Party of Democratic Action

The Party of Democratic Action (Bosnian: Stranka demokratske akcije; abbr. SDA) is a Bosniak nationalist, conservative[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[24]

For eponymous parties, see Party of Democratic Action (disambiguation).

Party of Democratic Action
Stranka demokratske akcije
General SecretaryHalid Genjac
PresidentBakir Izetbegović
FounderAlija Izetbegović
Founded26 May 1990
HeadquartersMehmeda Spahe 14, Sarajevo
Youth wingYouth Association SDA
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right[21] to right-wing[22]
European affiliationEuropean People's Party (observer)[23]
International affiliationInternational Democrat Union
ColoursGreen
Slogan"Snaga naroda!"
"Power of the people!"
Anthem"Ja sin sam tvoj, zemljo"
"I am your son, country"
HoR BiH
9 / 42
HoP BiH
2 / 15
HoR FBiH
26 / 98
HoP FBiH
15 / 80
NA RS
1 / 83
Party flag
Flag of the Party of Democratic Action
Website
www.sda.ba

History

The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was founded on 26 May 1990 in Sarajevo, as a "party of Muslim cultural-historic circle". It was a realisation of Alija Izetbegović's idea of an Islamic religious and national party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many members of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including imams, took part in the party's foundation. Alija, who was chosen as its chairman, tried to resolve disputes between the Muslim nationalist Islamists led by Omer Behmen and the left-wing Muslims led by Adil Zulfikarpašić.[10] The party has its roots in the old Yugoslav Muslim Organization, a conservative Muslim party in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Yugoslav Muslim Organization was a successor of Muslimanska Narodna Organizacija (Muslim National Organization), a conservative Muslim party founded in 1906 during the Austro-Hungarian era. The Muslim National Organization was itself a successor of the conservative Muslim "Movement for waqf and educational autonomy" (Pokret za vakufsko-mearifsku autonomiju) that goes back to 1887.

The SDA achieved considerable success in elections after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. It founded the newspaper Ljiljan. The party remains the strongest political party among the Bosniak population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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 opposition for the first time since its creation.[25] After the 2022 general election, the SDA became once again the largest party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The party has branches in Slovenia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Croatia and the Sandžak region of Serbia. One of the goals of the party, outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, is to represent and defend the interests of Bosniaks and other Muslim South Slavs in the entire Balkan region. In Montenegro, the SDA merged with smaller Bosniak and Slavic Muslim parties to create the Bosniak Party.

The party is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP).

Ideology

The Party of Democratic Action is the primary stronghold for right-orientated Bosniaks, especially for nationalists, and conservatives, and thus they have been described as national-conservative.[26] Besides that, the party has been also described as Islamist and Pan-Islamist,[27][28] and its leadership has been described by some, to have close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood,[29] and with current Islamist regimes such as Turkey and Iran.[30][31][32] Some have even described them as secularist.[33][34] They support the centralization of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[35] On foreign stances they also tend to be atlanticist and supportive of the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO and the European Union.[28][19]

List of presidents
Further information: List of chairpersons of the Party of Democratic Action
Name Term of Office
1 Alija Izetbegović 1990–2001
2 Sulejman Tihić 2001–2014
3 Bakir Izetbegović 2014–present

Elections

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year Leader # Popular vote  % Seats won Government
1990 Alija Izetbegović 1st 711,075 31.48
86 / 240
 Coalition
Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year Leader # Popular vote  % HoR Seat change HoP Seat change Government
1996 Alija Izetbegović 1st 909,970 37.92
19 / 42
 New
5 / 15
 New Coalition
1998[lower-alpha 1] 1st 583,895 33.83
13 / 42
 Decrease 6
3 / 15
 Decrease 2 Coalition
2000 1st 279,548 18.76
8 / 42
 Decrease 5
2 / 15
 Decrease 1 Opposition
2002 Sulejman Tihić 1st 269,427 21.92
10 / 42
 Increase 2
4 / 15
 Increase 2 Coalition
2006 2nd 238,475 16.89
9 / 42
 Decrease 1
3 / 15
 Decrease 1 Coalition
2010 3rd 214,300 13.05
7 / 42
 Decrease 2
3 / 15
 Steady 0 Coalition (2010–2012)
Opposition (2012–2014)
2014 Bakir Izetbegović 1st 305,715 18.73
10 / 42
 Increase 3
3 / 15
 Steady 0 Coalition
2018 1st 281,754 17.01
9 / 42
 Decrease 1
3 / 15
 Steady 0 Coalition
2022 1st 273,545 17.23
9 / 42
 Steady 0
2 / 15
 Decrease 1 Opposition

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 Alija Izetbegović 1st 725,810 54.34
78 / 140
 New
27 / 65
 New Coalition
1998[lower-alpha 1] 1st 456,458 49.20
68 / 140
 Decrease 10
26 / 72
 Decrease 1 Coalition
2000 1st 232,674 26.81
38 / 140
 Decrease 30
11 / 81
 Decrease 15 Opposition
2002 Sulejman Tihić 1st 234,923 33.57
32 / 98
 Decrease 6
11 / 58
 Steady Coalition
2006 1st 218,365 25.45
28 / 98
 Decrease 4
9 / 58
 Decrease 2 Coalition
2010 2nd 206,926 20.22
23 / 98
 Decrease 5
9 / 58
 Steady Coalition
2014 Bakir Izetbegović 1st 275,728 27.79
29 / 98
 Increase 6
10 / 58
 Increase 1 Coalition
2018 1st 252,817 25.25
27 / 98
 Decrease 2
9 / 58
 Decrease 1 Coalition
2022 1st 238,111 24.40
26 / 98
 Decrease 1
13 / 80
 Increase 4 Opposition

