Serbia's Socialist Party
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The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a
populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area'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 , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
.
Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyrl, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as deputy prime minister of Serbia since 2022 and minister of internal affairs since 2024. He has been the leader of the Socialist Party of ...
has led SPS as its president since 2006. SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the
League of Communists of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Serbia, political party of Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbia from 19 ...
and
Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia The Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ), known before 1953 as the People's Front of Yugoslavia (NFJ), was the largest and most influential mass organization in SFR Yugoslavia from August 1945 through 1990. It succeeded the ...
with
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
as its first president. In the 1990 general elections, SPS became the
ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...
of Serbia while Milošević was elected
president of Serbia The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...
. During Milošević's rule, SPS relied on the
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
(SRS) from 1992 to 1993 while it later led several coalition governments with SRS,
New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, 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 w ...
, and
Yugoslav Left The Yugoslav Left, also known as the Yugoslav United Left (JUL), was a political party in Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. At its peak, the party had 20 seats in Republic of Serbia's National Assembly following the 1997 general e ...
. Mass protests against SPS were held in
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
, and after being accused of falsifying votes in major urban cities, such as Belgrade and
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
, 1996–1997 protests were also organised. The
Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije, abbr. DOS) was a wide electoral alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist Par ...
coalition defeated SPS in the 2000 general elections but Milošević declined to accept the results. This resulted in Milošević's overthrow. SPS was in opposition until 2003 after which it served as
confidence and supply In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...
to the government 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 Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...
until 2007. Dačić led SPS into a coalition government with the Democratic Party after the 2008 parliamentary election, while four years later he became the
prime minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијер Србије, premijer Srbije; feminine gender, feminine: премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председн ...
after the formation of a coalition government with the
Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS). He remained prime minister until 2014, while SPS has since then remained a junior member of SNS-led governments. Although it described itself as a
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and 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-mana ...
party, SPS promoted
mixed economy A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services. More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...
and populist
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
under Milošević's leadership and was accused of
authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
. SPS has remained populist under Dačić but it shifted towards
social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
and a
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
and more
pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: * "Pragmaticism", Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy * Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics * ''Pragmatics'' (journal), an aca ...
,
pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
image. SPS is affiliated and cooperates with
United Serbia United Serbia (, abbr. JS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. It split from the Party of Serbian Unity in 2004. The party has supported every government formed since its creation, and was briefly in government in 2022–23. ...
and
Greens of Serbia The Greens of Serbia (, abbr. Zeleni) is a green political party in Serbia. Established on 14 September 2007, Zeleni advocates environmental and ecological wisdom, social justice and solidarity, direct democracy, green economics, sustainabi ...
.


History


Formation

After the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Communist Party consolidated power in
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. Each constituent republic had its own branch of the party, with
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
having the
Communist Party of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the ruling political party of Serbia from 1945 to 1990. It was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, ...
, which was renamed to League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) in 1952. SKS elected
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
as its president in 1986, after an endorsement coming from then-incumbent president of SKS,
Ivan Stambolić Ivan Stambolić (; 5 November 1936 – 25 August 2000) was a Serbian politician who served as the president of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) from 1984 to 1986. A prominent member of SKS, he also served as prime minister of Serbia from ...
. Milošević came to power by promising to reduce the autonomy of provinces of
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
and
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
. At a
congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
that was held in January 1990, rifts between SKS and
League of Communists of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia (, ZKS; ) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. It was established in April 1937 as the Communist Party of Slovenia and was ...
occurred which ultimately led to the dissolution of the federal Communist Party. This also led to the establishment of
multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...
s in the constituent republics. Milošević organised a congress on 17 July 1990, during which its delegates voted in favour of merging SKS and the
Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia The Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ), known before 1953 as the People's Front of Yugoslavia (NFJ), was the largest and most influential mass organization in SFR Yugoslavia from August 1945 through 1990. It succeeded the ...
(SSRNJ) to create the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Milošević was elected as the party's president. According to political scientist
Jerzy Wiatr Jerzy Józef Wiatr (born 17 September 1931 in Warsaw) is a Polish sociologist, political scientist and politician. Professor of the University of Warsaw, Chairman of the European School of Law and Administration rector of a private tertiary educat ...
, the merger "did not substantially change either the organisational structure of the party or its administration", although SPS did gain control of a large amount of infrastructure, including material and financial assets. Milošević as president of the SPS was able to wield considerable power and influence in the government and the public and private sectors, while members of SPS who had shown their independence from loyalty towards Milošević were expelled from the party.


