Turbulent times at Alipašina: SDP's extraordinary congress to be held to elect new leadership

23:45 The marathon session of the SDP Presidency has ended after nine and a half hours. At a press conference, Zlatko Lagumdžija, the party's president, stated that one of the conclusions is a proposal to the Main Board, which will be held on Saturday, to convene an extraordinary Congress.

He explained that the Presidency opted for an extraordinary, rather than a regular, Congress with the aim of electing new SDP leadership. A new session of the Presidency is scheduled for Friday, and it was agreed that the resignations submitted by some members of the top leadership so far will be "on hold."  

14:10 - Damir Hadžić, who has already resigned as party vice-president, told reporters that he hopes the SDP Presidency session today will proceed in a friendly manner and that members at the session will care more about the SDP than about themselves.

14:00 - Bakir Hadžiomerović also arrived at the SDP headquarters but declined to make statements.

13:56 – Besima Borić, a member of the SDP Presidency, told reporters that she expects everyone at today's meeting to be mature and to set emotions aside.

- We need party democratization. The defeat stemmed from the fact that people are fed up with everything, and in such situations, our people turn to parties that, conditionally, represent them. We will see if we will potentially have two congresses or if we will wait to see what the Main Board says – perhaps to appoint a president and then have the Congress next year.

13:50 – Members of the SDP Presidency are still arriving at Alipašina, including Hamdija Lipovača. He told the gathered reporters that it is not excluded that he might be the new president of SDP BiH.

- The people expressed their opinion on the SDP's policy so far in the elections. This party first entered into government with SDA and then left, then appointed Fahrudin Radončić as the Minister of Security of BiH and then dismissed him, and the people ultimately punished all of that – Lipovača said.

- The SDP is indeed on its knees, but we will rise because this is too strong a company to be completely shut down. It is not excluded that I might be the new president of the SDP.

Jasmin Imamović, a member of the party's Main Board, stated that the most important thing is for the party to be democratized, meaning the party's Statute should be amended.

- At this moment, not only Tuzla but also Posavina and Brčko want changes to the SDP Statute to strengthen party democratization. We will decide at the party bodies whether to hold an extraordinary or regular congress, but it must be held in any case – Imamović said.

13:33 – Zlatko Lagumdžija also arrived at the SDP headquarters but declined to give statements to reporters, walking while talking on the phone. 

It is a turbulent day in front of the central headquarters of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Alipašina Street in Sarajevo, reports the reporter of the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

A large number of journalists are eagerly awaiting the start of the SDP Presidency session, which will begin at 2 PM. Today, or at the latest on Saturday, when the SDP Main Board session is also announced, the exact date for the party's Congress might be known, where the replacement of Zlatko Lagumdžija from the position of SDP leader is expected.

We remind you that after Nermin Nikšić and Damir Hadžić, the SDP's general secretary and vice-president, resigned from all party positions on Thursday, other prominent SDP members have also announced their resignations. Among them are Lidija Korać, SDP vice-president, as well as Damir Mašić, who also called on all other SDP Presidency members to resign.

The SDP BiH suffered a complete collapse in the General Elections in BiH held on October 12, winning only about ten percent of the votes, unlike the 2010 elections when this party was the absolute winner.

For the catastrophic state of the party, which has a tradition of over 60 years, some members blame Lagumdžija himself, from whom they are now demanding his resignation, writes Patria.