Party of Democratic Action
| Party of Democratic Action Stranka demokratske akcije |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Sulejman Tihić |
| Founder | Alija Izetbegović |
| Founded | 26 May 1990 |
| Headquarters | Sarajevo |
| Ideology | Bosnian patriotism, Social conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| European affiliation | European People's Party (observer) |
| Official colours | Green, Blue, White and Red |
| Ethnic group | Nominally multiethnic, but primarily Bosniak |
| House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
7 / 42
|
| House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
3 / 15
|
| House of Representatives of Federation |
23 / 98
|
| House of Peoples of Federation |
9 / 58
|
| Website | |
| www.sda.ba | |
| Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina Political parties Elections |
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The Party of Democratic Action (Bosnian: Stranka Demokratske Akcije, SDA) is a Bosniak national political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
The Party of Democratic Action was founded in May 1990 by Alija Izetbegović, representing the Bosnian Muslim population (Serbs and Croats were represented by SDS and HDZ, respectively[2]) . The SDA party was the first Bosniak party of national orientation in Yugoslavia since the banning of the multiparty system in 1945 by the Communist Yugoslav Leadership. Party has it's origins in the old Yugoslav Muslim Organization, which was the largest conservative Bosniak party in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The SDA achieved considerable success in elections after the fall of communism in the early 1990s. It founded the newspaper Ljiljan. The party remains the strongest political party among the Bosniak population in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it has branches in Croatia and Serbia (Sandžak region). Former mayor of Sarajevo, Semiha Borovac, is a member of the SDA.
The party was criticized during the Bosnian war by Serbian and Croatian politicians and some Bosniaks.[3] On the other hand, unlike Serbian Democratic Party's (SDS) and the Croatian Democratic Union's (CDU) militants' treatment of minorities in the areas of their control during the Bosnian War, the SDA party reportedly did not engage in organized persecution of Serbs and Croats in the areas under its control, and the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches in Bihać, Sarajevo, Tuzla and other cities remained intact throughout the war, compared to over 800 destroyed mosques by the Croatian and Serbian nationalists.[4]
In November 2000 the party was defeated by the Social Democratic Party and other parties gathered into the "Alliance for Change", and found itself in the opposition for the first time since its 1990 creation.[5]
The party is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP).
[edit] 2006 Elections
At the legislative elections held on 1 October 2006, the party won the following posts:
- 9 out of 42 seats in the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 28 out of 98 seats in the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- 3 out 83 in the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska.
- 1 out of 2 Vice Presidential seats in Republika srpska.
- 4 out of 83 seats in the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska.
- 13 out of 35 seats in the assembly of the Zenica-Doboj Canton
- 12 out of 35 seats in the assembly of the Tuzla Canton
- 12 out of 30 seats in the assembly of the Una-Sana Canton
- 10 out of 35 seats in the assembly of the Sarajevo Canton
- 9 out of 25 seats in the assembly of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton
- 8 out of 30 seats in the assembly of the Central Bosnia Canton
- 6 out of 30 seats in the assembly of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
- 2 out of 21 seats in the assembly of the Posavina Canton
- 2 out of 10 seats in the assembly of Canton 10
- The party won none of the 23 seats in the assembly of West Herzegovina Canton
[edit] References
- ^ James, Ron (2003). Frontiers and ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel.. University of California Press. p. 218. ISBN 0520236572, 9780520236578. http://books.google.com/books?id=WysT_YXvi0kC&pg=PA218&lpg=PA218. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Rf8P-7ExoKYC&pg=PA236
- ^ Thus, in 1994, Slavko Santić, a commentator for the Sarajevo daily Oslobodenje, was quoted in The New York Times as saying: "The Party of Democratic Action is on its way to becoming a totalitarian party, just like the Communists were. We have no political opposition to speak of here, police are everywhere, and state jobs increasingly require party membership. Modern, democratic Europe has to get rid of President Izetbegovic, because there will be no peace and no elections as long as he is in office." - [1]
- ^ Bosnian Heritage Destruction Report
- ^ Al-Azmeh, Aziz (2007). Islam in Europe: Diversity, Identity, and Influence. Cambridge University Press. p. 118. ISBN 0521860113, 9780521860116. http://books.google.com/books?id=uoSUovCrjLwC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
