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Democratic Party (Serbia)
Encyclopedia
The Democratic Party is a political party
in Serbia
. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.
. The Politics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, the DS was a big influence. The election was always at the top of the received votes, but the government was only the 1919 and 1924 year, a total of less than one year.
After Davidovic's death, 1940, the DS leader becomes Milan Grol
.
After the Second World War, 1945, and the formation of a new, socialist state: Democratic Federal Yugoslavia where the government was the Communist Party, the Democratic Party and other parties there was no room, even though the Milan Grol, former leader of the Democrats, was the interim vice president
of the Yugoslav Government under the leadership of the Communist Party leader, Josip Broz Tito
. After the communists won the election November
1945. year, banned the work of all parties and the DS has disappeared from political life.
held a press conference and announced the renewal of the Democratic Party. Was not yet formed the legal basis for a multiparty system, but the atmosphere before the breakup of former Yugoslavia announced the end of one-party regime. With the conference is invited to join the first opposition party in Serbia. Some of them were motivated into political action by what they perceived to be unsatisfactory national position of ethnic Serbs and Serbia within Yugoslav federation while others felt that activity in a political party could help address concerns about what they thought to be deteriorating state of democracy and human rights in the country. Up to that point in time, the former primarily acted through the Writers' Club (Udruženje književnika) while the latter channeled their activities through Social Sciences Institute (Institut društvenih nauka) and Philosophy Club (Filozofsko društvo). Sprinkled among the members of the newly re-established party were also some surviving members of the pre World War II DS party. Though the grip of the Communist League (SKJ), the only constitutionally allowed party in Yugoslav one-party political system, was not nearly as strong as it once was, DS members still feared the authorities reaction to the announcement of the DS party creation.
Even before the founding conference was held, some differences of opinion over Kosovo issue surfaced among the members. The party presidency was contested between Dragoljub Mićunović
and Kosta Čavoški
who were two of DS' most prominent and active members at the time. At the DS founding conference on 3 February 1990, Mićunović got more member votes and became president while Čavoški got named to the post of Executive Board (Izvršni odbor) president.
DS members participated in the first anti-government protests in 1990. At the parliamentary elections on 9 December 1990
, the party was on the ballot in 176 of 250 electoral districts, getting 374,887 votes that translated into 7 assembly seats. Only several days prior to the elections, Čavoški left DS to form the Serbian Liberal Party
(SLS). Other members like Nikola Milošević
and Vladan Vasilijević
left with him as well. Čavoški's lasting legacy in the DS was its national program as the party program stated until 1997 that "DS is working towards the re-unification of Serbian lands". Still, on the other hand DS had a very liberal economic program courtesy of economists Vladimir Gligorov
and Slobodan Inić
who were able to push it through as official party policy, despite being in minority, because most of the other members didn't really concern themselves with economic matters. Both Giligorov and Inić later left DS when the party decided to throw its support behind Prince Tomislav Karađorđević
at the FR Yugoslavia 1992 presidential elections.
At the 1992 parliamentary elections on 27 April
(scheduled early due to disintegration of SFR Yugoslavia and formation of the new state entity FR Yugoslavia), DS fared poorly with 196,347 votes, down almost two hundred thousand votes compared to the previous election, giving the party only 6 assembly seats. Later that year in July, a much more serious fragmentation of the Democratic Party occurred when a large group led by Vojislav Koštunica
left the party and established the Democratic Party of Serbia
(DSS). Overnight, DS lost 40% of its membership including such prominent members as Borislav Pekić
, Mirko Petrović
, Đurđe Ninković, Vladeta Janković
, Draško Petrović
, Vladan Batić
, etc. The immediate issue behind the split was their dissatisfaction with the DS decision not to enter the DEPOS coalition, however it also had a deeper cause as differences over the handling of the so-called national question had been brewing within DS for quite some time.
