Independent Democratic Serb Party

Independent Democratic Serb Party
President Vojislav Stanimirović
Vice-president Milorad Pupovac
Founded 1997 (1997)
Headquarters Vukovar, Croatia
Ideology Serb minority politics
Social democracy
Anti-fascism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position Centre-left
European affiliation None
International affiliation None
European Parliament group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats[1]
Colours Blue, red and white
Sabor
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Website
sdss.hr

The Independent Democratic Serb Party (Croatian: Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS, Serbian: Самостална демократска српска странка) is a social democratic political party of Serbs living in Croatia.

History

It was formed in 1997 as a liberal/social-democrat party said to be based on the doctrine of Svetozar Pribićević's Independent Democratic Party from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The party is led by Vojislav Stanimirović and aims to facilitate the return of Serb refugees who in 1995, in the face of Operation Storm, fled Croatia. Operation Storm was a military operation in which the Croatian military and police took the main part of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, thus establishing Croatian government control up to and including the Republic of Croatia's internationally recognized boundaries.

In the Croatian parliamentary election, 2003, it beat its main rival, the Serb People's Party (SNS), taking all three seats reserved for Serb representatives in the Croatian parliament.

After the elections, the Independent Democratic Serb Party made an agreement with the winning Croatian Democratic Union led by Ivo Sanader in which they agreed on fulfilling several SDSS demands such as refugee return, strengthening of national equality, judicial reform and cooperation with neighbouring countries.

In the Croatian parliamentary election, 2007, they retained their three seats in the Parliament. In the Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II, their member Slobodan Uzelac received the position of vice-president of government.

In the Croatian parliamentary election, 2011, they again won their three seats in the Parliament on the Serbian minority electoral list. They do not participate in the Cabinet of Zoran Milanović.

Self-definition

The SDSS is a democratic party of liberal and social democratic orientation, but in the present circumstances, it is also a Serb national party.

Political goals:

  1. Refugee return, especially of Serbs; finishing renewal of war damaged areas
  2. The right to buy earlier state-owned flats, under earlier legislation (before peaceful reintegration of Croatian Podunavlje, when deadline for buying state-owned flats ended)
  3. State protection and securing of existing rights of national minorities, especially Serbs in Croatia
  4. Cultural and educational autonomy of Serbs in Croatia, through use of Serbian language and writings, use of Serbian national symbols, education in Serbian, foundation of Serb organizations in education and culture, foundation of Serbian information media and the maintaining of Serbian traditions and customs
  5. Professionalization of the armed forces
  6. Regionalism and decentralization
  7. Croatian integration into the EU and developing economic relations with Serbia

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hrvatski sabor - Zastupnici promatrači Hrvatskoga sabora u Europskom parlamentu". Sabor.hr. Retrieved 2012-09-17.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.