The Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative ( sh, Udruženje za jugoslovensku/jugoslavensku demokratsku inicijativu, UJDI) was a

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 ...

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 ...

. It is widely considered the first independent all-Yugoslav political movement. UJDI's basic tenets were the transformation of the state through democratization, freedom of thought and political activity, including free multi-party elections, as well as the support for Yugoslavia as a united federal state, as opposed to centralism and separatism.

History

In January 1989, UJDI's co-founder Predrag Matvejević described its goal as "making the Socialist Alliance f Working People of Yugoslaviainto a kind of an alternative party, a socialist one, in which alternative solutions and alternative cadres could arise, as well as the rectification of everything about the League of Communists f Yugoslaviathat was not working and was not good". UJDI was founded on February 2, 1989, in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, by a group of left-leaning intellectuals, notably its first president was Branko Horvat, the second president was

Nebojša Popov Nebojša (Cyrillic script: Небојша ) is a Slavic given name, meaning "fearless". People with the name include: In arts and entertainment *Nebojša Bradić (born 1956), Serbian theater director *Nebojša Glogovac (born 1969), award-winning ...

, its director was

Žarko Puhovski Žarko Puhovski (born 15 December 1946) is a Croatian professor, political analyst, philosopher and intellectual, former president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee. Biography Puhovski was born in Zagreb on 15 December 1946. He was born to a ...

and the members included Predrag Matvejević, Abdulah Sidran, Bogdan Bogdanović,

Milan Kangrga Milan Kangrga (1 May 1923 – 25 April 2008) was a Croatian and Yugoslav philosopher who was one of the leading thinkers in the Praxis School of thought which originated in the 1960s in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Biography Kan ...

Lev Kreft Lev Kreft (born 15 September 1951) is a Slovenian politician, former Member of Parliament, editor, philosopher and sociologist. Biography He was elected into the first Parliament of the Republic of Slovenia in 1992 and acted as Vice Preside ...

Shkëlzen Maliqi Shkëlzen Maliqi (born 26 October 1947) is a Kosovar philosopher, art critic, political analyst and intellectual. During the early 1990s, Shkelzen was also directly involved in politics. He was one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party of ...

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 ...

, Koča Popović,

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 ...

, Karlo Štajner,

Ljubiša Ristić Ljubiša ( sr, Љубиша) is Serbian masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: *Ljubiša Beara (1939–2017), Bosnian Serb who participated in the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina *Ljubiša Broćić (1911–1995), Serbian football manage ...

Božidar Gajo Sekulić Božidar (Bulgarian, Macedonian, sr-cyr, Божидар, pl, Bożydar, sometimes transliterated as Bojidar, or Bozhidar) is a Slavic given name meaning "Divine gift". It is a calque of the Greek name Theodore, itself derived from the Greek word " ...

, Rudi Supek,

Ljubomir Tadić Ljubomir "Ljuba" Tadić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир "Љуба" Тадић; 14 May 1925 – 31 December 2013) was a Serbian academic and politician. He was born in Smriječno village near Plužine, then in the Kingdom Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. H ...

Dubravka Ugrešić Dubravka Ugrešić (; born 27 March 1949) is a Yugoslav and later Croatian writer. A graduate of University of Zagreb, she has been based in Amsterdam since 1996 and refuses to identify as a Croatian writer. Early life and education Ugrešić ...

Tibor Várady Tibor Várady (born May 25, 1939, Zrenjanin Yugoslavia) is a legal scholar. He has also earned recognition as a writer. He was one of the founders of the Hungarian language avant-garde literary magazine "Új Symposion" published in Novi Sad (Yugo ...

Predrag Vranicki Predrag Vranicki (21 January 192231 January 2002) was a Marxist Humanist and member of the Praxis school in the 1960s in Yugoslavia. Life Vranicki was born in 1922, in Benkovac, Croatia. During World War II he fought with the National Liberation Ar ...

Nenad Zakošek Nenad (; Cyrillic script: Ненад) is a male personal name of Slavic origin common in countries that speak Slavic languages. It is more widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and North Macedonia than in other count ...

and

Jug Grizelj A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...

. A

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n affiliate of the party was also founded under the leadership of the sociologist

Rastko Močnik Rastko Močnik (born 27 August 1944) is a Slovenian sociologist, psychoanalyst, literary theorist, translator and political activist. Together with Slavoj Žižek and Mladen Dolar, he is considered one of the co-founders of the Ljubljana sch ...

,Božo Repe, Slovenci v osemdesetih letih, (Ljubljana 2001), 51. but it ceased functioning even before the 1990 multi-party elections. In the

1990 Serbian parliamentary election General elections were held in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent federal unit of SFR Yugoslavia, in December 1990. The presidential elections and the first round of the parliamentary elections were held on 9 December, whilst a second ...

, it obtained 0.5% and won 1 seat by

. In the 1990 Serbian presidential election,

Ivan Đurić Ivan Đurić ( sr-cyr, Иван Ђурић; 30 October 1947 – 23 November 1997) was a Serbian writer, professor, historian and politician. Biography Đurić was born on 30 October 1947 to parents Dušan S. Đurić (1920–1997) and Ivana (née B ...

ran as the common candidate of UJDI and the Union of Reform Forces and won 5.5% of the vote, finishing in the third place. In 1992, after 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 ...

, its Serbian branch merged into the Civil Alliance of Serbia.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control Political parties in Yugoslavia 1989 establishments in Yugoslavia 1992 disestablishments Left-wing parties