The Democratic Party ( sr, Демократска странка, Demokratska stranka; , DS) 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 ...
and
social-liberal
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
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
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 ...
.
The party was officially founded on 3 February 1990 by a
group of Serbian intellectuals as a revival of the original Yugoslav
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 ...
.
It was one of the main opposition parties to the presidency of
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
during the 1990s.
Democratic Party joined the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije), commonly referred to as DOS, was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist ...
coalition in 2000,
[Flags of the World]
''Democratic Opposition of Serbia''
Tomislav Todorović, 22 November 2005 and became part of the new coalition government after the
2000 parliamentary election.
Zoran Đinđić
Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđić ...
, then president of the Democratic Party, became the
Prime Minister of Serbia
The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијерка Србије, premijerka Srbije; masculine: премијер/premijer), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председница Влад ...
in January 2001, but was
assassinated
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
in 2003, and the Party lost the power at the
parliamentary election later that year. New president of the Democratic Party,
Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
, won the
2004 presidential election, and the party returned to power after the
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
and
2008 parliamentary elections. Tadić was
reelected in 2008, but in 2012 he lost the
2012 presidential and the party lost the
parliamentary elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, so it returned to opposition.
Dragan Đilas
Dragan Đilas ( sr-cyr, Драган Ђилас, , born 22 February 1967) is a Serbian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013.
From 25 November 2012 until 31 May 2014, he served as the President of the ...
, then-
Mayor of Belgrade
The Mayor of Belgrade ( sr, Градоначелник Београда / ''Gradonačelnik Beograda'') is the head of the City of Belgrade (the capital and largest city of Serbia). The Mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive ...
was elected as new party president after the loss of the 2012 elections.
[ After more disappointing results in the 2014 election, ]Bojan Pajtić
Bojan Pajtić ( sr-cyr, Бојан Пајтић; born 2 May 1970) is a Serbian politician who served as the President of the Government of Vojvodina from 2004 to 2016.
In May 2014 he became the leader of Serbia's Democratic Party. Pajtić holds ...
, then-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 the Government of Vojvodina
The Provincial Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ( sr, Покрајинска влада Аутономне покрајине Војводине / Pokrajinska vlada Autonomne pokrajine Vojvodine) is the executive organ of the Aut ...
, replaced Đilas as the party president. In 2016 he was succeeded by Dragan Šutanovac
Dragan Šutanovac ( sr-cyrl, Драган Шутановац, ; born 24 July 1968) is a Serbian politician, former leader of the Democratic Party and former Minister of Defence in the Government of Serbia.
He supports the accession of Serbia to ...
. After Šutanovac resigned in 2018, Zoran Lutovac
Zoran Lutovac ( sr-cyr, Зоран Лутовац; born 7 August 1964) is Serbian politician and former diplomat who has been the president of the Democratic Party since 2018. A former ambassador of Serbia to Montenegro between 2008 and 2013, he h ...
was elected new president of the party. The Democratic Party is a full member of the Progressive Alliance
The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of social democratic and progressive political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Social ...
(PA), and is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party.
The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...
(PES).
History
Re-establishment
On 11 December 1989, a group of Serbian intellectuals held a press conference announcing the revival of the 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 ...
, which had existed in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
before it was banned by the communists following World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
They included anti-communist dissidents and liberal academics, well-known poets, writers and film and theatre directors, who all came together in December 1989 to begin the process of re-establishing the Democratic Party, which was to be the first opposition, non-communist political party in Serbia since 1945.[British Library Catalogue Article "Remembering the beginnings of the (re-established) Democratic Party", SOUTH SLAV JOURNAL, 2006, VOL 27; NUMB 3/4, pages 62–71](_blank)
/ref> Some were attracted to politics by what they perceived to be the unsatisfactory national position of ethnic Serbs
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 ...
and Serbia as a constituent republic
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
within the Yugoslav federation, while others felt that activity in a political party could help address the perceived deteriorating state of democracy and human rights in SFR Yugoslavia. Up to that point in time, the former primarily acted through the Serbian Writers Association (Udruženje književnika Srbije) while the latter channeled their activities through the Social Sciences Institute (Institut društvenih nauka) and the Philosophy Club (Filozofsko društvo). Sprinkled throughout the newly assembled group were also some surviving members of the pre-World War II party. Though the grip of the Communist League
The Communist League (German: ''Bund der Kommunisten)'' was an international political party established on 1 June 1847 in London, England. The organisation was formed through the merger of the League of the Just, headed by Karl Schapper, and the ...
(SKJ), the only constitutionally allowed party in Yugoslavia's one-party political system, was not nearly as strong as it once was, DS members still feared the authorities' reaction to the party's creation.[NIN 2010, p.16]
The first public proclamation of the Founding Committee was made on 11 December 1989 at a press conference held in Belgrade where the members publicly declared their intention to re-establish the Democratic Party (DS) which had been banned by the communists in 1945. The Founding Committee called upon all democratically minded citizens to join them in this endeavour.
There were thirteen signatories to the initial proclamation made by the members of the Founding Committee setting out their intention to initiate the re-establishment of the Democratic Party: Kosta Čavoški, Milovan Danojlić
Milovan Danojlić ( sr-cyr, Милован Данојлић; 3 July 1937 – 23 November 2022) was a Serbian poet, essayist and literary critic best known for his children's poetry. Danojlić was a full member of the Serbian Academy of Science ...
, Zoran Đinđić
Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđić ...
