Komšić and Lazović will side with SDP to keep their positions, Kljuić and Jurić in the "non-existent USD"

After a split occurred within the Social Democratic Union (SDU) whose president is Nermin Pećanac, on January 22, 2014, Miro Lazović and his like-minded associates (Ivo Komšić, Stjepan Kljuić, Drago Jurić, Emir Zlatar) founded the Union of Social Democrats (USD), which was entered into the register of political entities at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo on March 4, 2014, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

Lazović and the others decided to form a new political party in order to be able to run in the 2014 General Elections.

Shortly thereafter, Deputy Chair of the City Council Miro Lazović, as well as councilors Stjepan Kljuić and Drago Jurić, submitted a request for independent action because they had entered the City Council under the SDU.

They have been acting independently, but most of the City Council only recently learned of this move, when Drago Jurić submitted a letter (November 21, 2014) informing the Council Collegium that he is no longer the president of the "USD" Club of the political party which, practically since Saturday, no longer exists because it has "merged" into the SDP BiH.

After the unification of the SDP and USD, which will be officially confirmed on December 6 at the SDP's extraordinary Congress, Lazović and Ivo Komšić will now align themselves with the SDP councilors, while Jurić and Kljuić will continue to act independently.

The two of them, together with Jakuf Ćesko, issued a statement on Thursday stating that they disagree with the unification of the USD with the SDP, and they remain in the ranks of the Union.

- Finally, it is important to note that councilors Drago Jurić, Jakuf Ćesko, and Stjepan Kljuić remain in the ranks of the Union, based on respecting the will of the Union's members and respecting statutory provisions, and are against any political game that benefits certain individuals. Such processes do not save the idea of social democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but rather preserve the comfortable chairs of individuals - the statement reads.

However, the question arises as to which party they will operate in if the USD no longer exists. We recall that on November 29, the USD issued a statement noting that the party's Main Board, on the proposal of the Presidency of the Union of Social Democrats, accepted the Proposal for an agreement on the unification of the Union of Social Democrats with the SDP BiH by an absolute majority (57 for, 2 against, and 3 abstentions), and will operate under the name Social Democratic Party of BiH.

Incidentally, both Jurić and Ćesko are already acting as independent councilors in the Novi Grad Municipal Council within the "Ćesko-Jurić" club.