Presidency elections
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Election year # Candidate Votes  % Representing Elected?
1996 1st Alija Izetbegović 730,592 80.0% Bosniaks Yes
1998[lower-alpha 1] 1st Alija Izetbegović 511,541 86.8% Bosniaks Yes
2002 1st Sulejman Tihić 192,661 37.2% Bosniaks Yes
2006 2nd Sulejman Tihić 153,683 27.5% Bosniaks No
2010 1st Bakir Izetbegović 162,831 34.8% Bosniaks Yes
2014 1st Bakir Izetbegović 247,235 32.8% Bosniaks Yes
2018 1st Šefik Džaferović 212,581 36.6% Bosniaks Yes
2022 2nd Bakir Izetbegović 214,412 37.3% Bosniaks No

Cantonal elections

See also

Notes
  1. Run as part of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (SDA, SBiH, LS and GDS).

References
  1. Šedo 2013, p. 31.
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Bosnia-Herzegovina". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  3. Eralp 2012, p. 28.
  4. Babić 2014, p. 128.
  5. Farmer 2010, p. 126.
  6. Krieger 2012, p. 102.
  7. Tottoli 2014, p. 81.
  8. Filipović & 28 July 2000.
  9. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
  10. Perica 2004, p. 87.
  11. Babić 2014, p. 128.
  12. Farmer 2010, p. 126.
  13. Krieger 2012, p. 102.
  14. Tottoli 2014, p. 81.
  15. Filipović 28 July 2000
  16. [10][11][12][13][14][15]
  17. "Stav SDA o novoj metodologiji proširenja Evropske unije". ba.n1info.com (in Bosnian). N1. 7 February 2020.
  18. Gallagher, Tom (2 September 2003). The Balkans After the Cold War: From Tyranny to Tragedy. Routledge. ISBN 9781134472406.
  19. "Party Politics in the Western Balkans" edited by Vera Stojarová, Peter Emerson
  20. Dyker, David; Vejvoda, Ivan (19 September 2014). Yugoslavia and After: A Study in Fragmentation, Despair and Rebirth. Routledge. ISBN 9781317891352.
  21. Nardelli, Alberto; Dzidic, Denis; Jukic, Elvira (8 October 2014). "Bosnia and Herzegovina: the world's most complicated system of government?". The Guardian.
  22. Arnautović, Suad (2018). "The Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Mitigated Presidentialism". In Passarelli, Gianluca (ed.). The Presidentialisation of Political Parties in the Western Balkans. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 87. ISBN 978-3-319-97352-4.
  23. Šedo 2013, p. 92.
  24. James, Ron (2003). Frontiers and ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel. University of California Press. p. 218. ISBN 9780520236578. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  25. Al-Azmeh, Aziz (2007). Islam in Europe: Diversity, Identity, and Influence. Cambridge University Press. p. 118. ISBN 9780521860116. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  26. "A State of Division". Jacobin. 8 November 2018.
  27. Xavier Bougarel, "Islam and Nationhood in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Surviving Empires", Bloomsbury
  28. Xavier Bougarel. "Bosnian Islam since 1990: Cultural Identity or Political Ideology?", Convention annuelle de l’Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN), p. 3
  29. "Izetbegović and the Muslim Brotherhood". 3 February 2017.
  30. "Enver Kazaz: Turkophilia in the Bosniak mentality".
  31. "Erdoğan in Sarajevo: It's my Party and I'll campaign in Europe if I want to". June 2018.
  32. "A Look Inside Iran's Spy Network in Bosnia". Business Insider.
  33. "Innocence and Victimhood: Gender, Nation, and Women’s Activism in Postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina", Elizabeth Helms, University of Wisconsin Press
  34. "Islam and Bosnia: Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy in Multi-ethnic States", edited by Maya Shatzmiller, McGill-Queen's University Press
  35. "Bosnia-Herzegovina political briefing: BIH's Troyka Agreement – ambitious or premature plan to exit from 10 months-long government crisis? – China-CEE Institute". 11 October 2019.

Bibliography
  • Babić, Marko (2014). Milosevic, Marko; Rekawek, Kacper (eds.). Perseverance of Terrorism: Focus on Leaders. Amsterdam: IOS Press. ISBN 9781614993872.
  • Eralp, Doğa Ulaş (2012). Politics of the European Union in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Between Conflict and Democracy. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739149478.
  • Farmer, Brian R. (2010). Radical Islam in the West: Ideology and Challenge. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 9780786462100.
  • Krieger, Joel (2012). The Oxford Companion to Comparative Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199738595.
  • Perica, Vjekoslav (2004). Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195174298.
  • Šedo, Jakub (2013). "The party system of Bosnia and Herzegovina". In Stojarová, Vera; Emerson, Peter (eds.). Party Politics in the Western Balkans. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781135235857.
  • Tottoli, Roberto (2014). Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781317744023.

Further reading
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