, Gojko Đogo
Gojko Đogo (Serbian Cyrillic: Гојко Ђого; born 21 November 1940) is a Serb poet.
A dissident, he was imprisoned in SFR Yugoslavia during the 1980s on the basis of verbal offence for "defaming the memory of Josip Broz Tito".
In Decembe ...
, Vladimir Gligorov, Slobodan Inić, Marko Janković, Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the prime minister of Serbia from 2004 to 2008.
...
, Dragoljub Mićunović
Dragoljub Mićunović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Мићуновић ; born 14 July 1930) is a Serbian politician and philosopher. As one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he served as its leader from 1990 to 1994, and as the president of ...
, Borislav Pekić
Borislav Pekić ( sr-cyr, Борислав Пекић, ; 4 February 1930 – 2 July 1992) was a Serbian and Yugoslav writer and political activist.
He was born in 1930, to a prominent family in Montenegro, at that time part of the Kingdom of Yugo ...
, Miodrag Perišić, Radoslav Stojanović
Radoslav Stojanović, PhD (Радослав Стојановић) (1930, Obrenovac, Kingdom of Yugoslavia – 31 August 2011) was a Professor of Law at the University of Belgrade and was a member of the Founding Committee of the Democratic ...
, and Dušan Vukajlović. Over the following weeks nine other prominent intellectuals joined the thirteen initiators as members of the Founding Committee. They all worked together towards re-establishing the Democratic Party by drafting the first party political program and making preparations for the founding party conference. By the end of December 1989, the Founding Committee also included: Vida Ognjenović
Vida Ognjenović ( sr-cyr, Вида Огњеновић, ; born 14 August 1941) is a Serbian theater director, playwright, writer, drama professor and diplomat.
Biography
Ognjenović completed primary education in the town of Vrbas, before going ...
, Ljubomir Tadić, Mirko Petrović, Đurđe Ninković
Djurdje Ninković (born 1942) is a lawyer, legal commentator and political activist who was a founding member of the Democratic Party (DS) in Serbia who joined the Founding Committee of the Democratic Party in December 1989. From late December th ...
, Nikola Milošević, Aleksandar-Saša Petrović, Aleksandar Ilić, Vladan Vasilijević, and Zvezdana Popović.
In the first two weeks of January the Founding Committee drafted the political program of the soon to be re-established Democratic Party which was published on 18 January 1990 as the "Pismo o namerama" (Letter of intent) to inform the public of the democratic principles and policies which the Democratic Party would pursue. The Letter of Intent was signed by all the 22 Members of the Founding Committee.
Throughout January 1990 the Founding Committee worked on publicising the party's proposed political program and its democratic aims. It worked on gathering potential party members to ensure a successful founding conference. It finally organised the founding conference of the renewed Democratic Party on 3 February 1990 at which the party was formally re-established by several hundred founder members, including former members from the 1940s and a younger generation of new members. At the founding conference the founder members elected the party President, the Executive and General Committees tasked with running the party. Following the founding conference the party started establishing local committees and networks throughout Serbia.
However, the Democratic Party was strictly an illegal organisation until late spring of 1990 when it was finally given permission to be formally registered as a political party by the Communist regime. At that time the party newspaper ''Demokratija'' (Democracy) was also established to inform the public of what the DS was trying to achieve, since the Communist controlled state media did not give any coverage to it.
Even before the founding conference was held, differences over the Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
issue surfaced. The party presidency was contested between Dragoljub Mićunović
Dragoljub Mićunović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Мићуновић ; born 14 July 1930) is a Serbian politician and philosopher. As one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he served as its leader from 1990 to 1994, and as the president of ...
and Kosta Čavoški, two of DS' most prominent members. At the DS founding conference on 3 February 1990, Mićunović was elected president while Čavoški became the Executive Board (Izvršni odbor) president. pDesimir Tošić and Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the prime minister of Serbia from 2004 to 2008.
...
were named vice presidents.
1990–1994: First Period
Under Mićunović, DS did not have strong leadership, as the longtime university professor preferred a relaxed intellectual approach to a rigid party structure.
DS members participated in the first anti-government protests in 1990. Čavoški resigned his post as the party's executive board president on 29 September 1990; Zoran Đinđić
Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđić ...
got named to the post.
At the parliamentary elections on 9 December 1990, the party was on the ballot in 176 of 250 electoral districts, getting 374,887 votes that translated into 7 assembly seats.
Only several days prior to the elections, Čavoški left DS thinking that the conditions for a free and fair elections were not yet present in Serbia. Other DS members like Nikola Milošević, Vladan Vasilijević, and film director Saša Petrović accompanied him. By January 1991 they formed the Serbian Liberal Party
The Serbian Liberal Party ( sr-cyr, Српска либерална странка, Srpska liberalna stranka; abbr. СЛС or SLS) was a classical-liberal, nationalist and monarchist political party in Serbia.
Background
The Democratic Party (D ...
(SLS), a conservative liberal
Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with Conservatism, conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement.Michael Gallagher (academic), M ...
party that favoured a monarchy instead of a republic and pushed for the rehabilitation of the politically persecuted Serbs that were sentenced, exiled, or executed by the post-World War II communist Yugoslav authorities. SLS also wanted the Serbian government to set up an office whose job would be to comprehensively work on collecting, marking, and commemorating the Serbian victims of the Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
, World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Čavoški's lasting legacy in the party was that its party program stated until 1997 that "DS is working towards the re-unification of Serbian lands".
