Serb Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox political party The Serb Democratic Party (Template:Langx, SDS) is a Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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 president of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Despite making minor gains in the 2010 and 2014 elections, by 2018 the party had fallen to below 20% of the parliament, the lowest seat standing in its history.
The 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.<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The party is on the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by the Office of Foreign Assets Control U.S. agency.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To avoid the sanctions, the SDS officials established a separate legal entity called SDS – The Will of the People (Template:Langx) in 2020.
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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 favor of staying in a federal state with Serbia and Montenegro, as part of Yugoslavia. In December 1991, a top-secret document entitled ‘For the organization and activity of organs of the Serbs people in Bosnia-Herzegovina in extraordinary circumstances’ was drawn up by the SDS leadership. This was a centralized program 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).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Ideology
Historically, the party had a strong ultranationalist,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> separatist<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Nordsieck">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Islamophobic ideologyTemplate:Cn.
List of presidents
| No. | Name Template:Small |
Portrait | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 1 | Radovan Karadžić Template:Small |
12 July 1990 | 19 July 1996 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 2 | Aleksa Buha Template:Small |
![]() |
19 July 1996 | 1 July 1998 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 3 | Dragan Kalinić Template:Small |
1 July 1998 | 20 July 2004 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 4 | Dragan Čavić Template:Small |
20 July 2004 | 15 December 2006 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 5 | Mladen Bosić Template:Small |
15 December 2006 | 8 October 2016 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 6 | Vukota Govedarica Template:Small |
23 October 2016 | 30 June 2019 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 7 | Mirko Šarović Template:Small |
30 June 2019 | 12 November 2022 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 8 | Milan Miličević Template:Small |
12 November 2022 | 13 July 2025 | |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| — | Jovica Radulović Template:Small Template:Small |
![]() |
13 July 2025 | Incumbent |
Electoral results
Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
| Year | Leader | Popular vote | % | # of seats | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Radovan Karadžić | 590,431 | 26.14 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Yes2 |
Template:Notelist <timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:70 PlotArea = width:800 height:50 left:20 bottom:20
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1996 Legend = columns:3 left:40 top:75 columnwidth:90
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National Assembly of Republika Srpska
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</timeline>
Presidential elections
| Election year | # | Candidate | Votes | % | Note | Elected? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Template:Nochange 1st | Momčilo Krajišnik | 690,646 | 67.3% | — | Template:Yes |
| 1998 | Template:Decrease 2nd | Momčilo Krajišnik | 314,236 | 44.7% | — | Template:No |
| 2002 | Template:Increase 1st | Mirko Šarović | 180,212 | 35.5% | — | Template:Yes |
| 2006 | Template:Decrease 2nd | Mladen Bosić | 130,824 | 24.2% | — | Template:No |
| 2010 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Mladen Ivanić | 285,951 | 47.31% | Support | Template:No |
| 2014 | Template:Increase 1st | Mladen Ivanić | 318,196 | 48.71% | Support | Template:Yes |
| 2018 | Template:Decrease 2nd | Mladen Ivanić | 292,065 | 42.74% | Support | Template:No |
| 2022 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Mirko Šarović | 224,912 | 35.45% | — | Template:No |
| Election year | # | Candidate | Votes | % | Note | Elected? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Template:Nochange 1st | Biljana Plavšić | 636.654 | 59.2% | — | Template:Yes |
| 1998 | Template:Nochange 1st | Nikola Poplašen | 322,684 | 43.9% | Support | Template:Yes |
| 2000 | Template:Nochange 1st | Mirko Šarović | 313,572 | 49.8% | — | Template:Yes |
| 2002 | Template:Nochange 1st | Dragan Čavić | 183,121 | 35.9% | — | Template:Yes |
| 2006 | Template:Decrease 2nd | Dragan Čavić | 163,041 | 29.4% | — | Template:No |
| 2007 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Ognjen Tadić | 142,898 | 33.8% | — | Template:No |
| 2010 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Ognjen Tadić | 227,239 | 35.92% | — | Template:No |
| 2014 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Ognjen Tadić | 296,021 | 44.28% | — | Template:No |
| 2018 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Vukota Govedarica | 284,140 | 41.81% | — | Template:No |
| 2022 | Template:Nochange 2nd | Jelena Trivić | 273,245 | 42.84% | Support | Template:No |
Positions held
Major positions held by Serb Democratic Party members:
| Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina | Years |
|---|---|
| Momčilo Krajišnik | 1996–1998 |
| Mirko Šarović | 2002–2003 |
| Borislav Paravac | 2003–2006 |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Years |
| Boro Bosić | 1997–1999 |
| Spasoje Tuševljak | 2000 |
| President of Republika Srpska | Years |
| Radovan Karadžić | 1992–1996 |
| Biljana Plavšić | 1996–1998 |
| Mirko Šarović | 2000–2002 |
| Dragan Čavić | 2002–2006 |
| 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 |
| President of Republika Srpska National Assembly | Years |
| Momčilo Krajišnik | 1992–1996 |
| Dragan Kalinić | 1996–1998 2000–2004 |
| Dušan Stojičić | 2004–2006 |
References
External links
Template:Republika Srpska political parties Template:Bosnian political parties
- Serb Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- 1990 establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Political parties established in 1990
- Serbian irredentism
- Nationalist parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Political parties in Republika Srpska
- Separatism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Serb political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Serb nationalist parties
- Far-right politics in Europe