1990–1992

SPS took part in the
general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
which was organised for December 1990. The parliamentary election was conducted in a
first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
system, where members were elected in 250 single-member constituency seats; this system strengthened the position of SPS. This resulted into SPS winning 194 out of 250 seats in the
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 repr ...
, despite only winning 48% of the popular vote. Opposition parties, such as the Democratic Party (DS) and
Serbian Renewal Movement The Serbian Renewal Movement (, abbr. SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1990 by writer Vuk Drašković, who served as the party's president until 2024. Aleksandar Cvetković is the incumbent leader. ...
(SPO), tried to challenge the legitimacy of the election, citing alleged abuse of postal voting and manipulation during vote counting. In the presidential election, Milošević won 65% of the popular vote in the first round of the election. By January 1991, sociologist Laslo Sekelj reported that SPS had 500,000 members. SPS was faced with
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
in March 1991, while Milošević was succeeded by
Borisav Jović Borisav Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Борисав Јовић, ; 19 October 1928 – 13 September 2021) was a Serbian economist, diplomat and politician who served as the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1990 to 1991. He was Yugoslavia's amb ...
as the president of SPS on 24 May 1991; he held the position until 24 October 1992, when Milošević returned as president of SPS, following the second party congress. After the
break-up of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...
, Serbia became a part of
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. With the opposition boycotting the May 1992 parliamentary election, due to claiming that there were no free and fair electoral conditions, SPS won 49% of the popular vote. Protests were held shortly after the election, after which
snap elections A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...
were called for December 1992, in which SPS won 33% of the popular vote. Simultaneously with these elections, the 1992 general elections occurred in Serbia as a result of an early elections referendum that was organised in October 1992. The parliamentary election in 1992 was conducted under a
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
system, and in it SPS won 101 out of 250 seats in the National Assembly; because of that the SPS
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
had to rely on the
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
(SRS), which had won 73 seats. In the presidential election however, Milošević won 57% of the popular vote in the first round, while his opponent
Milan Panić Milan Panić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Панић, ; born 20 December 1929) is a Serbian businessman, humanitarian and former politician. He served as the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993. During and after his t ...
won 35% of the popular vote.