On the other hand, DS had a very liberal economic program courtesy of economists Vladimir Gligorov and Slobodan Inić who were able to push it through as party policy, despite being in minority, because most other members were not really concerned with economic matters.[NIN 2010, p.17] Both Giligorov and Inić left DS when the party decided to throw its support behind Prince Tomislav Karađorđević at the FR Yugoslavia 1992 presidential elections.
In July 1992, a much more serious fragmentation of the Democratic Party occurred when a large group led by Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the prime minister of Serbia from 2004 to 2008.
...
left to establish the Democratic Party of Serbia
The New Democratic Party of Serbia ( sr, Нова демократска странка Србије, Nova demokratska stranka Srbije, , NDSS or New DSS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia.
Initially known and formed as Democ ...
(DSS). Overnight, DS lost 40% of its membership, including such prominent members as Mirko Petrović, Đurđe Ninković
Djurdje Ninković (born 1942) is a lawyer, legal commentator and political activist who was a founding member of the Democratic Party (DS) in Serbia who joined the Founding Committee of the Democratic Party in December 1989. From late December th ...
, Vladeta Janković, Draško Petrović
Draško Petrović, Master's degree in Europe, MSc ( sr-cyr, Драшко Петровић; born 1965 in Belgrade) is a Serbian politician and businessman.
He graduated from the University of Belgrade's University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Law S ...
and Vladan Batić. The immediate issue behind the split was their dissatisfaction over the DS decision not to enter the DEPOS coalition. A deeper cause was differences over the handling of the so-called ''national question'' that had been brewing within DS for quite some time.
Later that year at the 1992 parliamentary elections on 20 December (scheduled early following 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 ...
, among other things due to disintegration of Socialist Federal Republic of 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 ...
and formation of the new state entity Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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 ...
), DS fared poorly with 196,347 votes, down by almost two hundred thousand, giving the party only 6 assembly seats.
This is when the energetic 40-year-old DS founding member Zoran Đinđić
Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđić ...
began to assert himself at a time when DS was burdened by dwindling membership, only 6 MPs in the assembly and unclear political positions. Though Mićunović was still formally president, Đinđić increasingly became the face of DS. By summer 1993 Đinđić aggressively set about implementing his vision. His primary concern became establishing strong party infrastructure on the ground through a network of municipal branches that answered to party central in Belgrade. Zoran Živković, future short-time Serbian Prime Minister, who was at the time a DS member in the local Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
branch put it as follows:
Đinđić got his first chance to gauge the results of his approach before he formally became its president. In October 1993, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
dissolved the parliament, scheduling a parliamentary elections for 19 December 1993. As a result, DS main board met twice that month, on 16 and 30 October, deciding that Đinđić rather than party president Mićunović will lead the election campaign. Supported by a carefully crafted media and marketing campaign featuring memorable "Pošteno" slogan, DS recorded its best result to date with 497,582 votes, giving them 29 assembly seats. However, despite improvement over previous elections, the party was still well behind Milošević's SPS, DEPOS coalition (headed by Vuk Drašković
Vuk Drašković ( sr-cyrl, Вук Драшковић, ; born 29 November 1946) is a Serbian writer and politician. He is the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, and served as the war-time Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
's SPO), and Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician, founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS); he was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribuna ...
's SRS.
Ahead of the December 1993 parliamentary elections DS was in advanced negotiations with SPS about forming a coalition between the two parties. Following the summer 1993 disintegration of SPS' coalition with SRS, Milošević turned to DS. Opposed by party leader Mićunović, the idea of a coalition with Milošević found a more receptive audience among some other DS members, including Đinđić. The issue of the DS' coalition negotiations with Milošević is still controversial with certain DS members such as Zoran Živković denying that they ever took place. Others like Mićunović and high-ranking member Goran Vesić claimed they had indeed taken place.
1994–2003: Second Period
The new balance of power within DS led to an early party conference. At the party conference on 5 January 1994 in Belgrade, Đinđić became president, pushing out personal political mentor Mićunović who was forced into resigning as the local party branches turned against him. The (in)famous quip uttered at the conference by 41-year-old Đinđić about 63-year-old Mićunović was: "Mićunović's time has passed.... He's no Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...
who sings better now than when she was thirty". In his embittered speech at the conference during which he resigned his post, Mićunović characterized the manner of Đinđić's takeover of DS as the "combination of Machiavellianism and revolutionary technique". In this internal party showdown with Mićunović, Đinđić also benefited from some discreet support in the Milošević-controlled state-run media. Though many DS members didn't like the way this transfer of power was executed, symbolically referring to it as "oceubistvo" (patricide
Patricide is (i) the act of killing one's own father, or (ii) a person who kills their own father or stepfather. The word ''patricide'' derives from the Greek word ''pater'' (father) and the Latin suffix ''-cida'' (cutter or killer). Patricide ...
), many others such as founding member Gojko Đogo
Gojko Đogo (Serbian Cyrillic: Гојко Ђого; born 21 November 1940) is a Serb poet.
A dissident, he was imprisoned in SFR Yugoslavia during the 1980s on the basis of verbal offence for "defaming the memory of Josip Broz Tito".
In Decembe ...
found benefits in Đinđić's agile approach:
Following Mićunović's resignation, party vice-president Vida Ognjenović also resigned. Getting in alongside new party president Đinđić were new party vice-presidents, Miroljub Labus
Miroljub Labus (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирољуб Лабус; born 28 February 1947) is a Serbian economist and former politician. He is currently a University of Belgrade professor, lecturing political economy at the University of Belgrade Faculty ...
and Miodrag Perišić, while Ivan Vujačić became the new overseeing board president. Ljiljana Lučić became new executive board president and Srđa Popović became the president of the party's youth wing.
