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Serbia
At stake: National Assembly
Background
In 1929, the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was given the name of Yugoslavia. During World War II, a Nazi invasion forced the creation of nationalist paramilitary armies. One of them was led by Josip Broz Tito, who would later take over as head of the government in 1943, when the Nazis were repelled.
During the global conflict, the Serbs fought with another anti-Nazi guerrilla leader, Draza Mijajlovic, while the rest of the country followed Tito. In 1945, the country became the Communist Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. Tito was elected prime minister. A year later, under a new constitution, Serbia lost Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which became constituent republics within the greater Yugoslavia.
Tito stayed in power for life. Under his rule, his opponents were brutally crushed. The country broke ties with the Soviet Union and tried to remain neutral during the Cold War.
Tito’s death on May 4, 1980, made evident permanent divisions between different nationalities and ethnicities in Yugoslavia. The economy throughout the 1980s was very weak.
In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic became Serbia’s president. Milosevic was an advocate of reuniting all Serbs into a "greater Serbia". His radical ideas were partly to blame for the final rupture of Yugoslavia.
Slovenia seceded in 1991. Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina became independent states in 1992. Only two republics remained: Serbia and Montenegro. The two formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in April 1992. On that same year, Yugoslavia was suspended from the United Nations (UN).
Milosevic was to become a symbol of crimes against humanity. He enacted a brutal repression of Muslim Bosnians and led campaigns of ethnic cleansing that provoked a military intervention by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a bloody conflict that ended in 1995. The Dayton Peace Accords were signed in November of that same year by Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. At least 100,000 people died during the conflict; another 1.8 million fled as refugees.
Milosevic became president of Yugoslavia—still formed exclusively by Serbia and Montenegro—in July 1997. A group of ethnic Albanians living in Serbia, especially in Kosovo, constantly pushed to join Albania or reach full independence from Serbia. The separatist movement sparked a brutal retaliation led by Milosevic. NATO intervened again, but not before massive killings happened in the province of Kosovo. The conflict ended in June 1999.
Vojislav Kostunica, a low profile academic, won the federal election in September 2000. The president turned Milosevic over to the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague in June 2001. The gesture eventually led to Yugoslavia’s readmission into the UN. The former autocrat was charged with 66 war crimes, among them genocide and crimes against humanity. Milosevic died during his trial in March 2006, and was never actually convicted.
The remnants of the Yugoslav Federation were transformed into Serbia and Montenegro on Feb. 4, 2003. In March, Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated. The politician had angered nationalists when he allowed Milosevic to be sent to The Hague.
In March 2004, a coalition administration headed by Kostunica of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) was established with the support of 130 legislators. In the June 2004 presidential election, Democratic Party (DS) candidate Boris Tadic defeated Serbian Radical Party (SRS) nominee Tomislav Nikolic in a run-off.
Click here for Serbia 2004 Presidential Election Tracker
In May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum on achieving its outright independence. The ballot passed by a small margin. On Jun. 4, Serbia and Montenegro’s federal president, Svetozar Marovic, acknowledged the results and dissolved his office.
On Jun. 5, the government of Serbia recognized the end of the joint nation. Seven days later, the European Union (EU) and the United States recognized Montenegro as a sovereign country.
On Sept. 30, 2006, the Serbian National Assembly approved the text of a new constitution, which defined Serbia—including Kosovo—as a sovereign state. Kosovo, where 90 per cent of the population is ethnic Albanian, was established as an independent part of Serbia under the protection of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1999.
By the end of 2006, Kosovo had become a major issue for Serbia.
On Nov. 10, the UN announced it would delay its considerations on the possible independence of Kosovo from Serbia until after a legislative election took place.
In December, Kosovo prime minister Agim Ceku wrote a letter to the UN urging for change, saying, "In 21st century Europe, there is a state with two million people, without a voice in the world. We demand you to hear us, without destructive postponements and half-measures, (and) show us the future."
Serbia held its first democratic process since the separation from Montenegro on Jan. 21, 2007. The DS, the DSS-NS, and the G-17 Plus formed a coalition government. The three parties hold 192 of the Serbian National Assembly’s 250 seats.
Click here for Serbia’s 2007 Legislative Election Tracker
Kosovo’s calls for independence escalated throughout 2007. In July, Kosovo prime minister Ceku suggested that Kosovo would declare its unilateral independence on Nov. 28, 2007—a date commemorating the independence of Albania.