1993–2000

After the announcement that SPS would abandon its hardline position regarding the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
and
Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...
in favour of a compromise and after a dispute regarding the rebalancing of the federal budget in July 1993, the coalition between SPS and SRS was disintegrated. SRS then unsuccessfully called a
motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
against SPS in September 1993, though Milošević ended up dissolving the National Assembly to call a snap parliamentary election for December 1993. In the parliamentary election, SPS won 123 seats, though still short 3 seats of a majority, Milošević then persuaded the
New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, 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 w ...
(ND), which as part of the SPO-led
Democratic Movement of Serbia The Democratic Movement of Serbia () or DEPOS was a Serbian political coalition that existed between 1992 and 1994. Initially, the DEPOS was a right-wing coalition led by the conservative monarchist Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) of Vuk Draškovi ...
coalition won 5 seats, to enter a coalition government with SPS. ND accepted this and the new government headed by
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 i ...
was sworn in March 1994. SPS soon formed the Left Coalition with ND and the
Yugoslav Left The Yugoslav Left, also known as the Yugoslav United Left (JUL), was a political party in Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. At its peak, the party had 20 seats in Republic of Serbia's National Assembly following the 1997 general e ...
(JUL), a
far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...
political party headed by Milošević's wife
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 th ...
, to contest the
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
for the federal parliament in November 1996. The Left Coalition emerged with 64 out of 108 seats in the election. SPS was accused of falsifying votes in cities such as Belgrade and
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
in the 1996 local elections. The Electoral Commission also invalidated the results. This led to mass protests that were organised up until February 1997, when SPS ultimately accepted the defeat. Milošević, who was constitutionally limited to two terms as president of Serbia, was elected president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in July 1997, shortly before the
general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
in Serbia. SPS took part with ND and JUL under the Left Coalition banner and won 110 seats in the National Assembly. ND declined to join the government and the coalition was subsequently disintegrated after SPS and JUL formed a government with SRS. In the presidential election, SPS nominated
Zoran Lilić Zoran Lilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Лилић; born 27 August 1953) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav politician. He served as President of the National Assembly of Serbia in 1993, and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslav ...
, although the election ended up being annulled as the election's turnout was less than 50%. This led to another
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
which was held in December 1997;
Milan Milutinović Milan Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Милутиновић, ; 19 December 1942 – 2 July 2023) was a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 1997 to 2002. Milutinović served as Secretary for Education and Science of ...
, the SPS-nominated candidate, won in the second round of the election. The new SPS-led government was faced with the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
which ended up making a major impact on SPS. SPO joined the SPS-led federal government in January 1999.
Vuk Drašković Vuk Drašković ( sr-cyrl, Вук Драшковић, ; born 29 November 1946) is a Serbian writer and politician. He is the co-founder and former leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, serving as president from 1990 to 2024. He also served as th ...
, the leader of SPO, supported the proposed
Rambouillet Agreement The Rambouillet Agreement, formally the Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo, was a proposed peace agreement between the delegation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia on the one hand and the del ...
, though Milošević declined to sign it, which ultimately led to the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
. Additionally, SPS and SPO entered into a conflict after the assassination of journalist
Slavko Ćuruvija Slavko Ćuruvija ( sr-Cyrl, Славко Ћурувија, ; 9 August 1949 – 11 April 1999) was a Yugoslav and Serbian journalist, newspaper publisher. His murder on 11 April 1999 in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia provoked international outrage and wi ...
, which led to dismissal of SPO from the federal government. In the same year, Milošević proposed constitutional changes to the federal parliament to allow him to run for another term in the
2000 election The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presidentia ...
; the amendments were passed by the parliament.
Otpor Otpor ( sr-Cyrl, Отпор!, , stylized as Otpor!) was a political organization in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) from 1998 until 2004. In its initial period from 1998 to 2000, Otpor began as a civic protest group, eventually turning into ...
, a student resistance movement formed in October 1998, and the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije, abbr. DOS) was a wide electoral alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist Par ...
(DOS), a wide alliance of opposition parties formed in January 2000, called for early elections, though the elections ended up being organised for September 2000. Milošević faced
Vojislav Koštunica Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...
, the DOS-nominated candidate, in the presidential election. The Federal Election Committee reported that Milošević placed second although that Koštunica also won less than 50% of the popular vote. Milošević declined to accept the results, which resulted into DOS-organised mass protests that culminated into the
overthrow of Slobodan Milošević The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly ...
. Milošević accepted defeat on 5 October 2000, while the Federal Election Committee published actual results on 7 October. Shortly after the elections, SPS, SPO, and DOS agreed to organise a snap
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
in Serbia in December 2000. This parliamentary election, and all subsequent ones, were conducted in a proportional electoral system with only one electoral unit. SPS suffered defeat and only won 37 out of 250 seats in the National Assembly, which put the party in opposition for the first time since its formation in 1990. Following the 2000 elections,
Milorad Vučelić Milorad Vučelić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Вучелић; born 17 June 1948) is a Serbian journalist and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of '' Večernje novosti'' and owner of Serbian weekly magazine '' Pečat''. Early life Vučelić w ...
formed the Democratic Socialist Party while
Zoran Lilić Zoran Lilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Лилић; born 27 August 1953) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav politician. He served as President of the National Assembly of Serbia in 1993, and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslav ...
also left and formed the Serbian Social Democratic Party.


