Stanimirovic was elected unanimously by 123 delegates. Milorad Popovac was re-elected vice president, while Jovan Ajdukovic and Milan Horvat were elected vice presidents.
Stanimirovic said the SDSS had become the most important Croatian Serb political party as well as the most important on the ethnic minority scene.
He said the party would become increasingly less a national and more a citizens' party with the development of democratic and effective institutions of the rule of law.
The election assembly was greeted by the chief of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Croatia, Peter Semneby, who underlined the need to step up the participation of minority organisations in public life.