The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( SDP BiH) is a social democratic political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is considered the successor of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian branch of the former League of Communists of Yugoslavia. Initially established as a multi-ethnic party, the SDP BiH has since the early 2000s experienced a decline in support among Croats and Serbs, and its voter base has become predominantly Bosniak.

In the period after the Bosnian War, the SDP BiH emerged as the leading non-nationalist party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The party achieved significant success in the 2000 parliamentary election, forming a ruling coalition led by SDP member Božidar Matić. However, in the 2002 election, the party suffered major losses and was pushed into the opposition. The SDP BiH returned to power following the 2010 general election, but once again lost influence in the 2014 election, following the 2014 demonstrations. The party entered the government of the Sarajevo Canton after the 2018 election, and in 2020 formed the Troika alliance. Following the 2022 general election, the SDP BiH became part of the ruling coalition at the national level as well.

The SDP BiH remains the main center-left party in the country and continues to advocate for a unified, multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina based on social justice and European integration. It is a member of the Party of European Socialists, Progressive Alliance, and the Socialist International.

History

Origin

250x250px|thumb|right|Former party logo

The SDP BiH has its roots in the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 1909 during the Austro-Hungarian rule. 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.

The SDP BiH was reestablished on 27 December 1992. The party was enlarged by the inclusion of the Social Democrats of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Timeline

In the first post-war election in 1996, under Nijaz Duraković, the SDP BiH participated as part of the Joint List coalition. However, its candidates for the Presidency, Sead Avdić and Ivo Komšić, were not elected, and the party remained in opposition.

On 6 April 1997, Zlatko Lagumdžija was elected as the SDP BiH's new president. A major breakthrough came in the 2000 parliamentary election, when the party won the most seats in the House of Representatives. This enabled the SDP BiH to enter government and lead a coalition. On 22 February 2001, Božidar Matić was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers, marking the SDP BiH’s first major role in state-level governance.

After losing power in the 2002 general election, the party returned to opposition, where it remained until the 2010 general election. In that election, the SDP BiH again became a key governing party and participated in forming governments at different levels. During this period, Željko Komšić, elected as the Croat member of the Presidency in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, was one of its most prominent figures. However, internal disagreements weakened the party, and Komšić left in 2013 to found the Democratic Front.

Following the 2014 general election, the SDP BiH lost power and entered a period in opposition. On 7 December 2014, Nermin Nikšić was elected party president.

Ahead of the 2020 municipal elections, the SDP BiH formed a broader opposition alliance known as the “Four,” together with People and Justice (NiP), Our Party (NS), and the Independent Bosnian-Herzegovinian List (NBL). The NBL left the coalition, so the parties left renamed themselves the Troika.

In the 2022 general election, the coalition supported Denis Bećirović as its candidate for the Bosniak member of the Presidency. He went on to win the election with 57.37% of the vote. Following this success, the SDP BiH returned to power by participating in the formation of a new government together with several parties, including the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats and the Croatian Democratic Union.

Ideology

The Social Democratic Party is centre-left to left-wing on the political scale. The program vision corresponds to values and ideas of social democracy in Europe and the world. The SDP BiH is additionally anti-nationalist

Leadership

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|--

! #

! width=180|Name<br /><small>(Born–Died)</small>

! Portrait

! colspan=2|Term of Office

! Days

|--

!align=center style="background: ; color:white;"| 1

| Nijaz Duraković<br /><small>(1949–2012)</small> || 80px || 27 December 1992 || 6 April 1997

||

|--

!align=center style="background: ; color:white;"| 2

| Zlatko Lagumdžija<br /><small>(b. 1955)</small> || 80px || 6 April 1997 || 7 December 2014

|

|--

!align=center style="background: ; color:white;"| 3

| Nermin Nikšić<br /><small>(b. 1960)</small> || 80px || 7 December 2014 || present

|

|}

Elections

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

! Year

! Leader

! #

! Popular vote

! %

! HoR

! Seat change

! HoP

! Seat change

! Government

|-

! 1996

| Nijaz Duraković

| 4th

| 136,203

| 5.68

|

| New

|

| New

|

|-

! 1998

| rowspan=6| Zlatko Lagumdžija

| 5th

| 159,876

| 9.26

|

| 2

|

| 1

|

|-

! 2000

| 1st

| 268,270

| 18.00

|

| 5

|

| 2

|

|-

! 2002

| 4th

| 128,212

| 10.43

|

| 5

|

| 2

|

|-

! 2006

| 4th

| 143,272

| 10.15

|

| 1

|

| 0

|

|-

! 2010

| 1st

| 284,435

| 17.33

|

| 3

|

| 3

|

|-

! 2014

| 7th

| 108,501

| 6.65

|

| 5

|

| 4

|

|-

! 2018

| rowspan=2| Nermin Nikšić

| 4th

| 150,453

| 9.08

|

| 2

|

| 1

|

|-

! 2022

| 4th

| 129,499

| 8.15

|

| 0

|

| 1

|

|}

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from:12/01/2012 till:31/03/2015 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Coalition