2001–2008

Milošević, who was still the president of SPS, was arrested in March 2001 on suspicion of corruption and abuse of power, and was shortly after extradited to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
to stand trial for war crimes instead. At the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
in September 2002, SPS nominated actor
Bata Živojinović Velimir "Bata" Živojinović ( sr-Cyrl, Велимир "Бата" Живојиновић; 5 June 1933 – 22 May 2016) was a Yugoslav and Serbian actor and politician. He appeared in more than 340 films and TV series, and is regarded as one of ...
; he placed sixth. This election ended up being annulled as the turnout in the second round was less than 50%. This resulted into another
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
which was held in December 2002; SPS supported
Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician and convicted war criminal. He is the founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a D ...
, the leader of SRS. He placed second in the presidential election, which ended up being annulled again as the turnout was less than 50%. At a party congress in January 2003,
Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyrl, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as deputy prime minister of Serbia since 2022 and minister of internal affairs since 2024. He has been the leader of the Socialist Party of ...
, a reformist within SPS, was elected president of the party's main board. It was reported that Milošević subsequently demanded his exclusion of the party, although Dačić denied this. Another
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
was held in November 2003 which SPS ended up boycotting. A month later, SPS took part in a snap
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
in which it won 22 seats; the drop in popularity occurred due to their voters shifting towards SRS. SPS ended up serving as
confidence and supply In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...
to Koštunica's government in the National Assembly. In 2004, the 50% turnout rule for presidential elections was abolished, after which SPS nominated Dačić as their presidential candidate for the 2004 presidential election; he placed fifth. After the death of Milošević in March 2006, a conflict between Dačić and Vučelić emerged regarding who would continue leading the party. At the party congress in December 2006, Dačić was officially elected president of SPS, after previously serving as the party's de facto leader since 2003. In the
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
that was held in January 2007, SPS dropped to 16 seats in the National Assembly, after which SPS returned to opposition. A year later, SPS nominated
Milutin Mrkonjić Milutin Mrkonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Милутин Мркоњић; ; 23 May 1942 – 27 November 2021) was a Serbian politician. He co-founded the Socialist Party of Serbia, together with Slobodan Milošević. Education and career Mrkonjić was born i ...
, the party's deputy president, as its candidate in the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
. Mrkonjić campaigned on social issues and issues regarding the economy, insisting that SPS is "the true party of the left" and that Serbia should join the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. He placed fourth, winning 6% of the popular vote. SPS shortly after formed a coalition with
United Serbia United Serbia (, abbr. JS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. It split from the Party of Serbian Unity in 2004. The party has supported every government formed since its creation, and was briefly in government in 2022–23. ...
(JS) and
Party of United Pensioners of Serbia A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
(PUPS) which took part in the snap
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
in May 2008. The coalition won 20 seats, 12 of which went to SPS alone. Initially, SPS negotiated with SRS,
Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia (, , abbr. NDSS), known as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) until 2022, is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Miloš Jovanović serves as the current president of NDSS. DSS was formed as ...
, and New Serbia to form a government, however SPS ended up abandoning those negotiations in favour of those with the
For a European Serbia For a European Serbia () 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 popular vote, translating into 102 seats in the 250-seat Parliamen ...
coalition, which was led by DS. The DS–SPS coalition government was sworn in July 2008, with Dačić serving as first deputy prime minister while
Slavica Đukić Dejanović Slavica Đukić Dejanović ( sr-Cyrl, Славица Ђукић Дејановић, ; born 4 July 1951) is a Serbian politician who served as minister of education from 2023 to 2025. A long-time member of the Socialist Party of Serbia, she previ ...
became the president of the National Assembly.


2009–2014

While in government, SPS was faced with challenges regarding the
2008 Kosovo declaration of independence The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, which proclaimed the Kosovo, Republic of Kosovo to be an independent and sovereign state, was adopted at a meeting held on 17 February 2008 by 109 out of the 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo, in ...
and the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, which led to low rates of economic growth. Additionally, SPS signed a reconciliation agreement with its government partner DS, although clashes between the parties had continued to occur even after the agreement. Further, protests that were organised in 2011 led
Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (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. He later worked as a journalist ...
, the
president of Serbia The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...
, to call snap elections for 2012. During the 2012 campaign period, SPS campaigned with JS and PUPS, with Dačić being their joint presidential candidate. He campaigned on
workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...
, free education, and ending
neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
, as well as rising wages and pensions, while SPS also campaigned on criticising post-Milošević governments. In the
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
, the coalition led by SPS won 44 seats in the National Assembly, while SPS alone won 25. Dačić placed third in the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
, winning 15% of the popular vote. After the announcement that
Tomislav Nikolić Tomislav Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Томислав Николић, ; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian former politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. A former member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), he di ...
, the leader of the
Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS), had won the presidential election, Dačić abandoned the coalition with DS and pursued to form a government with SNS instead. This resulted into Dačić becoming the prime minister of Serbia in July 2012. As prime minister, Dačić worked on normalisation between Serbia and
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
, which was formalised under the Brussels Agreement in April 2013. His government was re-shuffled on his order in September 2013, after which SPS and SNS continued to govern alone without the
United Regions of Serbia The United Regions of Serbia (; abbr. УРС, URS) was a Regionalism (politics), regionalist, Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Serbia. It was founded on 16 May 2010 as a political coalition, and became a unified poli ...
. However, president Nikolić called for snap
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
to be held in March 2014. SPS took part in the election with JS and PUPS and campaigned on the protection of workers, peasants, and pensioners. They won 44 seats in the National Assembly, while their coalition partner, SNS, won 158 seats in total. SPS remained in government, although Dačić was succeeded by
Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
, the leader of SNS, as prime minister of Serbia. At a party congress in December 2014, SPS adopted its new logo.