Đinđić managed to quickly move DS away from what he occasionally referred to in derisive terms as the "debate club" towards a modern and efficient organizational structure that functioned according to a business management model. On 12 May 1994, the party's main board met to discuss the decision by the two DS members, Slobodan Radulović and Radoje Đukić, to enter the SPS government of Mirko Marjanović
Mirko Marjanović ( sr-cyrl, Мирко Марјановић, ; 27 July 1937 – 21 February 2006) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 1994 to 2000.
Biography
Marjanović was born on 27 July 1937 in Knin in ...
. Both were expelled from DS, while the party's political council president Slobodan Vučković Slobodan Vučković ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Вучковић; born 30 September 1941) is a lawyer and former politician in Serbia. He was a prominent opponent of Slobodan Milošević's government in the 1990s and served for three terms in the N ...
resigned. Another early party conference was called and held on 25 June 1994 in Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...
; this time the party elected its all new political council with Radomir Šaper
Radomir “Raša” Šaper ( sr-cyr, Радомир Шапер; 9 December 1925 – 6 December 1998), was a Serbian professor and Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy of the University of Belgrade, a member of the Yugoslav nation ...
as the new council president.
The following year, on 15 April 1995, regular party conference was held and Đinđić got re-elected as party president. Labus and Perišić stayed vice-presidents while Slobodan Gavrilović and Zoran Živković became vice-presidents as well. Disappointed and marginalized ever since his resignation from the position of the party president 14 months earlier, Mićunović left DS after this conference, founding non-governmental organization Centre for Democracy that eventually transformed into Democratic Centre (DC). Others that followed him to DC were Desimir Tošić, Vida Ognjenović
Vida Ognjenović ( sr-cyr, Вида Огњеновић, ; born 14 August 1941) is a Serbian theater director, playwright, writer, drama professor and diplomat.
Biography
Ognjenović completed primary education in the town of Vrbas, before going ...
, Bora Kuzmanović, as well as many other prominent, though mostly older, DS party members. Mićunović offered the following as his view of the events of the period:
Though a much better organized party under Đinđić, DS still experienced trouble formulating a clear stance on the national question. Đinđić's own actions perhaps made a good illustration of this seemingly confused standing on both sides of the issue. Đinđić basically refused to acknowledge the national question as a real issue, making not a single mention of the Serbs living in other parts of the former Yugoslavia in his book ''Yugoslavia as an Unfinished State''. At the same time he maintained close links with 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 ...
war leader Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tr ...
, visiting him at Pale
Pale may refer to:
Jurisdictions
* Medieval areas of English conquest:
** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558)
** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland
*Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...
in February 1994 while American forces threatened to bombard Bosnian Serb positions. This seeming flip-flopping on the national issue was effectively used by DS' political opponents and Đinđić's critics across the political spectrum.
As the Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian language, Serbian and Bosnian language, Bosnian: ''Dejto ...
in November 1995, in addition to his grip on power domestically, Milošević enjoyed stable support from the international community that recognized him as the "peace and stability factor in the Balkans". The next chance to dent his armour came at the November 1996 municipal elections, which the DS entered as part of an opposition coalition called Zajedno featuring SPO, DSS, and GSS. Democratic Party (at the time with a total of only 7,000 members across Serbia) joined Zajedno against Đinđić's personal wishes as he got outvoted on three separate occasions when the decision was discussed internally.[NIN 2010, p.18] Following opposition victories in key Serbian cities such as Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
and Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...
, Milošević refused to recognize the results, sparking three months of peaceful protest marches
A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...
by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Under pressure, Milošević acknowledged the results and on 21 February 1997 Đinđić got inaugurated as the mayor of Belgrade.
Later that year Đinđić made a bold decision to boycott the parliamentary elections on 21 December 1997, thus breaking up the Zajedno coalition.
In 1998, most of the student leaders of 1996–97 street protests (gathered around an organization called Studentski politički klub (SPK)) joined DS. This included leaders such as Čedomir Jovanović
Čedomir "Čeda" Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Чедомир "Чеда" Јовановић, ; born 13 April 1971) is a Serbian politician and businessman.
During the presidency of Slobodan Milošević in Yugoslavia, Jovanović became one of the student l ...
, Čedomir Antić
Čedomir Antić ( sr-Cyrl, Чедомир Антић, ; born 9 October 1974) is a Serbian historian and political activist.
Student activism
During the 1996–1997 protests in Serbia, Antić was the long-standing chairman of the protest's Main ...
, and Igor Žeželj joined the party.
Milošević's fall in October 2000 occurred after further street protests. The Democratic Party was the largest party of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije), commonly referred to as DOS, was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist ...
block that won 64.7% of the votes in the December 2000 elections, getting 176 of 250 seats in the Parliamentary Assembly. In 2001 Đinđić was appointed Prime Minister of Serbia at the head of the first post-Milošević government on 25 January 2001.
On 12 March 2003, Đinđić was assassinated by a sniper's bullet while entering the Serbian government building. Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
was elected new president of Democratic Party in 2004.
2004–2012: Third Period
At the party conference on 23 February 2004 in Belgrade, Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
became president, defeating deputy president Zoran Živković (who succeeded Đinđić as Prime Minister) by a landslide. Getting in alongside new party president Tadić were new party vice-presidents, Nenad Bogdanović
Nenad Bogdanović ( sr-cyr, Ненад Богдановић, ; 12 May 1954 – 27 September 2007) was a Serbian politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2004 to 2007.