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from:25/01/2023 till:end shift:($dx,$dy) color:Coalition

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Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+ Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

! Year

! Leader

! #

! Popular vote

! %

! HoR

! Seat change

! HoP

! Seat change

! Government

|-

! 1996

| Nijaz Duraković

| 3rd

| align=center| 105,897

| 7.93

|

| New

|

| New

|

|-

! 1998

| rowspan=6| Zlatko Lagumdžija

| 3rd

| align=center| 126,635

| 13.65

|

| 8

|

| 6

|

|-

! 2000

| 2nd

| align=center| 226,440

| 26.09

|

| 18

|

| 27

|

|-

! 2002

| 3rd

| align=center| 111,668

| 15.96

|

| 22

|

| 28

|

|-

! 2006

| 3rd

| align=center| 130,204

| 15.17

|

| 2

|

| 3

|

|-

! 2010

| 1st

| align=center| 251,053

| 24.53

|

| 11

|

| 9

|

|-

! 2014

| 5th

| align=center| 100,626

| 10.14

|

| 16

|

| 11

|

|-

! 2018

| rowspan=2| Nermin Nikšić

| 2nd

| align=center| 145,458

| 14.53

|

| 4

|

| 2

|

|-

! 2022

| 2nd

| align=center| 131,323

| 13.46

|

| 1

|

| 3

|

|}

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from:14/02/2003 till:17/03/2011 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition

from:17/03/2011 till:31/03/2015 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Coalition

from:31/03/2015 till:28/04/2023 shift:($dx,$dy) color:Opposition

from:28/04/2023 till:end shift:($dx,$dy) color:Coalition

</timeline>

Presidency elections

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

! Election year

! #

! Candidate

! Votes

! %

! Representing

! Note

! Elected?

|- style="background:#dfdfdf;"

!rowspan="2"|1996

|2nd

|Ivo Komšić

|37,684

|10.1%

| Croats

|Support

|

|-

|4th

|Sead Avdić

|21,254

|2.3%

| Bosniaks

|—

|

|-

! 1998

|2nd

|Gradimir Gojer

|113,961

|31.8%

| Croats

|—

|

|-

!rowspan="2"|2002

|3rd

|Alija Behmen

|90,434

|17.5%

| Bosniaks

|—

|

|-

|7th

|Mladen Grahovac

|22,852

|4.5%

| Serbs

|—

|

|-

!rowspan="2"|2006

|1st

|Željko Komšić

|116,062

|40.0%

| Croats

|—

|

|-

|4th

|Jugoslav Jovičić

|22,245

|4.1%

| Serbs

|—

|

|-

! 2010

|1st

|Željko Komšić

|337,065

|60.6%

| Croats

|—

|

|-

! 2014

|4th

|Bakir Hadžiomerović

|75,369

|10.0%

| Bosniaks

|—

|

|-

! 2018

|2nd

|Denis Bećirović

| 194,688

| 33.5%

| Bosniaks

|—

|

|-

!rowspan="2"| 2022

|1st

|Denis Bećirović

| 330,238

| 57.37%

| Bosniaks

|—

|

|-

|3rd

|Vojin Mijatović

| 38,655

| 6.1%

| Serbs

|—

|

|}

Cantonal elections

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:center; width:72%; line-height:126%; margin-bottom:0"

|-

!rowspan=2| Cantonal election !!colspan=14|Cantonal Assembly

|-

! Una-Sana !! Posavina !! Tuzla !! Zenica-Doboj !! Bosnian Podrinje Goražde !! Central Bosnia !! Herzegovina-Neretva !! West Herzegovina !! Sarajevo !! Canton 10 !! Total won / Total contested

|-

! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

|-

!1996

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!1998

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2000

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2002

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2006

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2010

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2014

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2018

|||||||||||||||||||||

|-

!2022

|||||||||||||||||||||

|}

Notes

References

Sources

  • SDP sada broji 40.000 članova, svakog mjeseca broj se poveća za 464 člana at sdp.ba
  • Official website