2015–present

Throughout of 2015, it was discussed whether a snap parliamentary election would occur. This was confirmed in January 2016, when a
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
was announced to be held in April 2016. Following the announcement, PUPS left the SPS–JS coalition and joined the one that was led by SNS, while SPS and JS formalised a coalition with the
Greens of Serbia The Greens of Serbia (, abbr. Zeleni) is a green political party in Serbia. Established on 14 September 2007, Zeleni advocates environmental and ecological wisdom, social justice and solidarity, direct democracy, green economics, sustainabi ...
(Zeleni). The SPS-led ballot list also included Joška Broz, the leader of the Communist Party and the grandson of
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
. This coalition won 29 seats in the National Assembly, 21 out of which were occupied by SPS. Following the election, SPS agreed to again serve as a junior member in the SNS-led coalition government, which was inaugurated in August 2016. SPS did not take part in the 2017 presidential election and instead it supported Vučić, who ended up winning 56% of the popular vote in the first round of the election. His election as president was followed by mass protests. At the end of 2018, a series of anti-government protests began and they lasted until March 2020. During this period, the opposition
Alliance for Serbia The Alliance for Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Савез за Србију, Savez za Srbiju, abbr. SZS) was an opposition alliance of List of political parties in Serbia, political parties in Serbia that was founded in September 2018. The alliance boycotted ...
announced that it would boycott the 2020 parliamentary elections. This led the SPS-led coalition to win 32 seats, despite getting less votes than in the 2016 election. SPS offered to continue its cooperation with the SNS-led coalition, which now had 188 out of 250 seats in the National Assembly. SPS remained in government with SNS after the election, while Dačić, who had been the first deputy prime minister of Serbia since 2014, became the president of the National Assembly in October 2020. Dačić presided over the dialogues to improve election conditions from May to October 2021. SPS affirmed its position to continue its support for SNS after these dialogues, while in January 2022, SPS announced that it would support Vučić in the 2022 presidential election. In the parliamentary election, SPS took part in a coalition with JS and Zeleni, while it campaigned on greater cooperation with China and Russia. It won 31 seats in total, 22 out of which went to SPS, while Vučić won 60% of the popular vote in the presidential election. SPS agreed to continue governing with SNS after the election, which led to Dačić being re-appointed as first deputy prime minister in October 2022. After Vučić announced the formation of the People's Movement for the State in March 2023, Dačić has affirmed that it could bring "a new, even higher stage of cooperation between SNS and SPS". However, a faction opposed to joining the movement was formed inside SPS with individuals, such as vice-president
Predrag J. Marković Predrag J. Marković (born 6 September 1965) is a Serbian politician and historian. A member of the National Assembly of Serbia from 2020 to 2021, he is currently serving as one of the vice-presidents of the Socialist Party of Serbia. Early l ...
who has said that "SPS would lose its identity if it joins the movement". Despite this, SPS again formed an electoral alliance with JS and Zeleni for the early 2023 parliamentary election. SPS suffered from defeat in the elections, only winning 12 seats as part of the SPS-led coalition. Dačić expressed his willingness of electing a new president of SPS, however, the main board of SPS expressed its support for Dačić to remain president of SPS and to continue the cooperation with SNS. In an unprecedent move, SPS formed a joint electoral list with SNS for the
2024 Belgrade City Assembly election Local elections were held in Belgrade on 2 June 2024 amidst reports of irregularities during the 2023 City Assembly election. The election was called after the constitutive session of the City Assembly of Belgrade failed to meet quorum after th ...
. Their electoral list won 52 percent of the popular vote and 64 out of 110 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade.


