| United Opposition of Serbia | |
| Native Name: | Уједињена опозиција Србије Ujedinjena opozicija Srbije |
| Abbreviation: | UOS |
| Successor: | United Serbian Democratic Opposition |
| Country: | Serbia |
The United Opposition of Serbia (Serbian: Уједињена опозиција Србије|Ujedinjena opozicija Srbije, abbr. UOS) was a coalition of opposition political parties in Serbia formed in June 1990. Its membership has fluctuated during its existence, with the Democratic Party and the Serbian Renewal Movement being the main members; the coalition was also ideologically heterogeneous. UOS organised protests in June and September 1990, calling for multi-party elections in the first and a ninety-day election campaign, more television airtime for the opposition, and representation in bodies that oversee the 1990 Serbian general elections in the second.
While its members took part separately in the first round of the parliamentary elections, they united in the second round and urged their supporters to vote for opposition candidates "regardless of their political affiliation". Its members won 29 out of 250 seats in total, with SPO getting 19 and DS getting 7 seats. Following the 1990 elections, they organised the 9–14 March 1991 protests in Belgrade as well as anti-war protests after the Yugoslav Wars broke out. The coalition was dissolved on 22 May 1991, in favour of the more nationalist-orientated United Serbian Democratic Opposition.
With the dissolution of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia after the 14th Congress, constituent republics of Yugoslavia such as Slovenia and Croatia held their first multi-party elections, paving the way for a transition to liberal democracy.[1] [2] [3] In Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, the president of the presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, was initially opposed to the introduction of a multi-party system and free elections.[4] Despite this, opposition parties began to form in late 1989 and early 1990; this included the Democratic Party (DS) and the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO).[5]
DS and SPO supported the adoption of a multi-party system, and on 30 May 1990 they demanded a roundtable meeting between the opposition and the government to discuss its implementation and new election laws. On the same day, DS, SPO, Liberal Party (LS), People's Radical Party (NRS), and Social Democratic Party of Yugoslavia (SDPJ) all declared that they would organise a protest on 13 June.[6] The government responded to their request, and a roundtable was held on 8 June.[7] At the roundtable, the opposition and the government could not agree on whether to first adopt a new constitution or organise new elections; the government wanted to adopt a new constitution first. The Constitutional Commission of the Assembly of SR Serbia then said that multi-party elections could not be held in accordance with the constitutions of Serbia and Yugoslavia and announced that a draft constitution would be published in July and proclaimed in December 1990, following which multi-party elections would be held.[8]
The United Opposition of Serbia (UOS) was effectively created on 5 June 1990, when DS, SPO, LS, NRS, SDPJ, Democratic Forum (DF), and Serbian Saint Sava Party (SSS) formed a coordination body for the protest on 13 June.[9] [10] [11] The protest began at the Republic Square in Belgrade, and was attended by between 30,000 and 40,000 people.[12] [13] [14] It was also the first anti-government protest since World War II. At the protest, UOS demanded that the government organise free multi-party elections and adopt a new media law.[15] The Radio Television of Belgrade covered the protest negatively, and the government labelled the protest as "anti-Serbian".[16] Additionally, the police intervened at the RTB building, and demonstrators, including DS president Dragoljub Mićunović and member Borislav Pekić, were physically beaten.[17]
Milošević refused to work with the opposition after the protest and suddenly announced that a constitutional referendum would be held on 1 and 2 July to determine the new constitution. The opposition wanted the referendum to be postponed until after the first multi-party elections, urging a boycott if their demands were not met.[18] Despite this, the referendum was widely approved by voters. The new constitution was proclaimed on 28 September and general elections were then called for 9 December.
Later, on 12 September, UOS parties staged another protest. UOS demanded a ninety-day election campaign, more television airtime, and representation in bodies that oversee the elections. If the demands were not met, UOS threatened to boycott the elections. Milošević declined to accept their demands. Following the introduction of the new constitution, UOS convened a meeting on 1 October to reiterate their demands; they were also joined by the People's Party (NS), Movement for the Protection of Human Rights, and the Old Radical Party. Following the meeting, UOS became divided on the issue of boycott; SPO supported it, while DS and NRS opposed it. Mićunović said that, in case of a boycott, opposition parties would "leave a clear space for the existing government, and we would deprive our own sympathisers of the opportunity to choose" (ostavljamo čist prostor postojećoj vlasti, a sopstvene simpatizere lišavamo mogućnosti da biraju).[19]
UOS came together on the issue of an election boycott in mid-November, when most opposition parties declared one after the government refused to meet their demands.[20] [21] By 25 November, the number of parties declaring an election boycott had increased to approximately 40.[22] [23] The government believed that a boycott would undermine international acceptance of the election results.[24] On 26 November, the government accepted the demands, and the boycott was cancelled.[25] The first round election results showed that Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) won 87 seats, while UOS member parties did not win any.[26]
UOS was formalised as an electoral coalition for the second round of the parliamentary elections on 12 December.[27] [28] Parties that signed a document promising to run a coordinated campaign in the second round were DS, SPO, NRS, NS, Union of Reform Forces (SRSJ), People's Peasant Party, Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative (UJDI), and New Democracy – Movement for Serbia.[29] [30] They campaigned under the slogan "We won!" (Pobedili smo!).[31] Despite the UOS unifying to take part in the elections, SPS won 194 out of 250 seats in the National Assembly of Serbia. Out of all UOS members, SPO won the most, with 19 seats in total, followed by DS, which won 7 seats, SRSJ, which won 2 seats, and UJDI, which won 1 seat.[32]
Following the elections, UOS organised mass protests in March 1991, with SPO as its main organiser.[33] [34] [35] They called for the resignation of senior officials of RTB.[36] Considering that the government wanted the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) to intervene, Borisav Jović persuaded other constituent republics to allow JNA to intervene by claiming that demonstrators were trying to take over the Yugoslav General Staff building and that the police were broken up and could not take care of the protest.[37] Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were opposed to the intervention of JNA in the protest, while Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Vojvodina were in favour. Veljko Kadijević eventually allowed JNA to intervene in the protests, and tanks were brought to the streets of Belgrade for the first time since 1944. Amidst the protests, Vuk Drašković, the president of SPO, was detained. Once the protests ended on 14 March, Drašković was set free.
By 20 March 1991, DS, SPO, DF, NSS, SRSJ, and UDJI were members of UOS.[38] UOS organised another protest on 27 March, demanding snap elections, a change of government, and the investigation of 9–14 March protests.[39] [40] In an opinion poll conducted by the Institute for Political Studies after the protests, UOS had 49% of support in Belgrade, while SPS only had 29% of support.[41] In comparison, in the 1990 general elections, UOS parties received 31% of the popular vote and SPS received 34% of the popular vote in Belgrade. The 9–14 March protests were primarily responsible for the increase in support of UOS. In late May, talks about the formation of the United Serbian Democratic Opposition (USDO) began.[42] The talks began with a goal to form a "new, stronger alliance" (novog, čvršćeg saveza) that would be more nationalist-oriented. This resulted in the exclusion of UJDI and NSS from the coalition. UOS was succeeded by USDO on 22 May.
UOS was an ideologically and programmatically heterogeneous and diverse grouping.[43] Their programme during the elections advocated the implementation of a parliamentary system of governance and a proportional representation electoral system. They called for their voters to vote for opposition candidates in the second round "regardless of their political affiliation" (nezavisno od njegove stranačke pripadnosti).[44] [45] Following the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991, UOS called for its end, and organised anti-war protests.[46] [47] In the March 1991 opinion poll, a majority of students, educated, the unemployed, and private and public sector workers preferred UOS over SPS.