The Civic Alliance of Serbia (; abbr. ГСС or GSS) was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

History

Known widely by its three-letter acronym in Serbian, GSS was founded and registered in 1992. In the 1992 election, the party was represented by Ratomir Tanić. Following the election, the Republican Club led by Nebojša Popov and the Reform Party of Serbia led by

Vesna Pešić Vesna Pešić ( sr-Cyrl, Весна Пешић, ; born May 6, 1940) is a Serbian politician and sociologist. In February 2012, Vesna Pešić announced she would leave politics after parliamentary elections on 6 May 2012. Biography In the early ...

(Serbian successor to

Ante Marković Ante Marković (; 25 November 1924 – 28 November 2011) was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician, businessman and engineer. Marković is most notable for having served as the last prime minister of SFR Yugoslavia. Early life Marković, was a Bos ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

-wide

Union of Reform Forces The Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Савез реформских снага Југославије, Savez reformskih snaga Jugoslavije; abbr. СРСЈ or SRSJ) was a centre-left political party in the SFR Yugoslavia led b ...

party) merged into the party. Both had gone in coalition with the

League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina ( sr-cyrl, Лига социјалдемократа Војводине, Liga socijaldemokrata Vojvodine, LSV) is an autonomist political party in Serbia. Its current leader since 19 November 2022 is Bo ...

. In 1996

Žarko Korać Professor Žarko Korać ( sr-Cyrl, Жарко Кораћ), Ph.D. (born 9 March 1947 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian psychologist and politician. He teaches psychology at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy and i ...

left the GSS with a group of dissidents who opposed forming coalition with the right-wing

Serbian Renewal Movement The Serbian Renewal Movement ( sr-cyrl, Српски покрет обнове, Srpski pokret obnove, SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia. History The Serbian Renewal Movement party was founded in 1990 through the merger ...

for the 1996 federal election and formed the Social Democratic Union (SDU). Notable members over the years included

Goran Svilanović Goran Svilanović ( sr-Cyrl, Горан Свилановић; born 22 October 1963) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who was the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2018, followin ...

, former Foreign Minister of

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

Nataša Mićić Nataša Mićić ( sr-Cyrl, Наташа Мићић; Jovanović; born 2 November 1965) is a Serbian lawyer and politician who served as the acting president of Serbia from 2002 to 2004. Mićić graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law ...

, former

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

president and acting president of Serbia, Gašo Knezević, former Serbian Minister of Education, and

, the party founder and longtime leader. The future of the party had been in doubt ever since it split into two wings. One part promoted a merger with

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, while the other part wanted to continue political existence as an independent party. The December 2004 party congress upheld the decision to remain an independent party and elected

as the new leader. The party decided to apply for membership of the ELDR and the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...

. At its May 2004 council, ELDR, accepted GSS as an affiliate member. However, GSS merged into Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on April 7, 2007. The party had three representatives in the

National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-cyr, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms by secret ballot. The as ...

in 2007 elected from the list of the LDP.

Presidents of the Civic Alliance of Serbia (1992–2007)

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections

Positions held

Major positions held by Civic Alliance of Serbia members:

References

1992 establishments in Serbia 2007 disestablishments in Serbia Anti-nationalist parties Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Serbia Liberal parties in Serbia Political parties disestablished in 2007 Political parties established in 1992 Pro-European political parties in Serbia Social liberal parties {{Serbia-party-stub