Education and career
Bogdanović was born on 12 May 1954. He complet ...
, Bojan Pajtić
Bojan Pajtić ( sr-cyr, Бојан Пајтић; born 2 May 1970) is a Serbian politician who served as the President of the Government of Vojvodina from 2004 to 2016.
In May 2014 he became the leader of Serbia's Democratic Party. Pajtić holds ...
, Dušan Petrović
Dušan Petrović ( sr-cyr, Душан Петровић, ; born 8 September 1966) is a Serbian former politician, a former long-time member of Democratic Party (DS) and the former Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management bet ...
, and Slobodan Gavrilović.
Tadić contended in the 2004 Serbian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on Sunday, 13 June 2004. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on Sunday, 27 June. Boris Tadić, the pro-western Democratic Party's candidate, was the ev ...
in the same year, and won it while Democratic party was still in opposition in parliament.
In the 2007 parliamentary election, the coalition surrounding the Democratic Party received 915,854 popular votes or 22.71%, and thus won 64 out of 250 seats in parliament. Three of its seats went to the Sanjak Democratic Party, which formed a club with DS under Dušan Petrović
Dušan Petrović ( sr-cyr, Душан Петровић, ; born 8 September 1966) is a Serbian former politician, a former long-time member of Democratic Party (DS) and the former Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management bet ...
as president and Milan Marković
Milan Marković ( sr-cyr, Милан Марковић, born 7 September 1970) is a Serbian lawyer, professor and politician. He served as the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government from 2007 to 2011 and as the Minister of H ...
as vice-president. DS became a part of new parliamentary majority
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
, its members took 11 out of 25 ministerial position, as well as financial minister Mirko Cvetković
Mirko Cvetković ( sr-Cyr, Мирко Цветковић, ; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and former politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2008 to 2012 and as finance minister from 2007 to 2008, and again from ...
, who was proposed to that position by this party, although not a member.
Tadić was re-elected at the 2008 Serbian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Serbia on January 20 and February 3, 2008. Incumbent President Boris Tadić was re-elected as president in the second round with 51% of the vote, defeating challenger Tomislav Nikolić.
The elections for presid ...
.
In the 2008 parliamentary election, the pro-European bloc led by DS received 38.5% of the popular vote, translating into 102 seats in the Serbian National Assembly, making it the largest party bloc in parliament, as well as the leading party in the new majority
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster
Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija
The Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija ( sr, / ), was the assembly of the association of local governments created by the municipal authorities in Kosovo elected in the May 11, 2008 muni ...
, but refused to sit until the situation in Kosovo stabilized.
In the 2012 parliamentary election, the Choice for a Better Life
Choice for a Better Life ( sr, Избор за бољи живот, Izbor za bolji život) was a political coalition in Serbia, headed by Boris Tadić and his Democratic Party. They competed in the 2012 parliamentary election and won 22.07% of th ...
coalition gathered around the Democratic Party received 22.11% of the popular vote, but does not participate in current parliamentary majority
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
. During the same election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
, Tadić lost his reelection bid. As a consequence of this, an extraordinary party assembly session was held on 25 November 2012 and Tadić was replaced as party leader by his main opponent Dragan Đilas
Dragan Đilas ( sr-cyr, Драган Ђилас, , born 22 February 1967) is a Serbian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013.
From 25 November 2012 until 31 May 2014, he served as the President of the ...
, mayor of Belgrade. Tadić was, in turn, elected to be the party's honorary president.
2012–2018: Fourth Period
At the party conference on 25 November 2012 in Belgrade, then-Mayor of Belgrade
The Mayor of Belgrade ( sr, Градоначелник Београда / ''Gradonačelnik Beograda'') is the head of the City of Belgrade (the capital and largest city of Serbia). The Mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive ...
and deputy president of the party Dragan Đilas
Dragan Đilas ( sr-cyr, Драган Ђилас, , born 22 February 1967) is a Serbian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013.
From 25 November 2012 until 31 May 2014, he served as the President of the ...
was elected president. For the first time in the party's history, the number of vice-presidents was increased from 5 to 7, and the function of honorary president was established. The new vice-presidents were Miodrag Rakić, Nataša Vučković
Nataša Vučković ( sr-Cyrl, Наташа Вучковић; born 11 January 1967) is a Serbian politician. She served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2007 to 2020 as a member of the Democratic Party (Serbia), Democratic Party (''Demokrat ...
, Dejan Nikolić
Dejan Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Николић; born July 1, 1979) is a politician in Serbia. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia since 2008 as a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life and career
Nikolić was born in Sokoban ...
, Vesna Martinović, Jovan Marković and Goran Ćirić, while Bojan Pajtić
Bojan Pajtić ( sr-cyr, Бојан Пајтић; born 2 May 1970) is a Serbian politician who served as the President of the Government of Vojvodina from 2004 to 2016.
In May 2014 he became the leader of Serbia's Democratic Party. Pajtić holds ...
was re-elected as vice-president. Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
was appointed by acclamation to the new post of honorary president, and Dragoljub Mićunović
Dragoljub Mićunović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Мићуновић ; born 14 July 1930) is a Serbian politician and philosopher. As one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he served as its leader from 1990 to 1994, and as the president of ...
was re-elected president of the political council.
