Civic Alliance of Serbia explained

Country:Serbia
Civic Alliance of Serbia
Native Name:Грађански савез Србије
Građanski savez Srbije
Leader:Vesna Pešić
Goran Svilanović
Nataša Mićić
Merged:Liberal Democratic Party
European:European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR)
Position:Centre

The Civic Alliance of Serbia (; abbr. ГСС or GSS) was a liberal political party in Serbia.

History

The Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS) was founded on 10 June 1992.[1] Initially, it was a coalition of two successor parties to Ante Marković's Yugoslavia-wide Union of Reform Forces for Serbia proper and Vojvodina, renamed the Reform Party of Serbia and League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina respectively, along with the Serbian successor to the Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative renamed the Republican Club, and the People's Peasant Party.[2] In the 1992 election, the coalition was represented by Ratomir Tanić.[3] Following the election, the Republican Club led by Nebojša Popov and the Reform Party of Serbia led by Vesna Pešić merged to form the GSS party.[4]

In 1996 Žarko Korać left the GSS with a group of dissidents who opposed forming coalition with the right-wing Serbian Renewal Movement for the 1996 federal election and formed the Social Democratic Union (SDU).[5]

Notable members over the years included Goran Svilanović, former Foreign Minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Nataša Mićić, former parliamentary president and acting president of Serbia, Gašo Knezević, former Serbian Minister of Education, and Vesna Pešić, the party founder and longtime leader.

The future of the party had been in doubt ever since it split into two wings. One part promoted a merger with Democratic Party, while the other part wanted to continue political existence as an independent party. The December 2004 party congress upheld the decision to remain an independent party and elected Nataša Mićić as the new leader. The party decided to apply for membership of the ELDR and the Liberal International. At its May 2004 council, ELDR, accepted GSS as an affiliate member.

However, GSS merged into Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on April 7, 2007. The party had three representatives in the National Assembly of Serbia in 2007 elected from the list of the LDP.

Presidents of the Civic Alliance of Serbia (1992–2007)

PresidentBorn-DiedTerm startTerm end
11940– 10 June 1992 1 August 1999
21963– 1 August 1999 12 December 2004
31965– 12 December 2004 7 April 2007

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections

YearPopular vote% of popular vote
  1. of seats
Seat changeCoalitionStatus
199217,2760.37%with LSV-NSSno seats
1993715,56416.64% 2DEPOS
1997Election boycott 1no seats
20002,402,38764.09% 9DOS
2003481,24912.58% 7With DS-DC-SDU-LZS
2007214,2625.31% 1

Positions held

Major positions held by Civic Alliance of Serbia members:

Years
Nataša Mićić2001–2004
Years
Radmila Hrustanović2001–2004

Notes and References

  1. Robert Thomas: Serbia under Milošević: politics in the 1990s, p. xviii
  2. Robert Thomas: Serbia under Milošević: politics in the 1990s, pp. 111-116
  3. Book: Fischer. Jeffrey. Finn. Daniel. Carlson. Jeffrey. Republic of Serbia: pre-election technical assessment. 1997. International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 91.
  4. Web site: The History of the Civic Alliance of Serbia . Civic Alliance of Serbia Official Website . 7 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061217070155/http://www.gradjanskisavez.org.yu/eng/istorijat.php . 17 Dec 2006.
  5. Book: Milošević . Milan . Politički vodič kroz Srbiju 2000. . 2000 . Medija centar . Belgrade . 86-82827-13-1 . 101 . 21 April 2019.