This is when the energetic 40-year-old DS founding member Zoran Đinđić began to assert himself a lot more within the party at a time when DS was burdened by various issues such as: dwindling membership following the departure of Koštunica's group, only 6 MPs in the assembly, and furthermore unclear political position. Though Mićunović was still formally president, it was Đinđić who was increasingly becoming the face of DS. By summer 1993 Đinđić had a clear personal vision of the party's future direction and aggressively set about implementing it. His primary concern became establishing strong infrastructure on the ground through a network of local municipal branches that answer to party's central in Belgrade. Zoran Živković
, future short-time Prime Minister of Serbia, at the time DS member in the local Niš
branch put it as follows:
Đinđić got his first chance to gauge the results of the new party approach even before he formally became its president. In October 1993, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević
dissolved the parliament, scheduling the new parliamentary elections for 19 December 1993
. Supported by a carefully crafted media and marketing campaign featuring memorable "Pošteno" slogan, DS recorded its best result to date with 497,582 votes, giving them 29 assembly seats. However, despite tremendous improvement over previous elections the party was still well behind Milošević's SPS, DEPOS coalition (headed by Vuk Drašković
's SPO), and Vojislav Šešelj
's SRS.
Đinđić worked hard to move DS away from what he himself occasionally referred to in derisive terms as the "debate club" towards a modern and efficient organization that functions according to the management model of a capitalist company. Mićunović soon left DS, founding a non-governmental organization Center for Democracy that eventually transformed into Democratic Centre
(DC). Others that followed him to the DC were Desimir Tošić, Vida Ognjenović
, Bora Kuzmanović, as well as many other prominent and respected DS party members. His view of the events of the period:
Though a much better organized party under Đinđić, DS still experienced trouble formulating a clear stance on the national question in the former Yugoslavia. Đinđić's own actions perhaps made a good illustration of this seemingly confused standing on both sides of the issue. On one hand Đinđić basically refused to even acknowledge the national question as a real issue, making not a single mention of the Serbs living outside of Serbia in other parts of former Yugoslavia in his book Yugoslavia: The Unfinished State while on the other he maintained close links with Radovan Karadžić
, the war leader of Bosnian Serbs, even visiting him at Pale in February 1994 when American forces threatened to bombard Bosnian Serb positions. This seeming flip-flopping on the national issue was often effectively used by DS' political opponents and Đinđić's critics on all sides of the political spectrum.
As the Bosnian War
ended by the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord, in addition to his grip on power domestically Milošević enjoyed a stable support from the international community that recognized him as the "peace and stability factor in the Balkans". Next chance to dent his armour came at the November 1996 municipal elections, which the DS entered as part of an opposition coalition featuring SPO, DSS, and GSS. Democratic Party (at the time with a total of only 7,000 members across Serbia) joined Zajedno despite Đinđić's personal opposition to the move as he got outvoted on three separate occasions by other party members when the decision was discussed internally. Following opposition victories in key Serbian cities such as Belgrade
, Niš
and Novi Sad
, Milošević refused to recognize the results, sparking huge three month long peaceful protest marches by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Milošević caved in and acknowledged the results and on 21 February 1997 Đinđić got inaugurated as the mayor of Belgrade.
As the parliamentary elections got called for 21 December 1997
, Đinđić made a bold and gutsy decision that DS will boycott them thus breaking up the Zajedno coalition.
In 1998, most of the student leaders of 1996-97 street protests (gathered around an organization called Studentski politički klub (SPK)) joined DS. On this occasion future prominent members such as Čedomir Jovanović
, Čedomir Antić
, and Igor Žeželj joined the party.
The fall of Slobodan Milošević regime in October 2000 occurred after street protests by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Democratic Party was the biggest party of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia
block that won 64.7% of the votes in 2000 elections
held in December 2000, getting 176 of 250 seats in the Parliamentary Assembly. In 2001 Zoran Đinđić was appointed the Prime Minister of Serbia at the head of the first post-Milosevic, post-Communist Government of Serbia
sworn in on 21 January 2001.
In 2003, Zoran Đinđić, the Prime Minister of Serbia, was assassinated. Boris Tadić
was elected new president of Democratic Party in 2004.