On 27 December 2012, the party's main board decided that all the ministers who served in the former government should resign as MPs. Most of the former ministers agreed to resign as MPs. Unlike other former ministers Goran Bogdanović, Božidar Đelić
Božidar Đelić ( sr-cyr, Божидар Ђелић, ; born 1 April 1965) is a Serbian economist and former politician. A longtime member of the Democratic Party, he was highly positioned in politics of Serbia after the overthrow of Slobodan ...
and Dragan Šutanovac
Dragan Šutanovac ( sr-cyrl, Драган Шутановац, ; born 24 July 1968) is a Serbian politician, former leader of the Democratic Party and former Minister of Defence in the Government of Serbia.
He supports the accession of Serbia to ...
were allowed to stay MPs under the claim that the party needs them in parliament. Milan Marković
Milan Marković ( sr-cyr, Милан Марковић, born 7 September 1970) is a Serbian lawyer, professor and politician. He served as the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government from 2007 to 2011 and as the Minister of H ...
left the party after resigning as MP. Dušan Petrović
Dušan Petrović ( sr-cyr, Душан Петровић, ; born 8 September 1966) is a Serbian former politician, a former long-time member of Democratic Party (DS) and the former Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management bet ...
and Vuk Jeremić
Vuk Jeremić ( sr-cyr, Вук Јеремић, ; born 3 July 1975) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2013 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia from 200 ...
refused to give up their parliamentary seats.
Due to their opposition, the party's executive board decided to expel Petrović on 31 January 2013, and Jeremić on 14 February 2013. After the decision to expel him, Jeremić filed suit at the Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
, claiming that the party's decision is unconstitutional. After the rejection of the appeal by the Constitutional Court, Jeremić complied with the decision and left the party but kept his parliamentary seat.
During this period, the party leadership considered that the party should support the current government in resolving the Kosovo issue.
On 30 January 2014, the honorary president of the Democratic Party, former party leader and former President of Serbia Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
left the party. He was a member of the party since its re-founding in 1990. Others that followed him were Jelena Trivan, Snežana Malović and vice-president Miodrag Rakić, as well as a number of MPs and former ministers. They founded a new party called the New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* t ...
.
In the 2014 parliamentary election, the Democratic Party made a coalition with the New Party, Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina
The Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina ( hr, Demokratski savez Hrvata u Vojvodini, DSHV; sr-cyrl, Демократски савез Хрвата у Војводини; ДСХВ) is a political party in Serbia representing the Croat eth ...
, Rich Serbia and United Trade Unions of Serbia "Unity" under the name of "With the Democratic Party for Democratic Serbia". This coalition won 6.03% of the popular vote and 19 MPs, out of which DS received 17. After the end of the parliamentary election, Dragan Đilas announced an extraordinary party assembly session and ran for re-election as the president of the party. His opponent was deputy president Bojan Pajtić
Bojan Pajtić ( sr-cyr, Бојан Пајтић; born 2 May 1970) is a Serbian politician who served as the President of the Government of Vojvodina from 2004 to 2016.
In May 2014 he became the leader of Serbia's Democratic Party. Pajtić holds ...
.
At the party conference on 31 May 2014 in Belgrade, then-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 the Government of Vojvodina
The Provincial Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ( sr, Покрајинска влада Аутономне покрајине Војводине / Pokrajinska vlada Autonomne pokrajine Vojvodine) is the executive organ of the Aut ...
and deputy president of the party Bojan Pajtić
Bojan Pajtić ( sr-cyr, Бојан Пајтић; born 2 May 1970) is a Serbian politician who served as the President of the Government of Vojvodina from 2004 to 2016.
In May 2014 he became the leader of Serbia's Democratic Party. Pajtić holds ...
was elected president. Borislav Stefanović, Nataša Vučković
Nataša Vučković ( sr-Cyrl, Наташа Вучковић; born 11 January 1967) is a Serbian politician. She served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2007 to 2020 as a member of the Democratic Party (Serbia), Democratic Party (''Demokrat ...
, Goran Ješić, Maja Videnović and Gordana Čomić
Gordana Čomić ( sr-Cyrl, Гордана Чомић; born 16 June 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as minister for human and minority rights and social dialogue from 2020 to 2022. A long-time member of the Democratic Party (DS), she was ...
were elected vice-presidents, while Dragoljub Mićunović
Dragoljub Mićunović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Мићуновић ; born 14 July 1930) is a Serbian politician and philosopher. As one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he served as its leader from 1990 to 1994, and as the president of ...
was re-elected president of the political council.
After 2016 parliamentary election, Pajtić was replaced, due to the poor results, since DS obtained fewer number of seats, albeit with a larger number of votes. Party membership voted for Dragan Šutanovac
Dragan Šutanovac ( sr-cyrl, Драган Шутановац, ; born 24 July 1968) is a Serbian politician, former leader of the Democratic Party and former Minister of Defence in the Government of Serbia.
He supports the accession of Serbia to ...
as Pajtić's replacement. Goran Salak, Branislav Lečić
Branislav Lečić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Лечић; born 25 August 1955) is a Serbian actor, director, academic, writer, politician. Known for his versatile portrayals of emotionally vulnerable characters with strong senses of moral justic ...
, Nada Kolundžija, Tamara Tripić and Jovan Marković were elected vice-presidents.
In the 2017 presidential election, DS opted not to have its own candidate, rather it supported Saša Janković
Saša Janković ( sr-cyr, Саша Јанковић, ; born 27 April 1970) is a Serbian lawyer, journalist, human rights activist and politician who served as the National Ombudsman of the Republic of Serbia between 2007 and 2017. He resigned his ...