Ideology and platform


Milošević era

SPS adopted its first political programme in October 1990, which had the intention to develop "Serbia as a
socialist republic A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically ab ...
, founded on law and social justice". The party made economic reforms outside of
Marxist ideology Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...
such as recognising all forms of property and intended a progression to 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. The major characteristic of a mark ...
while at the same time advocating some regulation for the purposes of "solidarity, equality, and social security". While in power, SPS enacted policies that were negative towards workers' rights, while beginning in 1992, SPS moved its support towards a
mixed economy A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services. More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...
with both public and private sectors. SPS maintained connections with
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
s, although independent trade unions faced hostility and their activities were brutalised by the police. During Milošević's era, SPS was positioned on the
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
on the political spectrum, and was associated with
anti-liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. Liberals espouse various and often mut ...
. SPS declared itself to be a "
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and 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-mana ...
party" and "the follower of the ideas of
Svetozar Marković Svetozar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Марковић, ; 9 September 1846 – 26 February 1875) was a Serbian political activist, literary critic and socialist philosopher. He developed an activistic anthropological philosophy ...
,
Dimitrije Tucović Dimitrije "Mita" Tucović ( sr-Cyrl, Димитрије Туцовић, ; 13 May 1881 – November 1914) was a Serbian theorist of the socialist movement, politician, writer and publisher. He was founder of the Serbian Social Democratic Par ...
, and the Serbian Social Democratic Party". Political scientists Heinz Timmermann and Luke March, and Marko Stojić, a
Metropolitan University Prague Metropolitan University Prague (, MUP) is one of the oldest and largest private universities in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 2001 as the University of Public Administration and International Relations. It has been ranked by the Czech Min ...
lecturer, associated SPS during Milošević's era with
nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
form of
populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...
. Political scientist Jean-Pierre Cabestan noted that SPS thrived on the growth of nationalism, but was not nationalist itself, and instead associated SPS with
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. Mirjana Prošić-Dvornić, an ethnologist, noted that SPS "usurped the nationalist rhetoric of opposition parties".
Janusz Bugajski Janusz Bugajski (born 23 September 1954, in Nantwich, Cheshire, England) is a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, D.C. He also serves as the host of the "Bugajski Hour" television shows broadcast in the Balkans. Previously, ...
, a political scientist, described SPS as nationalist, but also noted that it never identified as such.
Warren Zimmermann Warren Zimmermann (November 16, 1934 – February 3, 2004) was an American career diplomat best known as the last US ambassador to SFR Yugoslavia before its disintegration in a series of civil wars. Zimmermann was a member of the Yale Clas ...
, the last United States ambassador to Yugoslavia, argued that Milošević was "not a genuine nationalist but an opportunist". SPS nominally endorsed the principle of full equality of all the Yugoslav peoples and ethnic minorities, while it was also supportive of
Yugoslavism Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes belong to a single ...
. Up until 1993, it supported Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia who wished to remain in Yugoslavia. As Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence, the involvement by SPS as a ruling party had become more devoted to helping external Serbs run their own independent entities. Milošević denied that the government of Serbia helped Serb military forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, instead stating that they had the right to self-determination; Jović stated in a 1995 ''BBC'' documentary that Milošević endorsed the transfer of Bosnian Serb federal army forces to the
Bosnian Serb Army The Army of Republika Srpska (; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herz ...
in 1992 to help achieve Serb independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Though shortly before the
Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Dejtonski mirovni sporazum, Дејтонски мировни споразум), and colloquially kn ...
in 1995, SPS began to oppose the government of Republika Srpska, which was headed by
Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...
. The opposition accused SPS of
authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
, as well as personal profiteering from illegal business transactions in the arms trade, cigarettes and oil; this illegal business was caused by the UN sanctions, and none of accusations for personal profiteering were ever proven at the court. Political scientists Nebojša Vladisavljević, Karmen Erjavec, and
Florian Bieber Florian Bieber (born 4 October 1973) is a Luxembourgish political scientist, historian and professor working on inter-ethnic relations, ethnic conflict and nationalism, focusing primarily on the Balkans. Education In 1991–1992, Bieber stud ...
also described Milošević's rule as authoritarian. Independent media during the SPS administration received threats and high fines.


