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Serbia Centre

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Serbia Centre
Србија центар
AbbreviationSRCE
PresidentZdravko Ponoš
Vice-Presidents
Parliamentary leaderZdravko Ponoš
FounderZdravko Ponoš
Founded26 June 2022
Registered12 July 2023
Split fromPeople's Party
HeadquartersStojana Protića 48, Belgrade
Political positionCentre
Parliamentary groupSerbia Centre
Colours
  •   Blue
  •   Red
National Assembly
9 / 250
Assembly of Vojvodina
4 / 120
City Assembly of Belgrade
0 / 110
Website
srce-org.rs

Serbia Centre (Serbian: Србија центар, romanized: Srbija centar, abbr. SRCE) is a centrist political party in Serbia. It is led by Zdravko Ponoš, former chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces from 2006 to 2008.

Ponoš was the presidential candidate of the United for the Victory of Serbia alliance in the 2022 election. Shortly after the election, SRCE was formed as a split from the People's Party. It became a registered political party in July 2023, after which it became a member of the Serbia Against Violence coalition that contested the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections in December 2023. In those elections, SRCE gained representation in all bodies. SRCE is opposed to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and supports the accession of Serbia to the European Union.

History

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Formation

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Zdravko Ponoš, a member and former vice-president of the People's Party (Narodna),[1] was a candidate in the 2022 Serbian presidential election, on behalf of the United for the Victory of Serbia coalition.[2] He placed second, winning 18% of the popular vote, behind incumbent president Aleksandar Vučić.[3] Following the election, he left Narodna and announced that he would work on creating a movement or a political party.[4][5] Serbia Centre (SRCE) was founded on 26 June 2022,[6] while it was officially presented to the public on 6 July 2022.[7][8]

2022–present

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Since its inception, it has cooperated with the Democratic Party (DS), Together, and Green–Left Front opposition parties.[9][10] Its offices in Vranje were attacked by an unknown group of assailants in February 2023.[11] SRCE has supported the mass protests that began after the Belgrade school shooting and Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings in May 2023.[12] In August 2023, SRCE, DS, and Together signed a cooperation agreement.[13] SRCE became part of the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition in October 2023, a coalition of political parties organising the 2023 protests.[14] SPN announced that it would contest the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections, all scheduled for 17 December 2023.[15][16] In the parliamentary election, SPN won 65 seats, 9 of which went to SRCE.[17]

Ideology and platform

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SRCE is a centrist political party,[18][19] a description which it also uses to describe itself.[20] According to Dušan Spasojević, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, during the 2022 electoral campaign Ponoš had "quite unclear positions about key issues, but a shift to the left has been noticeable" since the formation of SRCE.[19]

It is opposed to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and it has expressed support for cooperation between opposition parties.[8][21] Following the Belgrade school shooting and Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings, SRCE has expressed its support for the formation of a transitional government.[22][23]

SRCE supports the accession of Serbia to the European Union.[8] In regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it supports "stepping away from what Russia is doing".[24] According to Marko Vujić, an assistant at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, SRCE is a "climate responsible" organisation that has an elaborate strategy to fight climate change.[25]

SRCE supports declaring milk as a strategic product for Serbia and adopting measures that would revive the milk production sector.[26] It has criticised the government's approach towards workers at Zastava Arms in January 2023.[27]

Organisation

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SRCE is led by Ponoš, its founder, who was re-elected at its assembly in October 2023.[6][28] Duško Lopandić, Mihailo Brkić, Slobodan Cvejić, Tatjana Marković Topalović, and Tijana Perić Diligenski serve as vice-presidents of SRCE.[28] Its headquarters is at Stojana Protića 48, Belgrade.[29]

Ponoš announced in March 2023 that SRCE would begin collecting signatures to register as a political party.[30][31] In June 2023, SRCE announced that they had collected 10,000 signatures that are needed for the registration.[32] On 12 July 2023, it was registered as political party.[29]

List of presidents

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# President Birth–Death Term start Term end
1 Zdravko Ponoš An image of Zdravko Ponoš in 2022 1962– 26 June 2022 Incumbent

Electoral performance

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Parliamentary elections

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National Assembly of Serbia
Year Leader Popular vote % of popular vote # # of seats Seat change Coalition Status Ref.
2023 Zdravko Ponoš 902,450 24.32% Increase 2nd
9 / 250
 Increase 9 SPN Opposition [33]

Provincial elections

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Assembly of Vojvodina
Year Leader Popular vote % of popular vote # # of seats Seat change Coalition Status Ref
2023 Zdravko Ponoš 215,197 22.55% Increase 2nd
4 / 120
 Increase 4 SPN Opposition [34]

Belgrade City Assembly elections

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City Assembly of Belgrade
Year Leader Popular vote % of popular vote # # of seats Seat change Coalition Status Ref.
2023 Zdravko Ponoš 325,429 35.39% Increase 2nd
4 / 120
 Increase 4 SPN Snap election [35]
2024 Election boycott
0 / 250
 Decrease 4 – Extra-parliamentary –

