsible.”
That settles the question of his parliamentary role before any debate over it even begins, and it supports the position he laid out himself: that he accepts the form of his expulsion without resistance, but not the reasoning behind it.
Why Does Ruzic Say SPS Is No Longer an Independent Party?
The central part of Ruzic’s statement is not about the expulsion itself but about the relationship between SPS and the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). That is where his language turns sharpest.
“The decision formally made within SPS was, in my deep conviction, made politically somewhere else. For years I warned that SPS was giving up its own political independence and identity. The relationship with the Serbian Progressive Party has long since stopped being a relationship between equal partners. SPS has accepted the role of an SNS branch office. If staying in such a party requires silence about that, then I have no problem with my expulsion.”
The claim that the Statutory Committee’s decision originated outside the party is not backed by evidence in the statement itself. It is Ruzic’s own assessment, not an established fact, and it is presented as such. Still, it comes from a man who, until recently, sat at the top of the party and took part in its decisions, which gives it a different weight than criticism from outside would carry.
Ruzic also added a line that reads as a message to those who remain in the party: “Political freedom is a priceless value, and its true measure is seen only when you are willing to pay the price for it.”
For context, in the statement explaining his expulsion, SPS said:
“The Socialist Party of Serbia cannot have two policies: one belonging to the Party’s highest bodies, and another, the policy of Branko Ruzic or any other individual, aired in the media.”
Ruzic’s response does not dispute that assessment so much as it turns it around: the policy he calls mistaken, he attributes not to himself but to the party leadership.
What Comes Next
Ruzic said he is staying in politics, but without rushing into anything. He said he would not decide on the shape of his future political engagement under the pressure of the moment.
“I will decide calmly and deliberately in what form and with whom I will continue my political engagement. I have no reason to rush.”
That leaves an open question exactly that, open: whether he stays outside party politics altogether, starts his own initiative, or joins one of the existing opposition groups is something Ruzic has not specified. None of the three sources checked for this article gave a date for when he might announce his next step.
Part of his statement was devoted to a broader assessment of the state of the country’s institutions. He called for the prosecution, the courts, and the police to work, as he put it, without political permission, and for the fight against corruption to apply regardless of party affiliation. He also addressed the youth protests, saying they have every right to demand accountability from politicians.
For now, only one thing is settled: the parliamentary seat Ruzic had held in SPS’s name is going back to the party, while the future of his political career remains an open question.
