The Yugoslav Left ( sr, Југословенска Левица, Jugoslovenska Levica; abbr. ЈУЛ, JUL) was a far-left

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 ideological or p ...

in the

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 ...

. At its peak, the party had 20 seats in Republic of Serbia's

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

following the 1997 general election.

Ideology

JUL declared itself to be a party of all "left-wing and progressive forces that believed that the general interest always comes above private interest", including

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

, greens,

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, and

democratic socialists Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

History

The party was formed in 1994 by merging 19 left-wing parties, led by the League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia (SK-PJ). It was led by

Mirjana Marković Mirjana "Mira" Marković ( sr-cyr, Мирјана "Мира" Марковић, ; 10 July 1942 – 14 April 2019) was a Serbian politician, academic and the wife of Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. She was the leader of the ...

, originally holding the title of President of the Directorate. Unlike the

Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia ( sr, Социјалистичка партија Србије, Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS) is a political party in Serbia. It is led by Ivica Dačić. It was founded in 1990 as the direct successor to ...

(SPS) and its ally the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS) which were direct descendants of the

League of Communists of Serbia , logo = , colorcode = , leader = President of the League of Communists of Serbia , predecessor = Provincial Committee for Serbia of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , merged = , successor = SPS , ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

respectively, the Yugoslav Left was an all-Yugoslavian party with members from both constituent bodies. Despite these differences, the JUL and the SPS collaborated closely. The JUL generally did not take part in elections separately. Several members of the SPS crossed the floor to JUL at some stage. On 24 and 25 March 1995, the party held its 1st Congress at the

Sava Center Sava Centar ( sr, Сава центар) is an international congress, cultural and business centre of various multi-functional activities located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is the largest audience hall in the country and entire forme ...

in Belgrade, and theatre director Ljubiša Ristić was elected president. In 1996, the JUL joined the Left Coalition with the SPS and

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinc ...

. Following the 1997 election, the party had 20 MPs and representatives in various local assemblies. It held five ministerial posts in the second cabinet of Mirko Marjanović. At the 2nd Congress in Kragujevac on 6 April 2002, Marković was elected President of the Yugoslav Left. It had a minimal presence in Montenegrin politics. At its peak, the JUL was part of the Patriotic Coalition for Yugoslavia in the 2002 election with the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro, and the

Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска радикална странка, Srpska radikalna stranka, ''SRS'') is an ultranationalist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1991, and its founder and current leader is Vojislav � ...

. The coalition won less than 3% of the vote and no seats. In the 2003 election in Serbia, the JUL received only 0.1% of the vote. The party officially ceased to exist on 12 April 2010.

International cooperation

The JUL visited the gatherings of several left-wing political groups in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and worldwide. It held ties with the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

, the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26 ...

and the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...

Voter base

Its social base was mainly amongst peasants and pauperized workers, but it also had members from the so-called ''

nouveau riche ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...

'' of Serbia during Milošević's terms in office, and many high-ranked civil servants and army staff. During the 1990s, opponents of Milošević's government sometimes referred to the JUL "a branch of

in Yugoslavia".

Electoral results

Serbian Parliamentary elections

Montenegrin Parliamentary elections

References

Sources

*
M. Marković interview on the party (2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yugoslav Left 1994 establishments in Yugoslavia Communist parties in Montenegro Communist parties in Serbia Defunct political parties in Montenegro Defunct political parties in Serbia Political parties disestablished in 2010 Political parties established in 1994 Political parties in Yugoslavia Socialist Party of Serbia Yugoslavism