Dačić era

After Dačić came to power, SPS shifted towards democratic socialism, and then to
social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
in the 2010s. Although SPS is still affiliated and has promoted populist rhetoric, its nationalist image has softened. It is now positioned on the
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
on the political spectrum. Prior to mid-2000s, SPS was
Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...
and it also promoted
anti-globalist The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...
and anti-Western sentiment. It also promoted
anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...
criticism towards the European Union and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
. Since then, SPS had adopted its support for the
accession of Serbia to the European Union Serbia applied to join the European Union (EU) in 2009 and has been a candidate for membership since 2012 (along with nine other states), while negotiations started in 2014 and are still ongoing. Serbia is the largest country in Southeast Eu ...
, and a more pro-European image after it came back to government in 2008, which scholars Nataša Jovanović Ajzenhamer and Haris Dajč described as rather
pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: * "Pragmaticism", Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy * Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics * ''Pragmatics'' (journal), an aca ...
. Besides this, SPS has also been also described as
pro-Russian Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the Russia, country, Russians, people, Russian language, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its Opposite ...
.


Demographic characteristics

Before the federal parliamentary election in December 1992, the Institute of Social Studies polled that a majority of SPS supporters preferred a citizen state over a
nation state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the State (polity), state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly ...
. According to political scientist Dragomir Pantić, supporters of SPS in the early 2000s were mostly elderly people, traditionalists, and those without higher education. In comparison with its demographic from the 1990s, the percentage of workers and farmers increased amongst its base in the 2000s. According to a CeSID opinion poll from 2005, SPS supporters consisted of unskilled and semi-skilled workers. In 2007, political scientist Srećko Mihailović noted that most of the SPS supporters saw themselves on the
far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...
, that 19 percent of them saw themselves on the left-wing, while 8 percent only saw themselves as centre-left. According to CeSID in 2008, a majority of supporters of the SPS–PUPS–JS coalition were Eurosceptics. In 2014, CeSID and
National Democratic Institute The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a non-profit American non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to "support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability". It is ...
polled that 59 percent of SPS supporters were women and that 58 percent of all SPS supporters were 50 years old or older. However, by 2016 a majority of the supporters were over 60 years old. The
Heinrich Böll Foundation The Heinrich Böll Foundation (German language, German: ''Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Eingetragener Verein, e.V.''; Abbreviation: HBS) is a German legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with Alliance '90/The Greens, Alliance 90/The Gr ...
conducted a research in November 2020 in which most SPS supporters were against the accession of Serbia to the European Union, preferred closer relations with Russia instead, and wanted to implement laws to preserve
patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...
.


