Independent Democratic Serb Party Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka Самостална демократска српска странка | |
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| Abbreviation | SDSS |
| President | Milorad Pupovac[1] |
| General Secretary | Danko Nikolić |
| Vice-presidents | Dragan Crnogorac Mirjana Galo Mile Horvat Ognjen Vukmirović |
| Founder | Vojislav Stanimirović |
| Founded | 5 March 1997 (1997-03-05)[2] |
| Headquarters | Trg drvena pijaca 28,Vukovar |
| Membership(2022) | 10,324[3] |
| Ideology | Serb minority politics Social democracy[4] Social liberalism Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre-left[5] |
| European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats[6] |
| Colors |
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| Sabor | 3 / 151 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 12 |
| Website | |
| sdss.hr | |
TheIndependent Democratic Serb Party (Serbo-Croatian:Самостална демократска српска странка,Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka,SDSS) is asocial-democraticpolitical party in Croatia representing the interests of theCroatian Serbs. It holdsprogressive,pro-European stances and is generally considered acentre-left party.[5]
It was formed in 1997 and led byVojislav Stanimirović. In the2003 Croatian parliamentary election, it beat its main rival, theSerb People's Party (SNS), taking all three seats reserved for Serb representatives in the Croatian parliament.[7]
After the elections, the Independent Democratic Serb Party made an agreement with the winningCroatian Democratic Union led byIvo Sanader in which they agreed on fulfilling several Independent Democratic Serb Party demands such as refugee return, strengthening of national equality, judicial reform and cooperation with neighbouring countries. In the2007 Croatian parliamentary election, they retained their three seats in the Parliament of Croatia.
In theCabinet of Ivo Sanader II, their memberSlobodan Uzelac received the position of vice-president of government. In the2011 Croatian parliamentary election, they again won all three seats for Serb minority lists in the Parliament.
In the 2015 and 2016 Croatian parliamentary elections, the SDSS also held all of 3 Serb national minority seats in the Croatian Parliament, continuing to support theHDZ-led government of Croatia.
The party participated in2019 European Parliament election in Croatia, winning 2.66% of votes. After the2020 parliamentary election, SDSS memberBoris Milošević received the position ofDeputy Prime Minister of Croatia, in charge of social affairs and human and minority rights, within theSecond Cabinet ofAndrej Plenković, representing national minorities in Croatia.
| Year | Number of votes | % in District XII (Serb seats) | Overall seats won | District XII | District XII (Serb seats) | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 67,075 | 57.66% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | government support |
| 2007 | 38,271 | 62.56% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | government |
| 2011 | 40,978 | 73.36% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | government support |
| 2015 | 35,203 | 77.63% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | opposition |
| 2016 | 39,820 | 83.55% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | government support |
| 2020 | 26,824 | 85.95% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | government |
| 2024 | 32,846 | 89.0% | 3 / 151 | 3 / 8 | 3 / 3 | opposition |
| Year | Popular vote (coalition) | % of popular vote | Overall seats won | Seat change | Coalition | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 67,189 | 20.78% | 0 / 151 |  1 | Opposition | |
| 2021 | 130,850 | 40.83% | 1 / 151 | 2 | Green–Left | Government |
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For the2014 European Parliament election in Croatia, the Independent Democratic Serb Party joined the centre-leftSDP-ledKukuriku coalition. The coalition eventually won 4 out of 11 Croatian seats inEuropean Parliament, with SDSS received no seat.
In 2019, the Independent Democratic Serb Party ran independently for the first time in aEuropean Parliament election.[8] Although there were speculations that the SDSS might leave the ruling coalition with HDZ, its leaderMilorad Pupovac confirmed that the SDSS would remain a part it, following a meeting with Prime MinisterAndrej Plenković.[9] Campaign was marked by SDSS jumbo posters with inscription "Do you know what it is like to be a Serb in Croatia?" in which a word Serb was written inSerbian Cyrillic:"Znate li kako je bitiСрбин u Hrvatskoj?".[10]University of Zagreb professorDejan Jović was second on the list, just behind party leader Milorad Pupovac.[11] As it was expected by campaign leaders, the jumbo posters were target of widespreadCroatian nationalism vandalism and destruction, which underlined the ethnic intolerance and discrimination issues ofanti-Serb sentiment in Croatia.[11]
| No. | Name (Born–Died) | Portrait | Term of Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vojislav Stanimirović (b. 1953) |  | 5 March 1997 | 2 July 2017 |
| 2 | Milorad Pupovac (b. 1955) |  | 2 July 2017 | Incumbent |
The SDSS defines itself as a democratic party of liberal and social-democratic orientation but also as a Serb national party. Political goals include:
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