LJAJIĆ: There is no deal with SNS, they removed five of my officials in the last month!

“For my resignation from the position of president of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić found out from the media. So much for the claims that this was some kind of behind-the-scenes deal with SNS. There are no hidden calculations here, but there are real political dilemmas,” Rasim Ljajić, the recently resigned president of SDPS, explained to Danas, denying that his resignation was the result of a political agreement and post-election calculations either with SNS or with the student movement.

It is no secret that there have been visible disagreements between SDPS and the Serbian Progressive Party for some time, and that precisely because of those disagreements, SDPS ran independently in some local elections. However, in the last month, the misunderstandings escalated with the removal of several SDPS officials.

What is behind Rasim Ljajić’s resignation as president of SDPS – an agreement with Vučić or turning towards students?

“That same SNS has, in the last month, unjustifiably removed five of my officials at different levels of government, from local, through provincial, to state level,” Ljajić told Danas, referring to the removal of Tatjana Matić from the position of director of the Development Fund, Nataša Mihajlović Vacić, city secretary for culture, Andrija Bojanić from the position of director of the Youth Center and Dragan Đekić from the position of director of Novi Sad’s SPENS.

If everything were fine in relations with SNS, Ljajić repeated, they would go together to the next parliamentary elections as well. He does not hide that he has a personal and political dilemma about how the parties he founded – the Sandžak Democratic Party (founded in 1994) and SDPS (founded in 2009) – can politically survive this referendum-like atmosphere.

“Until now, SDP and SDPS have always participated together, both in local and parliamentary elections within broader coalitions. Now the situation is somewhat more complicated. SDP would rather go independently as a minority list, while SDPS has still not made a final decision. It is legally impossible for them to go together as a minority list. Going together as a citizens’ list is not realistic because they would not pass the threshold in this atmosphere of complete polarization and division into two blocs,” Ljajić explains, adding that he is emotionally attached to both parties, but that there is a political dilemma about how these parties can survive politically.

Asked whether his resignation as president of SDPS, after around thirty years of leading the party, was the result of these political dilemmas, Danas’ interlocutor responds that he really resigned because he could not be as active in SDPS as he would have liked, so that the entire party could become more engaged during this pre-election period.

“What I can responsibly tell you is that there were no secret agreements whatsoever, neither with the students nor with SNS. If there had been, do you really think that would have remained hidden? That is impossible. At this moment, things really stand as they do. What decisions will be made, I truly cannot predict at this moment. My political engagement in the campaign will depend on that decision. I really cannot prevent all the speculation and conspiracy theories, but I am telling you how things realistically stand now,” Ljajić told Danas.

Disagreements with SNS have lasted since the intrusion into the State University of Novi Pazar

Let us recall, Ljajić’s Social Democratic Party of Serbia ran independently in last year’s local elections in Mionica, held on November 30, and passed the electoral threshold. They decided on this move after their long-time partner in government, the Serbian Progressive Party, excluded them from the coalition for the Mionica elections. This was, as was speculated at the time, a logical consequence following Ljajić’s condemnation of the intrusion by private security into the State University of Novi Pazar during August last year, as well as Vučić’s message to coalition partners that they could leave if they were not satisfied…

In addition to condemning the intrusion of private security into the State University of Novi Pazar at the time, Ljajić also requested an urgent meeting with his partners in government, stating that his party had been constantly exposed to attacks from the opposition bloc, but also from coalition partners, because of one extremely moderate, rational and pragmatic stance.

And there were indeed attacks from coalition partners, to the point that even the president of the country, Aleksandar Vučić, told Ljajić, as well as SPP leader Usame Zukorlić, that they could leave the coalition if they were not satisfied.

“They can freely leave if they want to, we will talk and say what we object to, and if they like it, fine, if they don’t… otherwise we already have a majority without them,” Vučić said at the time.

In addition to Vučić, Serbian Progressive Party leader Miloš Vučević also criticized Ljajić, stating that he “is trying to portray himself as a victim” and that he is “calculating in order not to anger the supporters of a football club.”