Democratic Party received 915,854 popular votes or 22.71%, and thus won 64 out of 250 seats in parliament in the 2007 elections
. Three of its seats went to the Sanjak Democratic Party
, which formed a club with DS under Dušan Petrović
as president and Milan Marković
as vice-president. At the first session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia the party mostly voted to refuse Martti Ahtisaari
's proposal for Kosovo's solution.
Boris Tadić was re-elected at the Serbian presidential election, 2008
.
The party has also taken three seats in the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija
, but has refused to sit in the Assembly until the situation in Kosovo is stabilized.
In the most recent 2008 elections
the pro-European coalition led by the DS won 38.5% of the popular vote, translating into 102 seats in the Serbian National Assembly, making it the largest political party bloc in the Serbian Parliament.
Current Mayors of Novi Sad
, Niš
, Subotica
, Užice
, Pančevo
, Sombor
, Zrenjanin
, Šabac
, Smederevo
and Valjevo
are also members of the Democratic Party.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.
Pre-war history
The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of the Croatian-Serbian coalition. Its first leader was Ljubomir DavidovicLjubomir Davidovic
Ljubomir Davidović was a prime minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.Davidović was born in Vlaško Polje....
. The Politics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, the DS was a big influence. The election was always at the top of the received votes, but the government was only the 1919 and 1924 year, a total of less than one year.
After Davidovic's death, 1940, the DS leader becomes Milan Grol
Milan Grol
Milan Grol was a Serbian literary critic and politician.-Biography:Milan Grol studied in Belgrade and in Paris. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Philology and Literature at the University of Belgrade in 1899. He studied literature and theatre for two years in Paris...
.
After the Second World War, 1945, and the formation of a new, socialist state: Democratic Federal Yugoslavia where the government was the Communist Party, the Democratic Party and other parties there was no room, even though the Milan Grol, former leader of the Democrats, was the interim vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of the Yugoslav Government under the leadership of the Communist Party leader, Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
. After the communists won the election November
November
November is the 11th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with the length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar...
1945. year, banned the work of all parties and the DS has disappeared from political life.
Re-foundation
On 11 December 1989, a group of intellectualsThe Founding Committee of the Democratic Party
The Founding Committee of the Democratic Party were a group of pro-democracy activists and intellectuals who believed in transforming the communist one-party state of Yugoslavia into a modern democratic civil society...
held a press conference and announced the renewal of the Democratic Party. Was not yet formed the legal basis for a multiparty system, but the atmosphere before the breakup of former Yugoslavia announced the end of one-party regime. With the conference is invited to join the first opposition party in Serbia. Some of them were motivated into political action by what they perceived to be unsatisfactory national position of ethnic Serbs and Serbia within Yugoslav federation while others felt that activity in a political party could help address concerns about what they thought to be deteriorating state of democracy and human rights in the country. Up to that point in time, the former primarily acted through the Writers' Club (Udruženje književnika) while the latter channeled their activities through Social Sciences Institute (Institut društvenih nauka) and Philosophy Club (Filozofsko društvo). Sprinkled among the members of the newly re-established party were also some surviving members of the pre World War II DS party. Though the grip of the Communist League (SKJ), the only constitutionally allowed party in Yugoslav one-party political system, was not nearly as strong as it once was, DS members still feared the authorities reaction to the announcement of the DS party creation.
Even before the founding conference was held, some differences of opinion over Kosovo issue surfaced among the members. The party presidency was contested between Dragoljub Mićunović
Dragoljub Micunovic
Dragoljub Mićunović, PhD is a prominent Serbian politician and philosopher.-Early life:...
and Kosta Čavoški
Kosta Cavoški
Kosta Čavoški is a professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. He is an outspoken critic of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and is a Serbian nationalist.He was one of the thirteen initiators of the re-establishment of the Democratic Party in Serbia on...
who were two of DS' most prominent and active members at the time. At the DS founding conference on 3 February 1990, Mićunović got more member votes and became president while Čavoški got named to the post of Executive Board (Izvršni odbor) president.