, helping him obtain regulatory required number of signatures, campaigned for him, and enabled him to form a rather united opposition front against Vučić Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Вучић, () is a South Slavic surname.
Notable people with the surname include:
* Aleksandar Vučić (born 1970), Serbian politician, President of Serbia
* Borka Vučić (1926–2009), Serbian politician, was acting Presid ...
, as government's candidate. Janković finished second with more than 16% of the vote. After the election, Janković refused to join the Democratic Party, and formed his own political organization. This shattered any ideas of a strong opposition, and left the opposition even more fragmented.
2018–present: Fifth Period
For the Belgrade City Assembly elections, due in March 2018, DS agreed to form a coalition with SDS, a party of DS' former president, Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
, who then called for restoration of the Democratic party. However, the party was heavily defeated in the election, and leaders of Belgrade party branch were the first to resign. Soon, Šutanovac and the whole leadership also resigned. On 2 June 2018, Zoran Lutovac
Zoran Lutovac ( sr-cyr, Зоран Лутовац; born 7 August 1964) is Serbian politician and former diplomat who has been the president of the Democratic Party since 2018. A former ambassador of Serbia to Montenegro between 2008 and 2013, he h ...
was elected new president of the Party.
On 2 September 2018 DS formed a coalition called Alliance for Serbia
The Alliance for Serbia ( sr, Савез за Србију, Savez za Srbiju) was a major extra-parliamentary catch-all opposition alliance of political parties in Serbia that was founded in September 2018. The alliance boycotted the 2020 parlia ...
along with other opposition parties.
In May 2019 DS formed a United Democratic Party together with Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
led by Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
and Together for Serbia
Together for Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Заједно за Србију, Zajedno za Srbiju, ZZS) was a Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It was formed by Dušan Petrović in 2012, and he l ...
led by Nebojša Zelenović
Nebojša Zelenović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Зеленовић; born 15 July 1975) is a Serbian politician who served as mayor of Šabac from 2014 to 2020. A former member of the Democratic Party, he presided over the Together for Serbia party ...
. In late 2019 DS declared boycott of next parliamentary election. At the same time, some former party officials started to openly criticize party leadership. This fraction includes now former MPs Balša Božović
Balša Božović ( sr-cyr, Балша Божовић; born 10 May 1983 in Belgrade) is a Serbian politician, member of Democratic Party, and he was President of Democratic Youth from 21 Jun 2009 until 23 July 2013. He was the president of the DS ...
, Aleksandra Jerkov, Radoslav Milojičić
Radoslav Milojičić "Kena" ( sr-cyr, Радослав Милојичић "Кена"; born 1984) is a Serbian politician who is the founder and leader of the political party Serbian Left (SL). He served as a member of the National Assembly of Se ...
, Goran Ćirić, Nataša Vučković
Nataša Vučković ( sr-Cyrl, Наташа Вучковић; born 11 January 1967) is a Serbian politician. She served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2007 to 2020 as a member of the Democratic Party (Serbia), Democratic Party (''Demokrat ...
as well as former ministers Slobodan Milosavljević
Slobodan St. Milosavljević ( sr-cyr, Слободан Ст. Милосављевић, born 19 November 1965) is a Serbian economist and politician.
Early life
He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics in 1990, where he al ...
, Branislav Lečić
Branislav Lečić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Лечић; born 25 August 1955) is a Serbian actor, director, academic, writer, politician. Known for his versatile portrayals of emotionally vulnerable characters with strong senses of moral justic ...
, Dragoslav Šumarac and the first president of DS Dragoljub Mićunović
Dragoljub Mićunović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Мићуновић ; born 14 July 1930) is a Serbian politician and philosopher. As one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he served as its leader from 1990 to 1994, and as the president of ...
. In December 2019 this group failed in attempt to bring down the quorum during party main board, and therefore call for a new election. They are often mark as close to former president Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology ...
. There are speculations that Tadić is willing to take back the party leadership. Vice President and mayor of Paraćin
Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is located in the valley of the Velika Morava river, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac. In 2011 the town had a p ...
Saša Paunović left the party, since he decided to run in local election. Gordana Čomić
Gordana Čomić ( sr-Cyrl, Гордана Чомић; born 16 June 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as minister for human and minority rights and social dialogue from 2020 to 2022. A long-time member of the Democratic Party (DS), she was ...
also left the party and joined newly formed Serbia 21
Serbia 21 ( sr-cyrl, Србија 21, Srbija 21, S21) is a political organization in Serbia. It was founded in early 2020 by former members of the Social Democratic Party (SDS) and Democratic Party (DS).
History
Marko Đurišić and Nenad Kon ...
. However, her party failed to pass election threshold and won only 0.95%.
After the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election DS joined the successor of Alliance for Serbia, United Opposition of Serbia
The United Opposition of Serbia ( sr, Удружена опозиција Србије, Udružena opozicija Srbije, UOPS) was a political coalition in Serbia.
It was formed in August 2020 as the direct successor of Alliance for Serbia (SzS). ...
.
Next party main board was scheduled to happen in March 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Finally, main board was held on the election day, 21 June, in Madlenianum Opera and Theatre
Madlenianum Opera and Theatre is an opera house and theatre located in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. It is the first privately owned opera and theater company both in Serbia and in Southeast Europe. It is located in Belgrade, Serbia, and was founded ...
