Conservatism in Serbia
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This article gives an overview of conservatism in Serbia ( sr, Конзервативизам). It is limited to conservative parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a conservative party.


Introduction

Conservatism has been a major force in Serbia since the 19th century.


Timeline


From Constitutionalists to Progressives

*1838: The '' Defenders of the Constitution'' (''Ustavobranitelji'') emerged as a political movement. They defend the 1838 Turkish Constitution and are against the autocratic rule of
Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia Prince Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Обреновић I, Miloš Obrenović I; ; 18 March 1780 or 1783 – 26 September 1860) born Miloš Teodorović ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Теодоровић; ), also known as Miloš the ...
. *1861: The
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
is formed, emphasising the greater power of the Royal Council over the National Assembly. The Party supports Mihailo Obrenović III of Serbia. *1881: Serbian Progressive Party (''Srpska napredna stranka'') is formed. The Party is liberal conservative and carries the slogan ‘Law, Liberty, Progress’. *1914: A faction seceded as the Conservative Party (''Konzervativna stranka''), which supports a standing army,
bicameral parliament Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
and good ties with Austria-Hungary. *1919: The party merged into 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 ...
(''Demokratska stranka'')


People's Radical Party

The People's Radical Party ''(Narodna radikalna stranka'') was founded in 1881 as a radical party but from 1919 it evolved into a conservative direction *1935: A wing seceded as the ⇒ Yugoslav Radical Union *1945: The party is banned


Yugoslav Radical Union

*1935: A wing seceded from the ⇒ People's Radical Party and constituted the
Yugoslav Radical Union The Yugoslav Radical Union (Serbian language, Serbian: ''Jugoslovenska radikalna zajednica'', Југословенска радикална заједница; sl, Jugoslovanska radikalna skupnost, Croatian language, Croatian: ''Jugoslavenska rad ...
(''Jugoslovenska radikalna zajednica'') *1941: The party ceased to exist


Yugoslav National Movement

*1935: Yugoslav National Movement (''Jugoslovenski narodni pokret Zbor'')


Serbian Renewal Movement

*1990: Serbian Renewal Movement (''Srpski pokret obnove'') is founded *1997: A faction and in 1998 formed New Serbia (''Nova Srbija'') *2005: A group seceded as the
Serbian Democratic Renewal Movement The Serbian Democratic Renewal Movement ( sr, Српски Демократски Покрет Обнове, СДПО / Srpski Demokratski Pokret Obnove, SDPO) was a monarchist political party in Serbia. The SDPO was formed in 2005, after a split i ...
(''Srpski demokratski pokret obnove'')


Democratic Party of Serbia

* Democratic Party of Serbia was formed as a conservative split from 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 ...
(DS) in 1992, and has played a key role in the opposition during the 1990s. It was a part of the "Together" coalition and was later a founding member of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). *1997: A faction seceded as the
Democratic Christian Party of Serbia The Christian Democratic Party of Serbia ( sr, Демохришћанска Странка Србије, Demohrišćanska Stranka Srbije; abbr. ДХСС, DHSS) was a List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. History The par ...
('' Demohrišćanska stranka Srbije '') *Its first leader, Vojislav Koštunica, was elected president of Yugoslavia in 2000, a role which he served until 2003. *In the 2003 parliamentary election, the DSS won 17.7% of the popular vote, translating into 53 seats in the parliament. Of these 53 seats, three went to the
People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...
(NDS), one to 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 ...
and one to the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). After the election DSS managed to form
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
and Koštunica became Prime Minister of Serbia *2004: The ⇒ People's Democratic Party merged into the Democratic Party of Serbia *In the 2007 parliamentary election, DSS won 47 seats in coalition with New Serbia receiving 667,615 votes or 16.55% of the total popular vote. DSS itself received 33 seats in the parliament they formed the
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
with DS and G17 Plus with Koštunica retaining his position as Prime Minister of Serbia *In the early 2008 parliamentary election held in May 2008 following the self-proclaimed declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo, the DSS won 30 seats in the National Assembly in coalition with New Serbia. It won 480,987 votes representing 11.62% of the electorate. In coalition with New Serbia 2008–10, it formed the second largest opposition block in the Serbian parliament *The party competed independently in the 2012 parliamentary elections in May 2012 and received around 7% of the popular vote (273,532 votes) translating into 21 Members of Parliament. *In the aftermath of 2014 parliamentary elections party failed to pass the electoral threshold and for the first time in its history it failed to enter parliament *In 2014
Sanda Rašković Ivić Dr. Sanda Rašković Ivić ( sr-cyrl, Санда Рашковић Ивић, ; born 8 January 1956) is a Serbian psychiatrist, psychotherapist and politician. From 2014 to 2016, she was the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. She was comm ...
was elected president *In 2014, founder and first president of DSS Vojislav Koštunica left the party over its abandonment of the idea of political neutrality *They participated in the 2016 parliamentary elections in the coalition with Dveri and received 5.04 percentage of the vote returning to parliament and gaining 6 seats *Sanda Rašković Ivić party president was expelled from party membership in 2016 after which Miloš Jovanović was elected president *DSS candidate in for president in 2017 presidential election was Aleksandar Popović who ended up gaining just around 1% of the popular vote (38,167 votes) *DSS participated in the 2020 parliamentary elections and failed to pass the electoral threshold winning 2.24% of the popular vote (72,085 votes) *On 26 January 2021, DSS and the
Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia The Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia ( sr, link=, Покрет обнове Краљевине Србије, Pokret obnove Kraljevine Srbije; abbr. ПОКС or POKS) is a monarchist and national-conservative political party ...
(POKS) signed an agreement on joint action and agreed on a joint political-program platform called the ''National-Democratic Alternative''. In early May, the '' National-Democratic Alternative'' was transformed into a pre-electoral coalition