Mićunović years
Under Mićunović, DS was not a party with strong leadership as the longtime university professor preferred the relaxed intellectual approach to the rigid internal party structure.DS members participated in the first anti-government protests in 1990. At the parliamentary elections on 9 December 1990
Serbian parliamentary election, 1990
Parliamentary elections in Serbia were held in 1990. The elections were called on September 29, after the adoption of the new constitution. The elections were held on December 9 and December 23....
, the party was on the ballot in 176 of 250 electoral districts, getting 374,887 votes that translated into 7 assembly seats. Only several days prior to the elections, Čavoški left DS to form the Serbian Liberal Party
Serbian Liberal Party
The Serbian Liberal Party was a political party in Serbia. It was founded by a group of 10 members of the Democratic Party who left their former party only a few days prior to the 1990 parliamentary elections...
(SLS). Other members like Nikola Milošević
Nikola Miloševic (politician)
Nikola Milošević, PhD was a Serbian writer, political philosopher, literary critic, and politician....
and Vladan Vasilijević
Vladan Vasilijevic
Vladan Vasilijević was one of the most prominent Yugoslav specialists in criminal law in the 1980s. Throughout the 1990s he was engaged as a human rights lawyer promoting a democratic civil society and the rule of law in Serbia. In December 1989 he was one of the members of the Founding Committee...
left with him as well. Čavoški's lasting legacy in the DS was its national program as the party program stated until 1997 that "DS is working towards the re-unification of Serbian lands". Still, on the other hand DS had a very liberal economic program courtesy of economists Vladimir Gligorov
Vladimir Gligorov
Vladimir Gligorov is a prominent economist and was a founder of the Democratic Party in Serbia in December 1989. He is the son of the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov....
and Slobodan Inić
Slobodan Inic
Slobodan Inić is a political commentator and professor of sociology at the University of Belgrade. He was one of the founders of the Democratic Party in Serbia, Yugoslavia in December 1989.Published books:...
who were able to push it through as official party policy, despite being in minority, because most of the other members didn't really concern themselves with economic matters. Both Giligorov and Inić later left DS when the party decided to throw its support behind Prince Tomislav Karađorđević
Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia
Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia was a member of the House of Karađorđević.-Early life and education:...
at the FR Yugoslavia 1992 presidential elections.
At the 1992 parliamentary elections on 27 April
Serbian parliamentary election, 1992
Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on December 20, 1992. The vote was held only two years after the previous election, as it was necessitated by the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the establishment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,...
(scheduled early due to disintegration of SFR Yugoslavia and formation of the new state entity FR Yugoslavia), DS fared poorly with 196,347 votes, down almost two hundred thousand votes compared to the previous election, giving the party only 6 assembly seats. Later that year in July, a much more serious fragmentation of the Democratic Party occurred when a large group led by Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
left the party and established the Democratic Party of Serbia
Democratic Party of Serbia
The Democratic Party of Serbia is a political party in Serbia.-Foundation:The Democratic Party of Serbia was founded when a faction of the Democratic Party that supported its involvement in the Democratic Movement of Serbia split from the party and formed their own in 1992.Soon after the March...
(DSS). Overnight, DS lost 40% of its membership including such prominent members as Borislav Pekić
Borislav Pekic
Borislav Pekić was a Serbian writer. He was born in 1930, to a prominent family in Montenegro, at that time part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. From 1945 until his immigration to London in 1971, he lived in Belgrade...
, Mirko Petrović
Mirko Petrovic (politician)
Mirko Petrović is a Serbian politician and former Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest Serbian companies, the Dunav Insurance Company. He was a member of the Founding Committee of the Democratic Party in December 1989...
, Đurđe Ninković, Vladeta Janković
Vladeta Jankovic
Vladeta Janković, PhD a founder member of the Democratic Party of Serbia in July 1992. He was appointed Yugoslav Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2001. From 2004, he was chief foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister of Serbia, Vojislav Koštunica and was elected the Deputy President of...