References

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  1. ^ "Ponoš o napuštanju predsedništva NS: Nisam spreman na "trule kompromise"". N1 (in Serbian). 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Ujedinjena Srbija predstavila kandidate za predsednika i premijerku Srbije, gradonačelnika Beograda". Voice of America (in Serbian). 2 February 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  3. ^ "RIK usvojio konačne rezultate predsedničkih izbora". Danas (in Serbian). 9 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Zdravko Ponoš napustio Narodnu stranku". Politika (in Serbian). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  5. ^ Živić, Miona (17 April 2022). "Ponoš: Radim na okupljanju ljudi, šta god da radim, to mora da bude timska stvar". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Ponoš i zvanično izabran za predsednika pokreta SRCE". N1 (in Serbian). 4 December 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Ponoš osnovao organizaciju "Srbija centar"". N1 (in Serbian). 5 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Zdravko Ponoš predstavio novu stranku Srbija centar – SRCE". Radio Television of Serbia (in Serbian). 6 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Ponoš najavio osnivanje stranke". Blic (in Serbian). 23 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  10. ^ Živić, Miona (1 April 2023). "Tribina u kafani: "Koliko se vidi Leskovac iz Beograda? Ne vidi se od Vučića"". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Pokret Srce: Napadnute prostorije gradskog odbora u Vranju". Južne vesti (in Serbian). 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Ponoš: Podržavamo protest "Srbija protiv nasilja" jer je to građanski bunt". N1 (in Serbian). 8 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  13. ^ "DS, SRCE, Zajedno i Rumunska partija potpisali Deklaraciju o saradnji" [DS, SRCE, Together, and the Romanian part sign a Declaration on Cooperation]. N1 (in Serbian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  14. ^ Dragojlo, Saša (27 October 2023). "Serbia's Pro-European Opposition Makes Unity Pact for Elections". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  15. ^ Milovančević, Vojislav (27 October 2023). "Opozicija postigla dogovor o nastupu na izborima: Saopšteno ko su kandidati i nosioci lista" [The opposition reached an agreement on participation in the elections: It was announced who the candidates and representatives of the list are]. NOVA portal (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  16. ^ Milovančević, Vojislav; Latković, Nataša (3 November 2023). "Šta piše u koalicionom sporazumu liste "Srbija protiv nasilja"" [What is written in the coalition agreement of the list "Serbia against violence"]. NOVA portal (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  17. ^ "CeSID i IPSOS obradili 99,8 odsto uzorka: SNS-u 128 mandata, SPN-u 65" [CeSID and IPSOS processed 99.8 percent of the sample: SNS 128 mandates, SPN 65]. N1 (in Serbian). 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  18. ^ Panović, Zoran (4 October 2022). "Svi naši pokreti". Demostat (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  19. ^ a b Kojić, Nikola (6 December 2022). "Zašto raste podrška desnici, gde šansu vidi levica i kako je SNS zauzeo centar". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Ponoš predstavio pokret Srbija Centar". Direktno (in Serbian). 6 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Ponoš: Srbija Centar se zalaže za ulazak Srbije u EU i za saradnju medju opozicionim strankama". Novinska agencija Beta (in Serbian). 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Ponoš: Treba nam prelazna vlada za mirnu tranziciju iz krize ka normalnosti". N1 (in Serbian). 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  23. ^ Valtner, Lidija (25 May 2023). "Još se ne zna kako će "Vučić pasti": Da li bi prelazna vlada bila dobar zahtev opozicije?". Danas (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  24. ^ "Srbija da bude u saglasju sa okruženjem, odmaći se od onoga što Rusija radi". NOVA portal (in Serbian). 20 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Političke stranke "preko noći" postaju ekološke". Nova Ekonomija (in Serbian). 16 January 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Srbija centar: Država da proglasi mleko strateškim proizvodom". Danas (in Serbian). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  27. ^ Vučković, Branko (19 January 2023). "Godine raspleta obeležene štrajkovima u kragujevačkom 'Zastava oružju'". Radio Free Europe (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Ponoš i zvanično predsednik stranke: Opozicija mora da se ujedini i bolje organizuje". N1 (in Serbian). 1 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Izvod iz registra političkih stranaka" (PDF). Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government (in Serbian). 25 July 2023. p. 19. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  30. ^ Živić, Miona (22 March 2023). "Ponoš najavio osnivanje političke stranke: Vreme je da napravimo korak dalje". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  31. ^ "Pokret SRCE počinje prikupljanje potpisa za registrovanje političke stranke". NOVA portal (in Serbian). 24 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  32. ^ "Pokret Srbija centar Zdravka Ponoša sakupio potpise za registraciju političke partije". Danas (in Serbian). 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  33. ^ Kovačević, Miladin (2024). Izbori za narodne poslanike Narodne skupštine Republike Srbije (PDF) (in Serbian). Belgrade: Republički zavod za statistiku. p. 8–9. ISBN 978-86-6161-252-7. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  34. ^ "Izveštaj o sprovedenim izborima za poslanike Skupštine Autonomne pokrajine Vojvodine održanim 17. i 30. decembra 2023. godine" [Report on the conducted elections for deputies to the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina held on December 17 and 30, 2023] (PDF). Provincial Electoral Commission (in Serbian). 30 January 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  35. ^ "Izveštaj o rezultatima izbora za odbornike Skupštine Grada Beograda" [Report on the results of the elections for councillors of the City of Belgrade Assembly] (PDF). City of Belgrade. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
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