New Serbia

*It was established in 1998 by a group of dissidents led by
Velimir Ilić Velimir "Velja" Ilić ( sr-cyr, Велимир "Веља" Илић, ; born 28 May 1951) is a Serbian politician. He is the founder and president of party New Serbia. He served as the Minister without portfolio in charge of Emergency Situations f ...
from the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO). * New Serbia was part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) bloc which defeated
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 ...
in the 2000 presidential election. * The party took part in the 2003 parliamentary election in coalition with the Serbian Renewal Movement. The coalition received 7.7% of the popular vote and 22 seats; 9 seats were allocated to New Serbia. * New Serbia ran in the 2007 election in coalition with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and
United Serbia United Serbia ( sr, Јединствена Србија, Jedinstvena Srbija, JS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. History It was founded on 15 February 2004, as a split from the far-right Party of Serbian Unity with Dragan ...
(JS). The coalition received 16.55% of the popular vote and 47 seats in parliament, 10 of which went to New Serbia. * The party ran again in coalition with the DSS a year later in the
2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...
, receiving 11.62% of votes and 30 seats, with 9 allocated to NS. * New Serbia ran in the 2014 election in coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and several other parties. The coalition received 48.2% of the popular vote and 158 seats in parliament, 6 of which went to New Serbia. * New Serbia ran in the
2016 election The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...
in coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and several other parties. The coalition received 48.2% of the popular vote and 131 seats in parliament, 5 of which went to New Serbia. * Party went into opposition in 2017 and supported Vuk Jeremić in 2017 presidential election * In 2020 parliamentary election party ran in coalition with People's Freedom Movement and won less than 1% of the popular vote (7,873 votes)


Movement for Democratic Serbia

*1999: The
Movement for Democratic Serbia Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy F ...
(''Pokret za demokratsku Srbiju'') is formed *2001: A faction seceded as the
People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...
(''Narodna demokratska stranka'')


People’s Democratic Party

*2001: A faction seceded from the Movement for Democratic Serbia and formed the
People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...
(''Narodna demokratska stranka'') *2004: The party merged into the ⇒ Democratic Party of Serbia


G17 Plus

* G17 Plus was founded in 1997 as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Serbia, then a federal unit within FR Yugoslavia. The organization consisting of economic experts enjoyed financial support of the United States through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). *The organization was registered as a political party on 15 December 2002, with Miroljub Labus as its first president. * At its first electoral showing at the 2003 parliamentary elections, G17 Plus received 11.5% of the popular vote and 34 seats in the National Assembly. * In March 2004, G17+ formed a
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and New Serbia (NS). * In May 2006 Miroljub Labus resigned as party leader and was replaced by Mlađan Dinkić. On October 1, 2006, the party quit the governing coalition over its failure to find and extradite
ICTY The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...
fugitive Ratko Mladić. * In the
2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...
, the party received 6.82% of the popular vote and 19 seats in the parliament and formed the government with DS and DSS * In the
2008 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2008. * Electoral calendar 2008 * 2008 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2008 Angolan legislative election * 2008 Anjouan presidential election * 2008 Republic of the Congo Senate elec ...
, the party ran in the coalition
For a European Serbia For a European Serbia ( sr, За европску Србију / Za evropsku Srbiju, ZES) was a big tent and pro-EU electoral alliance, led by Boris Tadić, which participated in the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election. It received 38.42% of the p ...
led by Democratic Party, coalition ended up winning around 38% of the popular vote (1,590,200 votes) and 102 seats in the parliament of which 24 went to G17. Party once again entered government when it was formed between DS led coalition of which G17 was member of and coalition led by
SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...
* In 2010, G17 Plus founded the United Regions of Serbia (URS), a coalition of political parties and groups emphasizing decentralization and regional development of Serbia. * In the
2012 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2012. International * 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt * 2012 Egyptian presidential election Mali * 2012 Malian presidential election * 2012 Malian parliamentary electio ...
, party ran in the United Regions of Serbia coalition and ended up winning around 5.5% of the popular vote (215,666) and 16 seats in the parliament 10 of which went to G17. Once again G17 entered the government this time it was formed with SNS led coalition and SPS led coalition * In April 2013 G17 Plus fully merged with URS, transforming it into a political party. * On 31 July 2013 the URS was ousted from the government and became opposition * In the 2014 elections URS won just around 3% of the popular vote (109,167 votes) and failed to enter parliament for the first time in its history * On 13 November 2015 the party was removed from the register of political parties and ceased to exist, which was controversial because the party had over a million euros of unpaid debt. It had already been defunct for more than a year, according to the former president Mlađan Dinkić