, Draško Petrović
Draško Petrovic
Draško Petrović, MSc is a Serbian politician and businessman.He graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School before going on to obtain a Masters degree from the Faculty of Transport at the same university.In May 1990 he became one of the founding members of the Democratic Party's Youth...
, Vladan Batić
Vladan Batic
Vladan Batić was a Serbian politician. He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. He was the Minister of Justice in the Serbian Government from 2000 to 2003. It 2001, Batić announced that warrants would be made for the arrests of former persons in power before the 5 October...
, etc. The immediate issue behind the split was their dissatisfaction with the DS decision not to enter the DEPOS coalition, however it also had a deeper cause as differences over the handling of the so-called national question had been brewing within DS for quite some time.
Zoran Živkovic (politician)
Zoran Živković is a former Prime Minister of Serbia who replaced assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in March 2003. He was born on December 22, 1960 in Niš where he finished high-school Bora Stanković. Živković received a community college diploma in Economics in Belgrade and worked as...
, future short-time Prime Minister of Serbia, at the time DS member in the local Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
branch put it as follows:
Đinđić got his first chance to gauge the results of the new party approach even before he formally became its president. In October 1993, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
dissolved the parliament, scheduling the new parliamentary elections for 19 December 1993
Serbian parliamentary election, 1993
Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on December 19, 1993. The vote was held less than two years after the previous election. After the elections, the Socialist Party of Serbia formed the government with New Democracy, which had run as part of the Democratic Movement of...
. Supported by a carefully crafted media and marketing campaign featuring memorable "Pošteno" slogan, DS recorded its best result to date with 497,582 votes, giving them 29 assembly seats. However, despite tremendous improvement over previous elections the party was still well behind Milošević's SPS, DEPOS coalition (headed by Vuk Drašković
Vuk Draškovic
Vuk Drašković , leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, is a Serbian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia.He graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School in 1968...
's SPO), and Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj, JD is a Serbian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the founder and president of the Serbian Radical Party and was vice-president of Serbia between 1998 and 2000...
's SRS.
Đinđić years
At the party conference in January 1994, Đinđić became the new party president, completely pushing out Mićunović in the process. Though many members didn't like the way this transfer of power was executed within the party, symbolically referring to it as "oceubistvo" (father murder), many others such as founding member Gojko Đogo took some positives from the new approach introduced by Đinđić:Đinđić worked hard to move DS away from what he himself occasionally referred to in derisive terms as the "debate club" towards a modern and efficient organization that functions according to the management model of a capitalist company. Mićunović soon left DS, founding a non-governmental organization Center for Democracy that eventually transformed into Democratic Centre
Democratic Centre (Serbia)
The Democratic Centre was a political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1996 by Dragoljub Mićunović.At the last legislative elections, 28 December 2003, the party elected 5 seats on the list of the Democratic Party. After the elections it merged into the Democratic Party....
(DC). Others that followed him to the DC were Desimir Tošić, Vida Ognjenović
Vida Ognjenovic
Vida Ognjenović is a famous Serbian theater director, playwright, writer, drama professor and diplomat....
, Bora Kuzmanović, as well as many other prominent and respected DS party members. His view of the events of the period:
Though a much better organized party under Đinđić, DS still experienced trouble formulating a clear stance on the national question in the former Yugoslavia. Đinđić's own actions perhaps made a good illustration of this seemingly confused standing on both sides of the issue. On one hand Đinđić basically refused to even acknowledge the national question as a real issue, making not a single mention of the Serbs living outside of Serbia in other parts of former Yugoslavia in his book Yugoslavia: The Unfinished State while on the other he maintained close links with Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
, the war leader of Bosnian Serbs, even visiting him at Pale in February 1994 when American forces threatened to bombard Bosnian Serb positions. This seeming flip-flopping on the national issue was often effectively used by DS' political opponents and Đinđić's critics on all sides of the political spectrum.
