The Serb Democratic Party () is a Serb conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded by Radovan Karadžić in 1990, ahead of the first multi-party Bosnian general election.

In the parliamentary elections of October 2006, the SDS lost its status as the leading party in Republika Srpska and the main Serb party in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), led by the president of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik. Despite making minor gains in the 2010 and 2014 elections, by 2018 the party had fallen to below 20% of the parliament, the lowest seat standing in its history.

The party is under sanctions from the United States for "failing to arrest and turn over war crimes suspects to an international tribunal." The sanctions prohibit any transfer of funds and material from the United States to the SDS and vice versa. The party is on the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by the Office of Foreign Assets Control U.S. agency. To avoid the sanctions, the SDS officials established a separate legal entity called SDS – The Will of the People () in 2020.

History Establishment Radovan Karadžić founded the Serb Democratic Party in July 1990. The party aimed at unifying the Bosnian Serb community, as Jovan Rašković's Serb Democratic Party did with the Serbs in Croatia, and staying part of Yugoslavia (as the "Third Yugoslavia" with Serbia and Montenegro) in the event of secession by those two republics from the federation.

1991 Throughout September 1991, the SDS began to establish various "Serb Autonomous Regions" throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Bosnian parliament voted on sovereignty on 15 October 1991, a separate Serb Assembly was founded on 24 October 1991 in Banja Luka, in order to exclusively represent the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following month, Bosnian Serbs held a referendum which resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of staying in a federal state with Serbia and Montenegro, as part of Yugoslavia. In December 1991, a top-secret document entitled ‘For the organization and activity of organs of the Serbs people in Bosnia-Herzegovina in extraordinary circumstances’ was drawn up by the SDS leadership. This was a centralized program for the takeover of each municipality in the country, through the creation of shadow governments and para-governmental structures through various "crisis headquarters", and by preparing loyal Serbs for the takeover in co-ordination with the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).

Ideology Historically, the party had a strong ultranationalist, separatist and Islamophobic ideology.

List of presidents No.Name PortraitTerm of office 1 Radovan Karadžić 12 July 1990 19 July 1996 2 Aleksa Buha 19 July 1996 1 July 1998 3 Dragan Kalinić 1 July 1998 20 July 2004 4 Dragan Čavić 20 July 2004 15 December 2006 5 Mladen Bosić 15 December 2006 8 October 2016 6 Vukota Govedarica 23 October 2016 30 June 2019 7 Mirko Šarović 30 June 2019 12 November 2022 8 Milan Miličević 12 November 2022 13 July 2025 — Jovica Radulović 13 July 2025 28 December 2025 9 Branko Blanuša 28 December 2025 Incumbent

Electoral results Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina + Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Year Leader Popular vote % # of seats Government 1990 Radovan Karadžić 590,431 26.14

+ Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina Year Leader Popular vote % HoR Seat change HoP Seat change Government 1996 Aleksa Buha 578,723 24.11 New New 1998 Dragan Kalinić 162,721 9.43 5 4 2000 248,579 16.68 2 0 2002 172,544 14.04 1 2 2006 Dragan Čavić 108,616 7.69 2 2 2010Mladen Bosić137,8448.40 1 0 2014 211,562 12.97 1 1 2018 Vukota Govedarica 162,414 9.80 2 1 2022 Mirko Šarović 112,250 7.07 1 0 2026 Branko Blanuša 65,713 5.22 0 TBD TBD

National Assembly of Republika Srpska + National Assembly of Republika Srpska Year Leader Popular vote % of popular vote # of seats Seat change Coalition Government 1991 Radovan KaradžićMPs that left the Bosnian parliament — 1996 Aleksa Buha 568,980 52.3% 27 — 1997 209,767 28.9% 21 — 1998 Dragan Kalinić 160,594 21.7% 5 — 2000 226,226 36.1% 12 — 2002 159,164 31.2% 5 — 2006 Dragan Čavić 103,035 18.27% 9 — 2010 Mladen Bosić 120,136 18.97% 1 — 2014 173,824 26.26% 3 With SRS RS 2018 Vukota Govedarica 123,515 18.04% 5 With SRS RS 2022 Mirko Šarović 95,648 14.95 % 3 — 2026 Branko Blanuša 61,197 12.15 % 2 —

Presidential elections + Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Election year # Candidate Votes % Note Elected?1996 1stMomčilo Krajišnik690,64667.3%—1998 2ndMomčilo Krajišnik314,23644.7%—2002 1stMirko Šarović180,21235.5%—2006 2ndMladen Bosić130,82424.2%—2010 2ndMladen Ivanić285,95147.31%Support2014 1stMladen Ivanić318,19648.71%Support2018 2ndMladen Ivanić292,06542.74%Support2022 2ndMirko Šarović224,91235.45%—

+ President of Republika Srpska Election year # Candidate Votes % Note Elected?1996 1stBiljana Plavšić636.65459.2% —1998 1stNikola Poplašen322,68443.9%Support2000 1stMirko Šarović313,57249.8%—2002 1stDragan Čavić183,12135.9%—2006 2ndDragan Čavić163,04129.4%—2007 2ndOgnjen Tadić142,89833.8%—2010 2ndOgnjen Tadić227,23935.92%—2014 2ndOgnjen Tadić296,02144.28%—2018 2ndVukota Govedarica284,14041.81%—2022 2ndJelena Trivić273,24542.84%Support2025–26 2ndBranko Blanuša213,51348.09%—

Positions held Major positions held by Serb Democratic Party members:

Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina YearsMomčilo Krajišnik1996–1998Mirko Šarović2002–2003Borislav Paravac2003–2006 Chairman of the Council of Ministersof Bosnia and Herzegovina YearsBoro Bosić1997–1999Spasoje Tuševljak2000 President of Republika Srpska YearsRadovan Karadžić1992–1996Biljana Plavšić1996–1998Mirko Šarović2000–2002Dragan Čavić2002–2006 Prime Minister of Republika Srpska YearsBranko Đerić1992–1993Vladimir Lukić1993–1994Dušan Kozić1994–1995Rajko Kasagić1995–1996Gojko Kličković1996–1998Pero Bukejlović2005–2006 President of Republika Srpska National Assembly YearsMomčilo Krajišnik1992–1996Dragan Kalinić1996–19982000–2004Dušan Stojičić2004–2006

References

External links Official website