In November, leaders of the DS, the DSS and the G-17 Plus agreed on a set of electoral reforms, including a call for early presidential and legislative elections.
The presidential ballot took place on Jan. 20. Tadi earned a new term in a run-off.
Click here for Serbia’s 2008 Presidential Election Tracker
On Feb. 17, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy quickly recognized the break-away province’s independence, and were later followed by several other countries. Serbia’s diplomatic relations with the governments that have recognized independent Kosovo have been strained.
Fearing social unrest resulting from the declaration, the EU sent a mission to Kosovo with some 2,000 police officers, justice and customs officials to aid and train authorities there and help stabilize the region.
2008 Legislative Election
An early election to Serbia’s National Assembly will take place on May 11. Serbian president Boris Tadic dissolved parliament on Mar. 13. The ballot will be held simultaneously with local elections.
Tadic dissolved the legislature following the resignation of Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica five days earlier. Kostunica stepped down after failing to agree on a common position on Serbia’s foreign policy with his coalition partners. While the prime minister wanted to break relations with the EU unless it recognized Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia, the other parties wanted to reach a compromise so as not to jeopardize Serbia’s relationship with Europe.
As he announced his decision to hold an early election, Tadic declared: "Elections are a democratic way for the citizens to decide how Serbia should develop over the coming years. This is a chance for us to strengthen our capacities to defend our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, to bolster our economic position through European integration, to confirm our society’s democratic credentials, and to change things for the better."
Also on Mar. 13, Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu condemned a proposal that Serbs in Kosovo should participate in the Serbian legislative elections, saying, "We are now an independent state, and the elections in Serbia are elections of another country."
On Mar. 17, one UN peacekeeper died and several others were hurt during clashes with pro-Serbian protesters in northern Kosovo. The UN left the divided city of Mitrovica following the violence outburst, but NATO troops remained on the ground.
The following day, Larry Rossin—the second official in charge of the UN mission in Kosovo—said that Serbia’s authorities had failed to use their influence on Kosovo’s Serbs to prevent attacks against UN and NATO forces, and assured it was clear to UN officials that the violence "was orchestrated," adding, "We believe we know who was responsible for this. We’ve never had what we could consider a clear and unambiguous denunciation of this kind of violence from the ministers or indeed any other Belgrade government official that I can think of. (…) We’re having trouble continuing some of our operations in the north of Kosovo right now, and it’s directly because of either their interventions or lack of interventions with those who are causing these problems."
On Mar. 19, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary announced they would recognize Kosovo’s independence, drawing an angry condemnation from Serbia. Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic reacted to the decision saying, "Every country that decides to recognize the illegally declared state of Kosovo breaches international law." Jeremic added that any country that does so "can’t count on good relations with Serbia" and assured that Serbia’s policy on Kosovo would remain unchanged regardless of the election’s outcome.
Also on Mar. 19, the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) issued a statement accusing the government of using the Kosovo issue for its own electoral interests, saying, "If the Kosovo problem is being so gravely abused at the start of the election campaign, one wonders what the failed government is capable of doing", and adding, "We sharply condemn the state policies which seek to cover its own defeat and loss of Kosovo by pushing the [Kosovo] Serbs into violence."
On Apr. 25, the Diaspora Ministry revealed that more than 52,000 Serbians who live abroad had registered to vote in the upcoming election. The number of polling stations overseas will increase from 65 to 78.
The EU is trying to boost the chances of a victory for the pro-European
coalition by offering closer ties with Serbia. On May 6, 17 European
states offered free visas to Serbians. A joint communiqué issued by the
French Foreign Ministry stated: “We have decided to make full usage of
the flexibility referred to by the European Commission to provide free
visas to all individual applicants for whom that is a possibility.”
On May 8, SRS member Nikolic called on the EU to acknowledge that
Kosovo is a part of Serbia, adding, “You will have Serbia as a friend.
Otherwise, you don’t have friends in Serbia.”
Voting took place on May 11. Final results placed the For a European
Serbia coalition in first place with 38.7 per cent of the vote and 102
seats, followed by the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) with 29.1 per cent
and 78 mandates.