As the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
ended by the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord, in addition to his grip on power domestically Milošević enjoyed a stable support from the international community that recognized him as the "peace and stability factor in the Balkans". Next chance to dent his armour came at the November 1996 municipal elections, which the DS entered as part of an opposition coalition featuring SPO, DSS, and GSS. Democratic Party (at the time with a total of only 7,000 members across Serbia) joined Zajedno despite Đinđić's personal opposition to the move as he got outvoted on three separate occasions by other party members when the decision was discussed internally. Following opposition victories in key Serbian cities such as Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
and Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, Milošević refused to recognize the results, sparking huge three month long peaceful protest marches by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Milošević caved in and acknowledged the results and on 21 February 1997 Đinđić got inaugurated as the mayor of Belgrade.
As the parliamentary elections got called for 21 December 1997
Serbian parliamentary election, 1997
The elections for the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia held on 21 September 1997. Out of a total 7,210,386 voters, 4.139.080 voted. 164,307 ballots were invalid:...
, Đinđić made a bold and gutsy decision that DS will boycott them thus breaking up the Zajedno coalition.
In 1998, most of the student leaders of 1996-97 street protests (gathered around an organization called Studentski politički klub (SPK)) joined DS. On this occasion future prominent members such as Čedomir Jovanović
Cedomir Jovanovic
Čedomir "Čeda" Jovanović is a Serbian politician and president of the Liberal Democratic Party .- Early life :...
, Čedomir Antić
Čedomir Antić
Čedomir Antić, PhD, is a Serbian historian, politician, and former student leader.-Student activism:...
, and Igor Žeželj joined the party.
The fall of Slobodan Milošević regime in October 2000 occurred after street protests by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Democratic Party was the biggest party of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia
Democratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia , formed as a coalition against the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and its leader, Slobodan Milošević in 2000...
block that won 64.7% of the votes in 2000 elections
Serbian parliamentary election, 2000
The first free democratic parliamentary election after the fall of Slobodan Milošević was held in the Republic of Serbia on 23 December 2000.-Results:...
held in December 2000, getting 176 of 250 seats in the Parliamentary Assembly. In 2001 Zoran Đinđić was appointed the Prime Minister of Serbia at the head of the first post-Milosevic, post-Communist Government of Serbia
Government of Serbia (2001-2004)
In the first post-Milošević Serbian parliamentary elections held on December 20, 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition won 64.7% of the popular vote translating into 176 seats in the Serbian National Assembly ....
sworn in on 21 January 2001.
In 2003, Zoran Đinđić, the Prime Minister of Serbia, was assassinated. Boris Tadić
Boris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...
was elected new president of Democratic Party in 2004.
Tadić years
Tadić was nominated for the Serbian presidential elections in the same year, and won it while Democratic party was still in opposition in parliament.Democratic Party received 915,854 popular votes or 22.71%, and thus won 64 out of 250 seats in parliament in the 2007 elections
Serbian parliamentary election, 2007
Parliamentary elections took place in Serbia on 21 January 2007. The first session of the new National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was held on 14 February 2007....
. Three of its seats went to the Sanjak Democratic Party
Sanjak Democratic Party
The Social Democratic Party of Serbia is a political party in Serbia...
, which formed a club with DS under Dušan Petrović
Dušan Petrovic
Dušan Petrović is a Serbian politician, a long-time member of Democratic Party and the current Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management...
as president and Milan Marković
Milan Markovic
Milan Marković is a Serbian lawyer, professor and politician. He is the Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government in the Government of Serbia. He was president of the Palilula municipality from 2000 to 2004. He has been an MP in Serbian Parliament since...
as vice-president. At the first session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia the party mostly voted to refuse Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
's proposal for Kosovo's solution.
Boris Tadić was re-elected at the Serbian presidential election, 2008
Serbian presidential election, 2008
A pre-term presidential election was held in Serbia on January 20 and February 3, 2008. Incumbent President Boris Tadić was reelected as President of Serbia in the second round with 51.61 percent of the votes cast, defeating challenger Tomislav Nikolić....
.
The party has also taken three seats in the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija
Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija
The Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija , is the assembly of the association of local governments created by the municipal authorities in Kosovo elected in the May 11, 2008 municipal elections called by the Government of Serbia...
