Socialists to Run Independently in Snap Parliamentary, Presidential Elections

Ivica Dacic (BETAPHOTO/MUP SRBIJE)

In a statement for the Aug. 17 edition of the Politika daily, Socialist Party of Serbia leader Ivica Dacic announced that his party will run independently in the upcoming early elections and dismissed claims that they are negotiating a coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party.

“In June, the Socialist Party of Serbia’s steering committee supported my announcement that we will run independently in the upcoming early parliamentary elections and have our own presidential candidate. This was unanimously supported by 500 people, which was everyone who attended the party’s steering committee session,” said Dacic, who is also Serbia’s current minister of internal affairs.

According to him, the Socialists have “long been entering elections in coalition with their traditional partners” United Serbia and the Greens of Serbia, so “nothing has changed there.” Indeed, the Socialists have run in coalition with United Serbia since 2008, with the Greens joining the fold in 2016, consistently aligning with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party only post-elections for the past 18 years.

Dacic went on to say that the party internally agreed that municipal, city and district chapters will send headquarters lists of MP candidates by Aug. 25 at the latest, as well as their nominees for the presidential candidate.