16 members of the SPS Youth leave the party in the middle of the election campaign

Sixteen members of the Socialist Youth of Serbia have resigned from all functions and have left the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), in the middle of the election campaign, only 20 days before the parliamentary elections of 25 October, as Nova.rs reports, citing N1.

They are Mihajlo Škundrić, Luka Ivančević, Nikola Bošković, Miroslav Stojanović, Ljubinka Mišković, Veljko Marić, Dražen Bursać, Luka Zogović, Bogdan Planinšek, Jovan Cenić, Vukašin Bigović, Vojin Marinković, Dušan Latinović, David Lović, Đorđe Stamenković and Jovan Jovanović, who in a joint statement announced their departure from the party’s ranks.

The statement stresses that they do not give up socialist and social-democratic values, but give up the belief that these values can be defended through “silence, adaptation and reconciliation with the lack of a political face”. According to them, the decision is not a flight from politics, but a continuation of political life where they can speak with their own voice.

The young socialists judge that the SPS has lost its political independence, authenticity and its recognised identity, while, as Nova.rs reports citing N1, the marginalisation of those who publicly say what the majority of members say in silence has become a symbol of the party’s stance towards differing opinions. They express respect for “the sincere and honest socialists who remain in the party” and close the statement with the words: “Ideas are older than functions, bigger than individuals and more durable than organisations.”

The departure comes a few days after the expulsion from the SPS of former minister Branko Ružić, on 31 August, for “continuous deliberate violations of the Statute”. Ružić had been suspended for six months after taking part in the large student protest of 15 March and publicly criticising the party; he had called on the SPS to pursue an independent policy, instead of turning into a part of the ruling SNS.