Alliance for Serbia

Alliance for Serbia
Савез за Србију
Savez za Srbiju
AbbreviationSZS
Representatives
Founded9 May 2018
Dissolved10 August 2020
Succeeded byUnited Opposition of Serbia
Political positionBig tent
Colours
  •   Blue
  •   Red
Website
savez-za-srbiju.rs

The Alliance for Serbia (Serbian Cyrillic: Савез за Србију, romanizedSavez za Srbiju, abbr. SZS) was an opposition alliance of political parties in Serbia that was founded in September 2018. The alliance boycotted the 2020 parliamentary election, due to claims that the elections would not be held under fair conditions. The alliance officially dissolved in August 2020, as the new alliance called United Opposition of Serbia was formed.[1]

History

Coalition was founded by Dragan Đilas in September 2018.[2] The political background of alliance members is diverse, with both left-wing, liberal, moderate, right-wing and far-right factions voicing opposition to the government. It is composed of the Democratic Party, Dveri, People's Party, Party of Freedom and Justice, as well some minor and local anti-government parties and organisations. They have called for the institution of a technocratic transitional government which would serve for a period of 1 year after which elections would be held.[3]

The Alliance have supported protests against Vučić and have signed Agreement with people along with other opposition parties on 6 February.[4]

Leaders of SZS, from left to right: Zdravko Ponoš, Boško Obradović, Nebojša Zelenović, Dragan Đilas, Borko Stefanović and Janko Veselinović

The protests were precipitated by an assault on Borko Stefanović, one of the leaders of the Alliance.[5] The non-partisan expert group, introduced during protests, concluded there were no conditions for free and fair elections in the country, due to the lack of public communication and inequality in that process, and they drafted a comprehensive and systematic document with six demands and six annexes.[6] On September 16, 2019, the parties of the Alliance had taken a joint decision to boycott the coming parliamentary elections.[7] In October, the first round of inter-party European Parliament-mediated dialogue took place, while the Alliance for Serbia refused to participate, stating that there is no time for their demands for fair election conditions to be met before April, when the election is scheduled.[8]

Members

Name Leader Main ideology Political position MPs (2019)
Democratic Party
Демократска странка
Demokratska stranka
Zoran Lutovac Social liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Centre to
centre-left
12 / 250
Dveri
Двери
Dveri
Boško Obradović Serbian nationalism
Social conservatism
Right wing to
far-right
4 / 250
People's Party
Народна странка
Narodna stranka
Vuk Jeremić Liberal conservatism
Pro-Europeanism
Centre-right
3 / 250
Party of Freedom and Justice
Странка слободе и правде
Stranka slobode i pravde
Dragan Đilas Social democracy
Pro-Europeanism
Centre-left
2 / 250
Fatherland
Отаџбина
Otadžbina
Slaviša Ristić National conservatism
Christian democracy
Right-wing
1 / 250
Movement for Reversal
Покрет за преокрет
Pokret za preokret
Janko Veselinović Social democracy
Social liberalism
Centre-left
United Trade Unions "Sloga"
Удружени синдикати Србије „Слога”
Udruženi sindikati Srbije „Sloga”
Željko Veselinović Syndicalism
Democratic socialism
Left-wing

Parties that left coalition

Name Leader Main ideology Political position MPs (2019)
Together for Serbia
Заједно за Србију
Zajedno za Srbiju
Nebojša Zelenović Social democracy
Green politics
Centre-left
1 / 250
Healthy Serbia
Здрава Србија
Zdrava Srbija
Milan Stamatović National conservatism
Euroscepticism
Right-wing

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

Year Popular vote % of popular vote # of seats Seat change Status
2018 Coalition formed
23 / 250
Increase 23 opposition
2020 Election boycott
0 / 250
Decrease 23 no seats

See also

References

  1. ^ Online, Piše: Danas (2020-08-03). "SZS: Dogovoreno formiranje Udružene opozicije Srbije". Dnevni list Danas (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  2. ^ "Formiran Savez za Srbiju" (in Serbian). N1. 2 September 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Belgrade Protests Start Spreading Across Serbia". Balkaninsight.com. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  4. ^ "Opozicija u Srbiji dogovorila 'Sporazum sa narodom'". RFE/RL. 6 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Thousands protest in Serbia over attack on opposition politician". Reuters. 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  6. ^ "Civil protests' experts: No conditions for free and fair elections in Serbia". N1. Archived from the original on 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  7. ^ "Opposition Alliance for Serbia declares boycott". N1. Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  8. ^ "First EP-mediated dialogue in Serbia: Part of the opposition refuses to participate". European Western Balkans. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-29.