Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Socijaldemokratska partija Bosne i Hercegovine
Социјалдемократска партија Боснe и Херцеговинe
PresidentNermin Nikšić
Vice Presidents
See list
FounderNijaz Duraković
Founded27 December 1992
Preceded bySK BiH
HeadquartersAlipašina 41, Sarajevo
Youth wingForum Mladih SDP
Membership43,000
IdeologySocial democracy[1]
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-left[2][3]
European affiliationParty of European Socialists (associate)
International affiliationSocialist International
Progressive Alliance
HoR BiH
5 / 42
HoP BiH
0 / 15
HoR FBiH
15 / 98
HoP FBiH
13 / 80
NA RS
3 / 83
Website
www.sdp.ba

The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: Socijaldemokratska partija Bosne i Hercegovine (SDP BiH) / Социјалдемократска партија Босне и Херцеговине), also simply known as the Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska partija (SDP) / Социјалдемократска партија) is a social-democratic political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1]

It is officially multi-ethnic, although it lost most of its former support among Croat and Serb voters in the decade following the 2000 parliamentary election, when it began to lean more towards Bosnian populism,[4] and now gathers most of its support from Bosniaks.[5][6][7]

History

Origin

Former party logo

The SDP BiH has its roots in the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 1909. The party was founded by workers to defend and represent their rights and interests, and consisted of members of all ethnic groups. On 20 April 1920, the Social Democratic Party became part of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.[8]

The SDP BiH was reestablished on 27 December 1992. The party was enlarged by the inclusion of the Social Democrats of BiH party to the original SDP.

Timeline

At the first post-war election in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996, the SDP BiH appeared in a coalition with five other parties within the Joint List. Candidates for the Bosniak and Croat members of the Presidency, Sead Avdić and Ivo Komšić, were not elected.

On 6 April 1997, Zlatko Lagumdžija was elected as the SDP BiH's new president. At the 2000 parliamentary election, the SDP BiH won the most seats in the House of Representatives. On 22 February 2001, Božidar Matić was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

At the 2006 general election, Željko Komšić was elected Croat member of the Presidency. He was re-elected at the 2010 general election.

On 7 December 2014, Nermin Nikšić was elected president of the party, succeeding Lagumdžija.[9] On the eve of the 2020 municipal elections, the SDP BiH entered into a four-party liberal coalition alongside the parties People and Justice (NiP), Our Party (NS) and the Independent Bosnian-Herzegovinian List, colloquially known as the Four.

The coalition, also supported by the Union for a Better Future and the People's European Union, announced Denis Bećirović's candidacy in the Bosnian general election on 21 May 2022, running for Presidency member and representing the Bosniaks.[10] At the general election, held on 2 October 2022, Bećirović was elected to the Presidency, having obtained 57.37% of the vote.[11] Following the election, the SDP BiH reached an agreement on the formation of a new government supported by the coalition of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, the Croatian Democratic Union, NiP, NS and the Democratic People's Alliance.[12]

Ideology

The Social Democratic Party is a left-wing democratic party. The program vision corresponds to values and ideas of social democracy in Europe and the world. The SDP BiH is a civic party that is particularly interested in improving the social status of workers, rural population, students, youth, veterans, women, pensioners and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the diaspora.

List of presidents

# Name
(Born–Died) 		Portrait Term of Office
1 Nijaz Duraković
(1949–2012)		 27 December 1992 6 April 1997
2 Zlatko Lagumdžija
(b. 1955)		 6 April 1997 7 December 2014
3 Nermin Nikšić
(b. 1960)		 7 December 2014 present

Elections

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year Leader # Popular vote % HoR Seat change HoP Seat change Government
1996[a] Nijaz Duraković 4th 136,203 5.68
2 / 42
 New
0 / 15
 New Opposition
1998 Zlatko Lagumdžija 5th 159,876 9.26
4 / 42
 Increase 2
1 / 15
 Increase 1 Opposition
2000 1st 268,270 18.00
9 / 42
 Increase 5
3 / 15
 Increase 2 Coalition
2002 4th 128,212 10.43
4 / 42
 Decrease 5
1 / 15
 Decrease 2 Opposition
2006 4th 143,272 10.15
5 / 42
 Increase 1
1 / 15
 Steady 0 Opposition
2010 1st 284,435 17.33
8 / 42
 Increase 3
4 / 15
 Increase 3 Coalition
2014 7th 108,501 6.65
3 / 42
 Decrease 5
0 / 15
 Decrease 4 Opposition
2018 Nermin Nikšić 4th 150,453 9.08
5 / 42
 Increase 2
1 / 15
 Increase 1 Opposition
2022 4th 129,499 8.15
5 / 42
 Steady 0
0 / 15
 Decrease 1 Coalition

Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year Leader # Popular vote % HoR Seat change HoP Seat change Government
1996[a] Nijaz Duraković 3rd 105,897 7.93
11 / 140
 New
4 / 65
 New Opposition
1998 Zlatko Lagumdžija 3rd 126,635 13.65
19 / 140
 Increase 8
10 / 72
 Increase 6 Opposition
2000 2nd 226,440 26.09
37 / 140
 Increase 18
37 / 81
 Increase 27 Coalition
2002 3rd 111,668 15.96
15 / 98
 Decrease 22
9 / 58
 Decrease 28 Opposition
2006 3rd 130,204 15.17
17 / 98
 Increase 2
12 / 58
 Increase 3 Opposition
2010 1st 251,053 24.53
28 / 98
 Increase 11
21 / 58
 Increase 9 Coalition
2014 5th 100,626 10.14
12 / 98
 Decrease 16
10 / 58
 Decrease 11 Opposition
2018 Nermin Nikšić 2nd 145,458 14.53
16 / 98
 Increase 4
12 / 58
 Increase 2 Opposition
2022 2nd 131,323 13.46
15 / 98
 Decrease 1
15 / 80
 Increase 3 Coalition

Presidency elections

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Election year # Candidate Votes % Representing Note Elected?
1996[a] 2nd Ivo Komšić[b] 37,684 10.1% Croats Support No
4th Sead Avdić 21,254 2.3% Bosniaks — No
1998 2nd Gradimir Gojer 113,961 31.8% Croats — No
2002 3rd Alija Behmen 90,434 17.5% Bosniaks — No
7th Mladen Grahovac 22,852 4.5% Serbs — No
2006 1st Željko Komšić 116,062 40.0% Croats — Yes
4th Jugoslav Jovičić 22,245 4.1% Serbs — No
2010 1st Željko Komšić 337,065 60.6% Croats — Yes
2014 4th Bakir Hadžiomerović 75,369 10.0% Bosniaks — No
2018 2nd Denis Bećirović 194,688 33.5% Bosniaks — No
2022 1st Denis Bećirović 330,238 57.37% Bosniaks — Yes
3rd Vojin Mijatović 38,655 6.1% Serbs — No

Cantonal elections

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Run as part of the Joint List.
  2. ^ Member of the HSS.

References

  1. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Bosnia-Herzegovina". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  2. ^ Nardelli, Alberto; Dzidic, Denis; Jukic, Elvira (8 October 2014). "Bosnia and Herzegovina: the world's most complicated system of government?". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. ^ SDP statute (page 2.)
  4. ^ "Key political parties and profiles of the main political parties running in the 2018 general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina". balkaninsight.com. BIRN. 24 September 2018.
  5. ^ Woehrel, Steven (24 January 2013). "Bosnia and Herzegovina: Current Issues and U.S. Policy" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  6. ^ Farrand, Robert William (2011), Reconstruction and Peace Building in the Balkans: The Brčko Experience, Rowman & Littlefield, p. 62
  7. ^ Bideleux, Robert; Jeffries, Ian (2007), The Balkans: A Post-Communist History, Routledge, pp. 376–377
  8. ^ "Historija SDP BiH". SDP BiH (in Bosnian). Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. ^ E. Gorinjac (7 December 2014). "Nermin Nikšić je novi predsjednik SDP-a" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  10. ^ G.M. (21 May 2022). "Denis Bećirović zvanično kandidat opozicije za člana Predsjedništva BiH" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  11. ^ D.Be. (23 October 2022). "Bećirović dobio 116 hiljada glasova više od Izetbegovića, a Cvijanović sama više od svojih protukandidata skupa" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  12. ^ N.V. (25 January 2023). "BiH dobila novo Vijeće ministara, državnu vlast sada čini SNSD, HDZ, SDP, NiP, NS, DNS..." (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

Sources

External links

Political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Political parties in Republika Srpska
Party of European Socialists
Authority control databases
Categories