Defence minister and Tadic ally Dragan Sutanovac declared: “This is a
great victory. It shows that Serbs want a European Serbia.” Nikolic
said: “We’ll cooperate with everyone, openly with friends but
cautiously with those who show they are not our friends.”
In mid-May, Tadic began negotiations with smaller parties in order to
assemble a coalition administration. One of the scenarios involves
inviting the SPS-PUPS-JS to the government.
On May 17, NS leader Velimir Ilic dismissed any collaboration with For
a European Serbia, saying, “I’m no traitor! (...) Our talks with the
Socialists and Radicals are going very well. The most important thing
is that all three parties have agreed over the basic principles of the
future government, so that Serbia, with God’s will, will have a
national government in two weeks, at the latest.”
On
Jul. 7, after weeks of negotiations, the National Assembly voted 127-27
to ratify the new government, which brings together For a European
Serbia and the SPS-led alliance.
Mirko Cvetkovic—who had previously served as finance minister—became
the country’s new prime minister, and declared: “Full-fledged EU
membership is the core interest of the Republic of Serbia and its
citizens. Joining the EU would enable Serbia to become a full-fledged
member of the European family of nations, from which Serbia has been
excluded for a long time due to certain unfortunate historical
circumstances.” Although Cvetkovic is an independent, he was endorsed
by the pro-Tadic coalition.
On Jul. 21, co-founder of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) Radovan
Karadzic—signalled as one of the architects of ethnic cleansing in
Bosnia in the 1990s—was arrested in a Serbian police raid after being a
fugitive for nearly 13 years. Karadzic is accused of crimes against
humanity, genocide and war crimes.
Political Players
President: Boris Tadic - DS
Prime minister: Mirko Cvetkovic
The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote.
Legislative Branch: The Narodna Skupstina Srbije (Serbian National Assembly) has 250 members, elected to four-year terms.
Results of Last Election:
President - Jan. 20 and Feb. 3, 2008
|
|
Jan. 20 |
Feb. 3 |
|
Boris Tadic - Democratic Party |
35.39% |
51.61% |
|
Tomislav Nikolic - Serbian Radical Party |
39.99% |
47.69% |
|
Velimir Ilic - New Serbia |
7.43% |
-- |
|
Milutin Mrkonjic - Socialist Party of Serbia |
5.97% |
-- |
|
Cedomir Jovanovic - Liberal Democratic Party |
5.34% |
-- |
|
Istvan Pastor - Hungarian Coalition |
2.26% |
-- |
|
Milanka Karic - Strength of Serbia Movement |
0.98% |
-- |
|
Marijan Risticevic - People’s Peasant Party - United Peasant Party |
0.45% |
-- |
|
Jugoslav Dobricanin - Reformist Party |
0.29% |
-- |
Serbian National Assembly - May 11, 2008
|
Vote% |
Seats |
|
|
For a European Serbia |
38.7% |
102 |
|
Serbian Radical Party (SRS) |
29.1% |
78 |
|
DSS-NS |
11.3% |
30 |
| SPS-PUPS-JS Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) United Serbia (JS) |
7.9% |
20 |
| LDP-SDU-DHSS Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Social Democratic Union (SDU) Christian Democratic Party of Serbia (DHSS) |
5.2% |
13 |
|
Hungarian Coalition (MK) |
1.8% |
4 |
|
Bosniak List for a European Sandzak |
0.8% |
2 |
|
Strength of Serbia Movement (SS) |
0.6% |
-- |
|
Albanian Coalition from Presevo Valley |
0.5% |
-- |
|
If It Were Up to the Village - Populist Peasant Party |
0.3% |
-- |
|
Reformist Party |
0.3% |
-- |
|
My Serbia Movement |
0.2% |
-- |
|
Roma Party |
0.1% |
-- |
|
United Vlachs of Serbia |
0.1% |
-- |
|
Roma for Roma |
0.1% |
-- |
|
Civic Initiative of Goranis (GIG) |
0.1% |
-- |
|
Roma Union of Serbia (URS) |
0.1% |
-- |
|
Vojvodina’s Party |
0.1% |
-- |
|
People’s Movement for Serbia |
0.1% |
-- |
|
Patriotic Party of the Diaspora |
0.1% |
-- |
|
Montenegrin Party |
0.1% |
-- |
|
League of the Backa Bunjevci |
0.0% |
-- |