Serbian Radical Party

Serbian Radical Party
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For other uses, see Serbian Radical Party (disambiguation).

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Serbian Radical Party

Српска радикална странка
Srpska radikalna stranka



Leader	Vojislav Šešelj (president), Dragan Todorović (vice president, active leader)

Founded	1991
Headquarters	Magistratski trg 3, 11080 Zemun - Belgrade

Political ideology	Nationalism, National conservatism, Populism, Anti-Globalism, Russophilia ¹²³⁴⁵⁶
International affiliation
European affiliation
Colour(s)	Blue, White

Website	www.srs.org.yu

Also about Serbian politics	Politics List of political parties Elections

The Serbian Radical Party (Serbian: Српска радикална странка or Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS) is a nationalist right-wing political party in Serbia.

The party had a presence in Republika Srpska and Republic of Serbian Krajina in the early 1990s. In 2006 a Radical Party of Serbs in Macedonia has been registered and gained the status of candidate in the Republic of Macedonia's 2006 Parliamentary elections. The party is registered as Party of Danube Serbs in Croatia, Party of Serb Radicals in Montenegro, and Serbian Radical Party of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The SRS's deputy president, leading the Party while Šešelj is in The Hague, was Tomislav Nikolić until September 6, 2008 when he resigned due to disagreement with Šešelj over the EU policy. Šešelj disagreed with Nikolić's proposal to support the EU accession of Serbia. The splinters led by Nikolić launched the Serbian Progressive Party.

1 History
2 Ideology
3 Popular support
- 3.1 Parliamentary elections
- 3.2 Presidential results
4 Further reading
5 References
6 External links

History

Foundation and early years

The party was formed in 1991 when the People's Radical Party (a party from the 1990s, not Nikola Pašić's People's Radical Party) and the Serbian Chetnik Movement joined into one organization. The Serbian Chetnik Movement was formed after a split in the Serbian Renewal Movement in 1990. It supports the Greater Serbian ideal and is said to claim Chetnik heritage. On 23 December 2007 the Party of Serbian Unity of former Željko Ražnatović Arkan merged into SRS.

During the 1998-2000 period it formed governments with the Socialist Party of Serbia at times, while it also spent its time in opposition, with the leader, Vojislav Šešelj, landing in jail in 1994. Šešelj is awaiting trial at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague. He was associated with activities of paramilitary units during the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.⁷

Electoral successes

The Serbian Radical Party headquarters in Zemun, Belgrade

In the 2003 general elections, the SRS picked up a plurality of seats and votes, with 27.6% of the popular vote and 82 out of 250 seats.

Winning 1,153,453 or 28.59% of the total people that voted on the Serbian parliamentary election, 2007 and received 81 seat out of total 250. The party formed alone a SRS MP club who's president became Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić vice-president. On the National Assembly's first session on February 14 2007 all party members voted against the accepting of Martti Ahtisaari's proposal for the preliminary solution for the status of Kosovo.

The party has also taken 17 seats in the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija.⁸

In Serbian parliamentary election, 2008, SRS won 78 seats with 1,219,436 or 29.46 percent of the votes. The party once again formed alone a SRS MP club who's president became Tomislav Nikolić and Dragan Todorović vice-president.

Breakup

On September 8, 2008, Tomislav Nikolić, after disagreement with Šešelj, formed new parliamentary group called "Napred Srbijo!" (English: "Forward Serbia!") and number of other Radical Party members joined his group. On September 11, 2008 Vojislav Šešelj addressed to all Radical Party members by the letter. He named Nikolić and his group as "traitors, western puppets and agents". He also called all SRS members to remain loyal to the ideology of "Serbian nationalism, anti-globalism and Russophilia". ⁹ On September 12, 2008 Nikolić and his group were officialy expelled from the Radical Party. ¹⁰ In reply, Nikolić announced he would form his own party.¹¹ On September 14, Aleksandar Vučić, secretary-general of SRS and very popular figure among party supporters, resigned from Serbian Radical Party. ¹² The splinters led by Nikolić and Vučić launched the Serbian Progressive Party.

Ideology

The Radical Party's policies include implementing United Nations Resolution 1244 allowing the Serbian police and Serbian army to protect Serbian citizens in the province of Kosovo, still deemed to be a Serbian province despite the declaration of independence on February 18, 2008. The SRS had been part of a Government coalition with Slobodan Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia during his presidency.^{citation needed}

Since the SRS picked up a plurality in the December 2003 parliamentary elections, it has added many social elements to its program.

Popular support

Parliamentary elections

1992 parliamentary election: 1,066,765 votes, 73 of 250 seats
1993 parliamentary election: 595,467 votes, 39 of 250 seats
1997 parliamentary election: 1,162,216 votes, 82 of 250 seats
2000 parliamentary election: 322,333 votes, 23 of 250 seats
2003 parliamentary election: 1,069,212 votes, 82 of 250 seats
2007 parliamentary election: 1,153,453 votes, 81 of 250 seats
2008 parliamentary election: 1,219,436 votes, 78 of 250 seats

Presidential results

Failed 1997 presidential election: Vojislav Šešelj
- First round: 1,126,940 votes, 27.28%
- Second round: 1,733,859 vote, 49.10% (Relative winner, but election failed as election turnout did pass threshold))
1997 presidential election: Vojislav Šešelj
- First round: 1,227,076 votes, 32.19%
- Second round: 1,383,868 votes, 37.57%
First failed 2002 presidential election: Vojislav Šešelj
- First round: 845,308 votes, 23.24%
Second failed 2002 presidential election: Vojislav Šešelj
- First round: 1,063,296 votes, 36.08%
Failed 2003 presidential election: Tomislav Nikolić
- First round: 1,166,896 votes, 46.23%
2004 presidential election: Tomislav Nikolić
- First round: 954,339 votes, 30.60%
- Second round: 1,434,068 votes, 45.40%
2008 presidential election: Tomislav Nikolić
- First round: 1,646,172 votes, 39.99%
- Second round: 2.197.155 votes, 47.97%

References

This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2007)

External links

v • d • e

Political parties in Serbia

Parliamentary parties

(Bracketed numbers indicate
number of seats held)

Coalition	Democratic Party (64) · G17 Plus (22) · Socialist Party of Serbia (11) · Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (5) · League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (5) · Serbian Renewal Movement (4) · United Serbia (3) · Together for Serbia (2) · Movement of Serbian Veterans (1)

Opposition	Serbian Radical Party (57) · Democratic Party of Serbia (21) · Serbian Progressive Party (20) · Liberal Democratic Party (11) · New Serbia (9) · Christian Democratic Party of Serbia (1) · Social Democratic Union (1)

National minorities	Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (4) · Sandžak Democratic Party (4) · Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandžak (1) · Democratic League of Croats in Vojvodina (1) · Social Liberal Party of Sandžak (1) · Party for Democratic Action (1)