The Presidency of Serbia’s SRCE party has formally acknowledged and accepted the resignation of party leader Zdravko Ponoš, with the party’s leadership to be temporarily assumed by its Presidency and Executive Board.
According to a statement published on the party’s website, the decision was made at a meeting on Tuesday. The interim leadership arrangement will remain in place until an electoral assembly is held within the next six months.
SRCE said it would continue operating as an extra-parliamentary party and remain committed to advancing what it describes as the vision of a European Serbia.
The party identified the acceleration of European integration and Serbia’s eventual membership in the European Union as central objectives, saying these goals were among the reasons for its establishment three years ago.
Members of the Presidency stressed that the values underpinning the party’s platform are also fundamental principles of the European Union and said SRCE would not abandon them.
The party also argued that continued European integration has no credible alternative and called on Serbia’s new authorities to take all possible steps to unblock the accession process.
In its statement, SRCE described what it called the fall of Aleksandar Vučić’s political regime and the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) as the most significant step toward normalizing the situation in the country.
The party said Serbia should now focus on democratic processes, reforms and institution-building to ensure a freer and more prosperous life for all citizens.
SRCE added that it would not position itself as an opposition force to the implementation of such policies, but would instead support them.
