Serb Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Not to be confused with Serb Democratic Party (Croatia).
Serb Democratic Party
Српска демократска Странка
Srpska Demokratska Stranka
Leader Vukota Govedarica
Founder Radovan Karadžić
Founded 12 July 1990
Headquarters Istočno Sarajevo
Ideology National conservatism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position Right-wing
House of Representatives
5 / 42
National Assembly of the Republika Srpska
17 / 83
Website
www.sdsrs.com

The Serb Democratic Party (Serbian: Српска демократска Странка/Srpska Demokratska Stranka; abbr. СДС/SDS) is a Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is currently led by Mladen Bosić, who succeeded Dragan Čavić.

In the parliamentary elections of October 2006, the SDS lost its status as the leading party in Republika Srpska and the main Serb party in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), led by the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik.

The Serb Democratic Party is under sanctions from the United States for "failing to arrest and turn over war crimes suspects to an international tribunal." The sanctions prohibit any transfer of funds and material from the United States to the SDS and vice versa.[1][2] The party is on the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by the Office of Foreign Assets Control U.S. agency.[3]

The SDS made major gains in the 2012 elections.

History

Establishment

Radovan Karadžić founded the Serb Democratic Party in 1990. The party aimed at unifying the Bosnian Serb community, as Jovan Rašković's Serb Democratic Party did with the Serbs in Croatia, and staying part of Yugoslavia (as the "Third Yugoslavia" with Serbia and Montenegro) in the event of secession by those two republics from the federation.

1991

Throughout September 1991, the SDS began to establish various "Serb Autonomous Regions" throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Bosnian parliament voted on sovereignty on 15 October 1991, a separate Serb Assembly was founded on 24 October 1991 in Banja Luka, in order to exclusively represent the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following month, Bosnian Serbs held a referendum which resulted in an overwhelming vote in favour of staying in a federal state with Serbia and Montenegro, as part of Yugoslavia. In December 1991, a top secret document entitled ‘For the organisation and activity of organs of the Serbs people in Bosnia-Herzegovina in extraordinary circumstances’ was drawn up by the SDS leadership. This was a centralised programme for the takeover of each municipality in the country, through the creation of shadow governments and para-governmental structures through various "crisis headquarters", and by preparing loyal Serbs for the takeover in co-ordination with the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).[4]

Presidents of Serb Democratic Party

# President Born–Died Term start Term end
1 Radovan Karadžić 1945– 1990 1996
2 Aleksa Buha 1939– 1996 1998
3 Dragan Kalinić 1948– 1998 2004
4 Dragan Čavić 1958– 2004 2006
5 Mladen Bosić 1961– 2006 2016
6 Vukota Govedarica 1976– 2016 Incumbent

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

Parliament of Republika Srpska
Year Popular vote % of popular vote # of seats Seat change Coalition Government
1996 568.980 52.3%
45 / 83
 N/A — government
1997 Unknown Unknown
24 / 83
 Decrease 21 — opposition
1998 160.594 21.7%
19 / 83
 Decrease 5 — opposition
2000 226.226 36.1%
31 / 83
 Increase 12 — government
2002 159.164 31.2%
26 / 83
 Decrease 5 — government
2006 103.035 18.27%
17 / 83
 Decrease 9 — opposition
2010 120.136 18.97%
18 / 83
 Increase 1 — opposition
2014 173.824 26.26%
21 / 83
 Increase 3 SRS RS opposition

Presidential elections

President of Republika Srpska
Election year # Candidate Votes % Note
1996 Steady 1st Biljana Plavšić 636.654 59,2% —
1998 Steady 1st Nikola Poplašen 322.684 43,9% Support
2000 Steady 1st Mirko Šarović 313.572 49,8% —
2002 Steady 1st Dragan Čavić 183.121 35,9% —
2006 Decrease 2nd Dragan Čavić 163.041 29,4% —
2007 Steady 2nd Ognjen Tadić 142.898 33,8% —
2010 Steady 2nd Ognjen Tadić 227.239 35,92% —
2014 Steady 2nd Ognjen Tadić 296.021 44,28% —

Positions held

Major positions held by Serb Democratic Party members:

President of Republika Srpska Years
Radovan Karadžić 1992–1996
Biljana Plavšić 1996–1998
Mirko Šarović 2000-2002
Dragan Čavić 2002-2006
President of Republika Srpska National Assembly Years
Momčilo Krajišnik 1992-1996
Dragan Kalinić 1996-1998
2000-2004
Dušan Stojičić 2004-2006
Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Years
Branko Đerić 1992-1993
Vladimir Lukić 1993-1994
Dušan Kozić 1994-1995
Rajko Kasagić 1995-1996
Gojko Kličković 1996-1998
Pero Bukejlović 2005-2006
Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Years
Momčilo Krajišnik 1996-1998
Mirko Šarović 2002-2003
Borislav Paravac 2003-2006

References

  1. ↑ Archived July 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "US Places Sanctions on Bosnian Serb Officials". L.A. Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that, under the sanctions, any assets the Serbian Democratic Party had in the United States would be frozen. In addition, he said, any members of that party or its partner, the Party for Democratic Progress, would be banned from entering the United States.
  3. ↑ "Office of Foreign Assets Control black list" (PDF). Office of Foreign Assets Control. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Gow, James (2003). The Serbian Project and Its Aversaries: A Strategy of War Crimes. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 122–123. ISBN 1850654999.
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