. The session of the Main Board of the Democratic Party was interrupted by the same group that tried to bring down the quorum in December 2019. The report of the party president, Zoran Lutovac, was previously adopted. After leaving the hall, a part of the DS members called the election assembly in the hall of Madlenianum, where they stated that today's report by Zoran Lutovac was not adopted, and they also announced the elections for the new president of the DS. They formed a new organizing committee headed by Professor Vida Ognjenović. This committee plans to hold new party election in late September. However, the party leadership does not recognize them. On 28 June two parallel main boards were held: one led by Lutovac in Šabac
Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city p ...
, and second led by dissatisfied group in Belgrade with presence of Boris Tadić. On 19 August this group announced that their candidate for DS President is actor and former minister of culture Branislav Lečić
Branislav Lečić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Лечић; born 25 August 1955) is a Serbian actor, director, academic, writer, politician. Known for his versatile portrayals of emotionally vulnerable characters with strong senses of moral justic ...
. In the meantime Zoran Lutovac and Nebojša Zelenović
Nebojša Zelenović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Зеленовић; born 15 July 1975) is a Serbian politician who served as mayor of Šabac from 2014 to 2020. A former member of the Democratic Party, he presided over the Together for Serbia party ...
said that Together for Serbia will merge with Democrats as soon as the measures against coronavirus are relaxed. On 31 August Lečić, Balša Božović
Balša Božović ( sr-cyr, Балша Божовић; born 10 May 1983 in Belgrade) is a Serbian politician, member of Democratic Party, and he was President of Democratic Youth from 21 Jun 2009 until 23 July 2013. He was the president of the DS ...
, Radoslav Milojičić Kena and Slobodan Milosavljević
Slobodan St. Milosavljević ( sr-cyr, Слободан Ст. Милосављевић, born 19 November 1965) is a Serbian economist and politician.
Early life
He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics in 1990, where he al ...
were expelled form the party. On 26 September, this group organized party elections and proclaimed Branislav Lečić
Branislav Lečić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Лечић; born 25 August 1955) is a Serbian actor, director, academic, writer, politician. Known for his versatile portrayals of emotionally vulnerable characters with strong senses of moral justic ...
new party president. But so far no one has recognized him. Zoran Lutovac
Zoran Lutovac ( sr-cyr, Зоран Лутовац; born 7 August 1964) is Serbian politician and former diplomat who has been the president of the Democratic Party since 2018. A former ambassador of Serbia to Montenegro between 2008 and 2013, he h ...
received support from United Opposition of Serbia
The United Opposition of Serbia ( sr, Удружена опозиција Србије, Udružena opozicija Srbije, UOPS) was a political coalition in Serbia.
It was formed in August 2020 as the direct successor of Alliance for Serbia (SzS). ...
, Nebojša Zelenović
Nebojša Zelenović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Зеленовић; born 15 July 1975) is a Serbian politician who served as mayor of Šabac from 2014 to 2020. A former member of the Democratic Party, he presided over the Together for Serbia party ...
and Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party.
The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...
. On 22 February, refused to register Lečić as the party's legal representative and president.
After being rejected as DS President by the Ministry, Lečić and his associates formed the new movement called ''The Democrats of Serbia''. This is first party split during Zoran Lutovac's term as DS leader.
Ideology
During the period of its foundation, the Democratic Party sought to present itself as a civic
Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things:
General
*Civics, the science of comparative government
*Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community
*Civic center, a comm ...
and centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...
party aimed at affirmation of political pluralism, democratic values, mixed economy
A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economi ...
with a strong role of a market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
including Serbia's integration into the European Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
, which in 1993 was transformed into the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. The Democratic Party supported the federalization of Yugoslavia until the breakup of Yugoslavia
The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, and in its early beginning was characterized as a "catch-all party
A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
" since it contained multiple factions that ranged from the left-leaning 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 ...
faction that were represented by Mićunović and Đinđić to the stronger anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
faction led by Čavoški and Koštunica, including a minor irredentist
Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...
faction led by Đogo. The liberal faction remained in the party while conservative factions formed their parties respectively during Mićunović's leadership.
Since then, the party has been described as either centrist or centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
, social-liberal and social-democratic. It supports accession of Serbia to the European Union
The accession of Serbia to the European Union (EU) has been on the current agenda for the future enlargement of the EU since 2012, when it became a candidate for accession. Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 Decembe ...
.
Presidents of the Democratic Party (1990–present)
Provisional leadership after the assassination of Đinđić (2003–2004)
Ref:
Electoral performance
Parliamentary elections
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id:Opposition value:red legend:Opposition
Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar
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bar:Govern. color:blue width:25 mark:(line,black) align:center fontsize:8
from:03/02/1990 till:24/10/2000 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition
from:24/10/2000 till:03/03/2004 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government
from:03/03/2004 till:15/05/2007 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition
from:15/05/2007 till:27/07/2012 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government
from:27/07/2012 till:end shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition
Presidential elections
Positions held
Major positions held by Democratic Party members:
* Non-partisan but DS nominated
References
Notes
External links
About Democratic Party
Official website
Democratic Party (DS) history in Serbian
20 Years since the founding of DS article
{{Party of European Socialists
1990 establishments in Serbia
Full member parties of the Socialist International
Liberal parties in Serbia
Political parties established in 1990
Parties related to the Party of European Socialists
Political parties in Yugoslavia
Pro-European political parties in Serbia
Progressive Alliance
Social democratic parties in Serbia
Radical parties