Organisation

The current president of SPS is Dačić, who was most recently re-elected in December 2022, while the current vice-presidents are
Aleksandar Antić Aleksandar Antić (; born 7 May 1969) is a Serbian politician. He served as the Minister of Energy and Mining (Serbia), Minister of Energy and Mining between 2014 and 2020. Antić previously served as the Ministry of Construction, Transportation ...
, Branko Ružić,
Dušan Bajatović Dušan Bajatović ( sr-cyr, Душан Бајатовић; born 29 November 1967) is a Serbian politician and entrepreneur. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia since 2007 as a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia and is a former ...
,
Novica Tončev Novica Tončev ( sr-cyr, Новица Тончев; born 9 December 1962) is a Serbian politician and businessman serving as Minister without portfolio (Serbia), minister without portfolio since 2020. A member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SP ...
,
Predrag J. Marković Predrag J. Marković (born 6 September 1965) is a Serbian politician and historian. A member of the National Assembly of Serbia from 2020 to 2021, he is currently serving as one of the vice-presidents of the Socialist Party of Serbia. Early l ...
,
Slavica Đukić Dejanović Slavica Đukić Dejanović ( sr-Cyrl, Славица Ђукић Дејановић, ; born 4 July 1951) is a Serbian politician who served as minister of education from 2023 to 2025. A long-time member of the Socialist Party of Serbia, she previ ...
,
Đorđe Milićević Đorđe Milićević ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Милићевић; born 29 September 1978) is a Serbian politician serving as minister without portfolio since 2022. A member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), he also served as acting minister of ...
, and
Žarko Obradović Žarko Obradović ( sr-cyr, Жарко Обрадовић, ; born 21 May 1960) is a Serbian politician who served as the minister of education from 2008 to 2013. He holds a position of Lecturer at the Megatrend University and the Dean at the Uni ...
. The president of its parliamentary group is Snežana Paunović. The headquarters of SPS is located at Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 6 in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. It has a youth wing named Socialist Youth and a women's wing named Women's Forum. Its membership from its foundation in 1990 to 1997 involved many elements of the social strata of Serbia, including state administrators and business management elites of state-owned enterprises, employees in the state-owned sector, less privileged groups of farmers, and the unemployed and pensioners. From 1998 to 2000, its membership included ''
apparatchik __NOTOC__ An '' apparatchik'' () was a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the government of the Soviet Union, Soviet government ''apparat'' (Wiktionary:аппарат#Russian, аппарат, appar ...
s'' at administrative and judicial levels, the ''
nouveau riche ; ), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; ) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social cla ...
'', whose business success was founded solely from their affiliation with the government, and top army and police officials and a large majority of the police force. In 2011, SPS reported to have had 120,000 members, while in 2014 SPS stated that they had around 200,000 members. SPS reported to have 65,000 members in 2015. In 2016, it was reported that SPS had 195,000 members.


International cooperation

SPS cooperated with
Momir Bulatović Momir Bulatović ( sh-Cyrl, Момир Булатовић; 21 September 1956 – 30 June 2019) was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin politician. He was the first president of the Republic of Montenegro from 1990 to 1998, after which he served as the Pr ...
in Montenegro and the parties he led, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina SPS used to cooperate with Karadžić's Serb Democratic Party and with the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
. SPS cooperates with
Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politi ...
, a political party in Greece. Following the 2008 elections, SPS sent an application to join the
Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...
while Dačić also met with its then-president
George Papandreou George Andreas Papandreou (, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is an American-born Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is currently serving as a ...
. However, the
Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian: ''Socijaldemokratska partija Bosne i Hercegovine'' (SDP BiH) / ''Социјалдемократска партија Босне и Херцеговине''), also simply known as th ...
opposed this move and called for its application to be declined, while Jelko Kacin, a
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (, LDS) is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Between 1992 and 2004, it (and its main predecessor, the Liberal Democratic Party) was the largest (and ruling) party in the country. In the 2011 Slovenian pa ...
politician, claimed that Tadić blocked SPS from joining the Socialist International. Its candidature has not yet been accepted, although SPS also seeks associate member status in the
Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...
. In the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...
, SPS is represented by Dunja Simonović Bratić, who sits in the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group.


List of presidents


Electoral performance


Parliamentary elections

ImageSize = width:1000 height:70 PlotArea = width:900 height:50 left:20 bottom:20 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1990 till:31/12/2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1990 Legend = columns:3 left:40 top:75 columnwidth:90 # there is no automatic collision detection, # so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap Colors= id:Government value:green legend:Government id:Opposition value:red legend:Opposition id:Support value:yellow legend:Support Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar Define $dy = -1 # adjust height PlotData= bar:Govern. color:blue width:25 mark:(line,black) align:center fontsize:10 from:17/07/1990 till:05/10/2000 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government from:05/10/2000 till:03/03/2004 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition from:03/03/2004 till:15/05/2007 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Support from:15/05/2007 till:07/07/2008 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition from:07/07/2008 till:end shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government


Presidential elections


Federal parliamentary elections

ImageSize = width:900 height:70 PlotArea = width:800 height:50 left:20 bottom:20 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/2003 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1991 Legend = columns:3 left:40 top:75 columnwidth:90 Colors = id:Government value:green legend:Government id:Opposition value:red legend:Opposition Define $dx = 25 Define $dy = -1 PlotData= bar:Govern. color:blue width:25 mark:(line,black) align:center from:31/05/1992 till:24/09/2000 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Government from:24/09/2000 till:04/02/2003 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition


Federal presidential elections


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Party Of Serbia Socialist Party of Serbia