The Serb Democratic Party ( sr, Српска демократска странка/Srpska demokratska stranka or СДС/SDS) is a
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
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 ...
in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. Its current acting president is Milan Miličević.
In the parliamentary elections of October 2006, the SDS lost its status as the leading party in
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...
and the main Serb party in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika Srpska, with its leader, Milorad Dodik, serving as the current p ...
(SNSD), led by the
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of Republika Srpska
Milorad Dodik
Milorad Dodik ( sr-cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since November 2022. Previously, he served as the 7th Serb member of the Presidency of Bo ...
. Despite making minor gains in the 2010 and 2014 elections, by 2018 the party had fallen to below 20% of the parliament, the lowest seat standing in its history.
The party is under sanctions from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for "failing to arrest and turn over war crimes suspects to an international tribunal." The sanctions prohibit any transfer of funds and material from the United States to the SDS and vice versa. The party is on the list of ''Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons'' by the
Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
U.S. agency.
History
Establishment
Radovan Karadžić founded the Serb Democratic Party in 1990. The party aimed at unifying the
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
community, as
Jovan Rašković
Jovan Rašković ( sr-cyr, Јован Рашковић, ; 5 July 1929 – 28 July 1992) was a Croatian Serb psychiatrist, academic and politician.
Early life
Rašković was born in Knin in 1929. During World War II, after an Ustasha pogrom which ...
's
Serb Democratic Party did with the Serbs in Croatia, and staying part of Yugoslavia (as the "Third Yugoslavia" with
Serbia and Montenegro) in the event of secession by those two republics from the federation.
1991
Throughout September 1991, the SDS began to establish various "
Serb Autonomous Regions From August 1990 to November 1991, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, several Serb Autonomous Regions, or Districts ( sr, Српска аутономна област (САО) / ) were proclaimed in the Yugoslav republics of SR Croatia and SR Bosn ...
" throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Bosnian parliament voted on sovereignty on 15 October 1991, a separate Serb Assembly was founded on 24 October 1991 in
Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
, in order to exclusively represent the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following month, Bosnian Serbs held a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
which resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of staying in a federal state with Serbia and Montenegro, as part of Yugoslavia. In December 1991, a top-secret document entitled ‘For the organization and activity of organs of the Serbs people in Bosnia-Herzegovina in extraordinary circumstances’ was drawn up by the SDS leadership. This was a centralized program for the takeover of each municipality in the country, through the creation of shadow governments and para-governmental structures through various "crisis headquarters", and by preparing loyal Serbs for the takeover in co-ordination with the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).
Ideology
Historically, the party had a strong
ultranationalist
Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...
,
separatist and
Islamophobic
Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism.
The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
ideology. Recently, the party switched from
far-right and adopted more
moderate conservative views, with some of those views even going in favor of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, and not just the Republic of Srpska. Perhaps one of the greatest promoters of that approach is
Dragan Mektić
Dragan Mektić (; born 24 December 1956) is a Bosnian Serb politician and former criminal investigator who served as Minister of Security from 2015 to 2019. He was also a member of the national House of Representatives.
Mektić is a member of th ...
, one of the party's high-ranking officials.
List of presidents
Electoral results
Parliamentary elections
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DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2022
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
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Legend = columns:3 left:40 top:75 columnwidth:90
# there is no automatic collision detection,
# so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap
Colors=
id:Government value:green legend:Government
id:Opposition value:red legend:Opposition
id:Support value:yellow legend:Support
Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar
Define $dy = -1 # adjust height
PlotData=
bar:Govern. color:blue width:25 mark:(line,black) align:center fontsize:10
from:22/04/1992 till:05/05/1997 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government
from:05/05/1997 till:16/01/2001 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition
from:16/01/2001 till:28/02/2006 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government
from:28/02/2006 till:end shift:($dx,$dy) color: Opposition
Presidential elections
Positions held
Major positions held by Serb Democratic Party members:
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbian Democratic Party (Bosnia And Herzegovina)
Conservative parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbian irredentism
Nationalist parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Political parties in Republika Srpska
Separatism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serb political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serb nationalist parties
National conservative parties
1990 establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Political parties established in 1990