Expelled Socialist Official Ruzic Might Run for Parliament

Branko Ruzic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The recently removed vice-president of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, Branko Ruzic, has left open the possibility of running in the upcoming parliamentary elections but underscored he would never do so merely to be included in a ticket.

“I’m talking to a lot of people and those conversations are serious. An independent ticket is one possibility. A joint ticket with people with whom I share enough political values is another. I’m not discounting other possibilities either. What I won’t do is seek political affiliation at any cost,” Ruzic told BETA.

Asked whom he had been speaking to about continuing his political career, Ruzic explained that these are individuals with whom he had worked for years, including current and former Socialists members but also people who have never been in the party.

Ruzic was expelled from the Socialist Party of Serbia – a coalition partner of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party – on Aug. 31. The reason given for his removal was “continued conscious violations of the [party] Statute, [and] failure to abide by his duty to enact the decisions of [party] leadership and the unified policy of the Socialist Party of Serbia.”