Democratic Party (Serbia)
| Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Демократска странка | |
| Demokratska stranka | |
| Leader | Boris Tadić |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Krunska 69, Belgrade |
| Political ideology | Social democracy Social liberalism[1] |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| Colour(s) | Blue, Yellow |
| Website | www.ds.rs |
| Also about Serbian politics |
Politics List of political parties Elections |
The Democratic Party (Serbian: Демократска странка, Demokratska stranka, listen) is the main center-left political party in Serbia. It claims continuity of the historical Democratic Party. It is the largest political party in Serbia in terms of sitting Members of Parliament, and in what respects the international arena, the Democratic Party is a member of the Socialist International and Party of European Socialists. Both, the President and the Prime Minister of Serbia, at the moment are of Democratic Party.
Contents |
History
1990s
In late 1989, a group of 13 intellectuals held a press conference in Belgrade where they announced that the Democratic Party is being and invited everyone to join the first opposition party in Serbia. The founding assembly was held on February 3, 1990, in Belgrade. The elected party president was Dragoljub Mićunović.
Members participated in the first anti-government protests in 1990. In elections that year, the party was on ballot in 176 of 250 electoral districts, and won 7 assembly seats. Only several days prior to the elections, a group of 10 members, led by Nikola Milošević, left the party and formed the Serbian Liberal Party. In 1992 a much larger faction led by Vojislav Koštunica, left the party and established the Democratic Party of Serbia.
Zoran Đinđić was the second president of the party, elected at the party conference in January 1994. On 21 February 1997 he was elected Mayor of Belgrade following more than three months of peaceful protest marches by hundreds of thousands of citizens protesting against blatant vote rigging by Slobodan Milošević and his cronies.
Recent events
The fall of Slobodan Milošević regime in 2000 occurred after street protests by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Democratic Party was the biggest party of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia that won 64.7% of the votes, getting 176 of 250 seats. In 2003, Zoran Đinđić, the Prime Minister of Serbia, was assassinated. Immediately after the assassination, a state of emergency was declared and the government mounted Operation Sablja. Boris Tadić was elected new president of Democratic Party in 2004. He 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. 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 reelected 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.[2]
Positions held
Major positions held by Democratic Party members:
| President | Years |
|---|---|
| Boris Tadić | 2004 - |
| Prime Minister | Years |
| Zoran Đinđić | 2001 - 2003 |
| Zoran Živković | 2003 - 2004 |
| Mirko Cvetković | 2008 - |
| Mayor of Belgrade | Years |
| Zoran Đinđić | 1997 |
| Radmila Hrustanović | 2001 - 2004 |
| Nenad Bogdanović | 2004 - 2007 |
| Dragan Đilas | 2008 - |
Ideology
Although its first official political position, after its foundation, was center-right carried on now by the Democratic Party of Serbia, it is nowadays a party of the center-left.
External links
References
- ↑ http://www.fes.org.yu/thira_files/publikacije/2007/12.Ideologija_i_politicke_stranke_u_Srbiji.pdf
- ↑ "Kosovo Serbs convene parliament; Pristina, international authorities object", Southeast European Times (2008-06-30). Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
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