The Independent Democratic Serb Party ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Самостална демократска српска странка, Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS) is a
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
political party in Croatia representing the interests of the
Croatian Serbs
The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Cr ...
. It holds,
progressive,
pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...
stances and is generally considered a
centre-left party.
History
It was formed in 1997 and led by
Vojislav Stanimirović. In the
2003 Croatian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament were held on 23 November 2003. They were the fifth parliamentary elections to take place since the first multi-party elections in 1990. Voter turnout was 61.7%. The result ...
, it beat its main rival, the
Serb People's Party (SNS), taking all three seats reserved for Serb representatives in the Croatian parliament.
After the elections, the Independent Democratic Serb Party made an agreement with the winning
Croatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
led by
Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader (born 8 June 1953) is a former Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009.
He is to date the second longest-serving prime minister since independence, holding the office for over five and a half yea ...
in which they agreed on fulfilling several Independent Democratic Serb Party demands such as refugee return, strengthening of national equality, judicial reform and cooperation with neighbouring countries. In the
2007 Croatian parliamentary election, they retained their three seats in the Parliament of Croatia.
In the
Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II
The Tenth Government of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Deseta Vlada Republike Hrvatske) was the second of two Croatian Government cabinets led by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. It was announced on 12 January 2008 and its term ended on 6 July 2009, w ...
, their member
Slobodan Uzelac
Slobodan Uzelac ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Узелац; born 9 August 1947) is a Croatian Serb politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia for Regional Development, Reconstruction and Return in the second cabinet of Prime Minist ...
received the position of vice-president of government. In the
2011 Croatian parliamentary election, they again won all three seats for Serb minority lists in the Parliament.
In the 2015 and 2016 Croatian parliamentary elections, the SDSS also held all of 3 Serb national minority seats in the Croatian Parliament, continuing to support the
HDZ
The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...
-led government of Croatia.
The party participated in
2019 European Parliament election in Croatia, winning 2.66% of votes. After the
2020 parliamentary election, SDSS member
Boris Milošević received the position of
Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia
The deputy prime minister of Croatia (officially the Vice President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, hr, Potpredsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske) is the official Deputy Prime Minister, deputy of the Prime Minister of Croatia. Articl ...
, in charge of social affairs and human and minority rights, within the
Second Cabinet of
Andrej Plenković
Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...
, representing national minorities in Croatia.
Electoral performances
Croatian Parliament
European Parliament
![2019 European Parliament election in Croatia (SDSS)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/2019_European_Parliament_election_in_Croatia_%28SDSS%29.jpg)
For the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the Independent Democratic Serb Party joined the centre-left
SDP-led
Kukuriku coalition
The Restart Coalition ( hr, Restart koalicija) is a centre-left political alliance in Croatia. The coalition was formed in 2010 as the Kukuriku Coalition (''Kukuriku koalicija''). This somewhat facetious name meaning 'cock-a-doodle-doo', taken fr ...
. The coalition eventually won 4 out of 11 Croatian seats in
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, with SDSS received no seat.
In 2019, the Independent Democratic Serb Party ran independently for the first time in a
European Parliament election
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Unti ...
. Although there were speculations that the SDSS might leave the ruling coalition with HDZ, its leader
Milorad Pupovac
Milorad Pupovac (; born 5 November 1955) is a Croatian politician and linguist. He is a member of the Sabor, the former president of the Serb National Council, and the president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party. He was also an observer ...
confirmed that the SDSS will remain a part it, following a meeting with Prime Minister
Andrej Plenković
Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...
.
Campaign was marked by SDSS jumbo posters with inscription "Do you know what it is like to be a Serb in Croatia?" in which a word Serb was written in
Serbian Cyrillic
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...
().
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...
professor
Dejan Jović
Dejan Jović (; born 12 April 1968) is a political scientist from Croatia. He is a full-time professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Zagreb. From 2012 to 2020, Jović was editor-in-chief of the '' Croatian Political S ...
was second on the list, just behind party leader Milorad Pupovac.
As it was expected by campaign leaders, the jumbo posters were target of widespread
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
vandalism and destruction which underlined the issue of
ethnic intolerance and discrimination.
Party presidents
Party platform
![Independent Democratic Serb Party 2019 European Parliament Election](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Independent_Democratic_Serb_Party_2019_European_Parliament_Election.png)
The SDSS defines itself as a democratic party of liberal and social-democratic orientation but also as a Serb national party. Political goals include:
#Refugee return, especially of Serbs, which its represent in parliament; finishing renewal of war damaged areas
#The right to buy earlier state-owned flats, under earlier legislation (before peaceful reintegration of Croatian Podunavlje, when deadline for buying state-owned flats ended)
#State protection and securing of existing rights of national minorities, especially
Serbs in Croatia
The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...
#Cultural and educational autonomy of Serbs in Croatia, through use of
Serbian language
Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...
and writings, use of Serbian
national symbols
A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an e ...
, education in Serbian, foundation of Serb organizations in education and culture, foundation of Serbian information media and the maintaining of Serbian traditions and customs
#Professionalization of the armed forces
#Regionalism and decentralization
#Croatian integration into the
EU and developing relations with
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 ...
See also
* ''
Novi Plamen
''Novi Plamen'' ( en, New Flame) was a left-wing journal for political, social and cultural issues primarily aimed at intellectual audiences in the former Yugoslavia and the related diaspora. It was a leading publication of its kind in the region, ...
'', some of the party leaders are members of its Advisory Board
* ''
Novosti'', weekly magazine published by the
Serb National Council
sr, Српско народно вијеће
, image = Serb_National_Council_Logo.gif
, size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = SNV logo
, motto =
, budget =
, ...
(SNV)
*
Serb Independent Party Serb Independent Party ( sr-Latn, Srpska samostalna stranka, SSS, german: Serbische selbständige Partei), also known as Serb Autonomous Party or simply Serb Autonomists, was an ethnic Serb political party in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, under ...
*
Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)
The Independent Democratic Party ( sh, Samostalna demokratska stranka, Самостална демократска странка; sl, Samostojna demokratska stranka, SDS) was a social liberal political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and ...
References
{{authority control
1997 establishments in Croatia
Political parties established in 1997
Pro-European political parties in Croatia
Serb political parties in Croatia
Social democratic parties in Croatia
Vukovar