Dveri

* Dveri were founded by Branimir Nešić in 1999 as a Christian right-wing youth organisation consisting mainly of students from the University of Belgrade which regularly arranged public debates devoted to the popularisation of clerical-nationalist philosophy of
Nikolaj Velimirović Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић;  – ) was bishop of the eparchies of Ohrid and Žiča (1920–1956) in the Serbian Orthodox Church. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orato ...
, a bishop of the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...
who was canonized in 2003. * In March 2012 the movement collected 14,507 signatures to register as an electoral list for the May 2012 Serbian parliamentary election. The Dveri Movement received 4.35% of the popular vote, failing to pass the 5% minimum threshold to enter parliament. * Dveri again ran alone in the March
2014 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 16 March 2014, with nineteen electoral lists competing for 250 members of the National Assembly. The election was called early, after tensions in the coalition led by the ruling Serbian Progressive P ...
, winning 3.58% of the vote, failing again to pass the 5% minimum threshold to enter parliament. They were characterized by many as a far-right party at this point of time * In November 2014 Dveri and the Democratic Party of Serbia declared that they would contest the next elections as the "Patriotic Bloc" alliance.
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 ( ...
were held on 24 April 2016, in which the "Patriotic Bloc" won 5.04% of the vote (13 seats, of which Dveri had 7). After this election, for the first time in history, they became a parliamentary party. * Dveri announced on 3 September 2016 that Boško Obradović, the president of Dveri, will be their candidate on the 2017 presidential election. On 10 March, Boško Obradović submitted his signatures for the candidacy to RIK. In the end, he only got 2.16% of the vote on the presidential election. * In 2018 they were one of the founding members of the catch-all opposition
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 ...
which boycotted the 2020 parliamentary election.


People's Party

* After his unsuccessful bid in an attempt to replace
Ban Ki-Moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
as UN Secretary-General in the end of 2016, Vuk Jeremić returned to Serbia, where he enjoyed relatively high approval ratings compared to other opposition politicians. He decided to run for president in 2017 presidential election, he finished fourth, with little less than 6% of the vote. * In the aftermath of the election though his results were quite disappointing, he announced he will form a party. He gathered support for such move mainly from conservative intellectuals who were opposing Vučić's government and were previously tied with DSS (most notably Sanda Rašković-Ivić, a former DSS president). He formed the People's Party in October 2017. The People's Party was able to forgo the usual registration process for new parties when
Miroslav Aleksić Miroslav Aleksić may refer to: * Miroslav Aleksić (born 1954), Serbian politician * Miroslav Aleksić (born 1978), Serbian politician {{hndis, Aleksic, Miroslav ...
, a member of the National Assembly, allowed his
People's Movement of Serbia The People's Movement of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Народни покрет Србије (НПС), Narodni pokret Srbije (NPS) was a Serbian political party that existed from 2015 to 2017. Its leader was Miroslav Aleksić, who was also its only member ...
to be re-registered and re-constituted under the new party name * Since its inception the People's Party has positioned itself as an opposition party to the government, led by Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Jeremić stated he is a pro- EU politician, but he opposes Serbia joining NATO


Conservative leaders

* Ilija Garašanin *
Nikola Hristić Nikola Hristić (Sremska Mitrovica, 10 August 1818 – Belgrade, 26 November 1911) was a Serbian politician who served as Prime Minister of Serbia for four terms. Biography Hristić was born and educated in Sremska Mitrovica. In 1840 he came ...
* Stojan Novaković * Nikola Pašić * Aca Stanojević * Milan Stojadinović * Vojislav Koštunica


See also

*
Politics of Serbia The Politics of Serbia are defined by a unitary parliamentary framework that is defined by the Constitution of Serbia in which the president, currently Aleksandar Vučić, is the head of state while the prime minister, currently Ana Brnabić, i ...
* List of political parties in Serbia


References

{{Conservatism navbox Politics of Serbia