Jovanovic Stays New DSS Leader After Resignation
The New DSS Presidency unanimously rejected Milos Jovanovic's resignation, offered after the Authentic Right list failed in the elections.
Milos Jovanovic submitted his resignation as president of New DSS, but the party’s Presidency did not accept it. The session was held on Wednesday, October 28, and the outcome was made public in a party statement. Jovanovic offered to step down because New DSS fell below the electoral threshold in the parliamentary elections held on October 25.
NIN had reported the planned resignation earlier. It is now known that it was formally submitted at the Presidency session and that the decision came immediately, at the same meeting.
How did the Presidency explain its decision?
The Presidency rejected the resignation categorically and unanimously, the party said. In its explanation, it points to views expressed at the session by Presidency members and the wider membership:
“At the session, members of the Presidency and the membership expressed the view that, given the general context in which the elections were held, confidence in the positions of Milos Jovanovic and in the way he organizes and represents the party has not been betrayed, and that otherwise the entire leadership would have to resign.”
Under that reasoning, the party’s entire leadership would have had to step down, not just its president.
How many votes did Authentic Right win?
New DSS did not run on its own in the elections, but as part of the Authentic Right list. According to the final projection of votes won, published by CeSID and Ipsos, the list received 0.9 percent of the vote. The figure comes from the two research agencies, not from the party’s statement.
What happens next at New DSS?
The party is announcing an assembly, with no date or venue. The statement says it will be organized “in the coming months in order to analyze the previous period,” so that New DSS is ready for the challenges that, as it puts it, face Serbia and call for a firm national policy.
Jovanovic himself will stay out of the public eye. The statement says:
“Jovanovic has stuck to his position that he will not be present in public, as he had announced.”
Other officials will represent the party in the period ahead. According to the statement, Jovanovic will use the option provided by the party’s statute and appoint a deputy president. The deputy’s name has not been announced.
For now, both the Presidency’s decision and its explanation are known only from the New DSS statement. Three questions remain open: who will become deputy president, when the assembly will be held, and who will speak for the party in front of the cameras in the meantime.
