Social Democratic Union of Macedonia
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The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (Macedonian: Социјалдемократски Сојуз на Македонија Socijaldemokratski Sojuz na Makedonija, SDSM) is a political party in the Republic of Macedonia. It is the successor of the League of Communists of Macedonia, the ruling party during the communist regime which ruled Macedonia as a part of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. From September 1992 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2006 the SDSM was the largest party in the Macedonian parliament and the main party in the government, and has shown a moderate and reconcilliatory attitude towards ethnic minorities in Macedonia. Concerning its ideology, it can be said that although the SDSM is a successor of a communist party and calls itself “social-democratic”, the influential business lobby in SDSM is moving the party in a neoliberal direction. Consequently, the SDSM has fewer supporters in lower classes and more supporters in upper classes than one can expect from a social-democratic party.
The party lost the 1998 elections, but at the legislative elections, 15 September 2002, the party became the strongest party winning 43 out of 120 seats in the Macedonian Assembly as the major party of the Together for Macedonia alliance, led by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and the Liberal Democratic Party. Together for Macedonia governs in coalition with the Democratic Union for Integration.
The leader of the party until 2004 was Branko Crvenkovski, who served as prime minister of Macedonia from 1992 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2004. Crvenkovski was then elected on the Social Democratic ticket to become President of the Republic of Macedonia a post that he still holds. The party has since then been led by Vlado Bučkovski, who is also the prime minister. Other prominent members of this party are: Radmila Šekerinska, Nikola Popovski, Ilinka Mitreva, Nikola Kjurkciev, and others. The SDSM is a full member of the Socialist International and a PES associate member.
On November 30, 2005 one of the most prominent members of the SDSM, Tito Petkovski, who ran for president in 1999 and came in second place, left the party to form the New Social Democratic Party. This is the second major split from the SDSM, the first one being the 1993 split of Petar Gošev, who has established the Democratic Party.
According to Petkovski the main problem with the party is that it is not following its social democratic ideology, by enforcing privatisation of many state owned companies and by lowering spending on health-care.
At the last parliamentary elections, held on July 5, 2006, the party was defeated, receiving 32 of the 120 seats. It remains an important political force in Macedonia, as the second largest political party in parliament, but will most likely be unable to form a government and will become the leading opposition party.
