Ruzic: I'll Run for Office After SPS Expulsion
Former SPS deputy leader Branko Ruzic tells N1 he will stay in politics and use his right to run for office, two weeks after being expelled from the party.
Former deputy leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Branko Ruzic told N1 that he will continue to be active in politics and that he plans to use both his right to vote and his right to run for office. Ruzic appeared on the N1 show “Iza vesti” on September 15, a little over two weeks after the SPS Statutory Commission expelled him from the party. He did not specify exactly how he intends to stay politically engaged.
“I will definitely stay in politics. I think I will use both my right to vote and my right to run for office. I will definitely stay involved in politics,” Ruzic told N1.
Ruzic describes the parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 25, as a possible turning point for Serbia, adding that a bridge will need to be built after the vote since, in his words, the situation will not be resolved without dialogue. His remarks to N1 do not make clear which list he might join, or whether he intends to run at all.
Why He Was Expelled From the SPS
The SPS Statutory Commission voted unanimously, with all eleven members present, to expel Ruzic. The party’s explanation stated that he had “continuously and knowingly violated the provisions of the Statute over an extended period, failed to fulfill his obligations to carry out the party’s decisions and unified policy, and in doing so caused enormous political damage to the SPS.” The party’s statement also referenced his participation in student protests. The decision was made on August 31, after three decades of his membership in the SPS. Ruzic subsequently resigned his parliamentary seat on September 4 and returned his mandate.
Ruzic has previously said that the decision to expel him, although formally made within the SPS, was “made politically somewhere else,” and that the party had “agreed to play the role of an SNS branch.” Asked whether he had spoken with SPS president Ivica Dacic, who, as we previously reported, led the SPS list submitted to the Republic Election Commission (RIK), since his expulsion, Ruzic said he had not been in touch with him but wished him well.
On his own responsibility for the state of affairs in the country, given his role in government as an SPS member, Ruzic said he does not run from his own record.
“Is there corruption? Of course there is. Are many people corrupt? Of course they are. If you ask me, as far as my personal responsibility goes, I cannot run away from my own record,” Ruzic said.
A Wave of Resignations in the Party
Ruzic’s expulsion set off a series of resignations within the SPS. Ivan Djokovic, former deputy prime minister of the Government of Vojvodina and provincial secretary for the economy and tourism, resigned from all party positions on September 2. Andrija Radivojevic, a member of the SPS Main Board’s Executive Committee and president of the Municipal Board in Paracin, announced that he had resigned from all party functions, explaining that recent events surrounding Ruzic had reinforced a decision he had already been weighing for some time.
“Whether or not I agree with his views, I believe that in a serious political party there has to be room for different opinions, including disagreement with the leadership’s positions,” Radivojevic said.
Mateja Rankovic, a Main Board member and deputy head of the SPS youth wing in Cukarica, and Milutin Ruzic, a Main Board member and president of the SPS Municipal Council in Cukarica (and Branko Ruzic’s son), also resigned. Milutin Ruzic had spent seven years in the party, Rankovic a little more than six.
What Ruzic Says About the Protest Movement
Ruzic also commented on the first day of signature collection and the submission of the students’ electoral list to the Republic Election Commission. He described the lines of citizens who came out to sign in support of the list as the most striking image of the early campaign.
“The most striking image for me wasn’t just the submission of the list, it was the lines of people signing it. To me that’s a striking, positive image. I didn’t see hordes of terrorists, there were mothers with children, a lot of smiles,” Ruzic said, referring to the lines to sign and submit the electoral list to the RIK.
Asked whether he would call on citizens to vote for the students’ list, Ruzic said he had expressed that kind of support before, but that he did not want to turn it into a demand, nor did he think the students were asking for one. “They have their own autonomy,” he said.
Ruzic also said there was a “red line” he could no longer cross within the SPS, describing it as a systemic problem he says has been present throughout the entire fourteen years of the current government, not only in the most recent period. Whether his name will appear on any list for October 25, and if so which one, is an open question that should be answered in the coming weeks of the campaign.