, but has refused to sit in the Assembly until the situation in Kosovo is stabilized.
In the most recent 2008 elections
Serbian parliamentary election, 2008
A pre-term parliamentary election was held in the Serbia on 11 May 2008, barely a year after the previous parliamentary election. There were 6,749,886 eligible electors who were able to vote in 8,682 voting places, as well as 157 special voting places designed for refugees from...
the pro-European coalition led by the DS won 38.5% of the popular vote, translating into 102 seats in the Serbian National Assembly, making it the largest political party bloc in the Serbian Parliament.
Positions held
Major positions held by Democratic Party members:| President President of Serbia The President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:... | Years |
|---|---|
| Boris Tadić Boris Tadic Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February... |
2004 - |
| Prime Minister | Years |
| Zoran Đinđić | 2001–2003 |
| Zoran Živković Zoran Živkovic (politician) Zoran Živković is a former Prime Minister of Serbia who replaced assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in March 2003. He was born on December 22, 1960 in Niš where he finished high-school Bora Stanković. Živković received a community college diploma in Economics in Belgrade and worked as... |
2003–2004 |
| Mirko Cvetković Mirko Cvetkovic Mirko Cvetković is a Serbian economist and the Prime Minister of Serbia as well as the Minister of Finance.-Biography:... |
2008 - |
| Mayor of Belgrade Mayor of Belgrade The Mayor of Belgrade is the head of the City of Belgrade . He acts on behalf of the City, and performs an executive function in the City of Belgrade. The position of the Belgrade mayor is important as the city is the most important hub of economics, culture and science in Serbia... | Years |
| Zoran Đinđić | 1997 |
| Radmila Hrustanović Radmila Hrustanovic Radmila Hrustanović Radmila Hrustanović Radmila Hrustanović (born 25 November 1952, Belgrade, Serbia is a Serbian politician. She was mayor of the city of Belgrade between 2001 and 2004, and deputy mayor from 2004 to 2007. With the death of mayor Nenad Bogdanović on 27 September 2007, her deputy... |
2001–2004 |
| Nenad Bogdanović Nenad Bogdanovic Nenad Bogdanović was the mayor of Belgrade, elected to office in October 2004.-Education and career:... |
2004–2007 |
| Dragan Đilas | 2008 - |
| President of the Government of Vojvodina | Years |
| Bojan Pajtić Bojan Pajtic Bojan Pajtić is the current President of the Government of Vojvodina.He is a member of the Democratic Party. Pajtić was born in Senta and holds an advanced degree in Law from the University of Novi Sad. He speaks Serbian, Hungarian, and English language. Since November 2004, he has been Chairman... |
2004 - |
Current Mayors of Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
, Subotica
Subotica
Subotica is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
, Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...
, Pančevo
Pancevo
Pančevo is a city and municipality located in the southern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina, 15 km northeast from Belgrade. In 2002, the city had a total population of 77,087, while municipality of Pančevo had 127,162 inhabitants. It is the administrative center of the South Banat...
, Sombor
Sombor
Sombor is a city and municipality located in northwest part of Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina. The city has a total population of 48,749 , while the Sombor municipality has 87,815 inhabitants...
, Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the Central Banat District of Serbia...
, Šabac
Šabac
Šabac is a city and municipality in western Serbia, along the Sava river, in the historic region of Mačva. It is the administrative center of the Mačva District. The city has a population of 52,822 , while population of the municipality is 115,347...
, Smederevo
Smederevo
Smederevo is a city and municipality in Serbia, on the right bank of the Danube, about 40 km downstream of the capital Belgrade. According to official results of the 2011 census, the city has a population of 107,528...
and Valjevo
Valjevo
Valjevo is a city and municipality located in western Serbia. It is the center of the Kolubara District, which includes five other smaller municipalities with a total population of almost 180,000 people...
are also members of the Democratic Party.
See also
- Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)The Yugoslav Democratic Party, State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats and Democratic Party was the name of a series of social-liberal political parties that existed in succession in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom...
the predecessor of modern Democratic Party.