Contents

Party of Democratic Action

Party of Democratic Action Stranka demokratske akcije
President	Bakir Izetbegović
General Secretary	Halid Genjac
Vice Presidents	See list Fadil Novalić Edin Ramić Muamer Zukić Haris Zahiragić Aida Obuća Ramiz Salkić Šerif Špago Mirsad Zaimović Mirsad Mujić
Founder	Alija Izetbegović
Founded	26 May 1990
Headquarters	Mehmeda Spahe 14, Sarajevo
Youth wing	Youth Association SDA
Ideology	Bosniak nationalism[1][2] Conservatism[9] Islamism[16] Pro-Europeanism[17] Catch-all party[18][19][20]
Political position	Centre-right[21]toright-wing[22]
European affiliation	European People's Party (observer)[23]
Colours	Green
Slogan	"Snaga naroda!" "Power of the people!"
Anthem	"Ja sin sam tvoj, zemljo" "I am your son, country"
HoR BiH	8 / 42
HoP BiH	2 / 15
HoR FBiH	26 / 98
HoP FBiH	15 / 80
NA RS	1 / 83
Party flag
Website
www.sda.ba
Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina Political parties Elections

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]

History[edit]

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.^{[citation needed]} 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][clarification needed]} 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[edit]

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[edit]

Elections[edit]

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina[edit]

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[a]		1st	583,895	33.83	13 / 42	6	3 / 15	2	Coalition
2000		1st	279,548	18.76	8 / 42	5	2 / 15	1	Opposition
2002	Sulejman Tihić	1st	269,427	21.92	10 / 42	2	4 / 15	2	Coalition
2006		2nd	238,475	16.89	9 / 42	1	3 / 15	1	Coalition
2010		3rd	214,300	13.05	7 / 42	2	3 / 15	0	Coalition (2010–2012)
									Opposition (2012–2014)
2014	Bakir Izetbegović	1st	305,715	18.73	10 / 42	3	3 / 15	0	Coalition
2018		1st	281,754	17.01	9 / 42	1	3 / 15	0	Coalition
2022		1st	273,545	17.23	9 / 42	0	2 / 15	1	Opposition

Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina[edit]

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

Presidency elections[edit]

Cantonal elections[edit]

See also[edit]

• Elections in the Party of Democratic Action
• List of Islamic political parties

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website (in Bosnian)