Democratic Movement of Serbia

Vuk Drašković, President of the Serbian Renewal Movement and leader of the DEPOS coalition

Following the formation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 27 April 1992, the Serbian and Montenegrin members of the Federal Council of the Yugoslav parliament brought forward a new electoral law and called for new elections on 31 May without previously consulting with opposition parties. Because of this, as well as the opposition being allowed neither equal access to the media during the campaign nor adequate financial help from the state, the opposition decided to boycott the May 1992 parliamentary election in both Serbia and Montenegro.[4]

The DEPOS coalition held its first meeting on 23 May 1992. It defined its main goal as the establishment of a democratic order in Serbia, and called for canceling the elections scheduled for 31 May and a round table between the government and opposition parties with the goal of preparing free and fair elections for a constituent assembly which would decide on its preferred form of rule. The coalition advocated for a democratic Serbian state aligned with the international community with the goal of securing Serbia's place among "the union of free and civilized nations of the world".[5]

The DEPOS initially included the SPO, SLS, New Democracy and the Peasants Party of Serbia (SSS). While DS leader Dragoljub Mićunović refused to join the DEPOS due to important differences in ideology and identity, a faction under Vojislav Koštunica styling themselves the "Democrats for DEPOS" emerged. The faction hailed broadly from the right or anti-communist wing of the DS who had remained in the party following the departure of the SLS under Kosta Čavoški. A prominent member the group rallied around was the writer Borislav Pekić, who espoused a more democratic nationalist program for the DS. Despite his death in May 1992, his circle separated from the DS on 26 July and transformed into the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) which would join the DEPOS. Its youth wing was named the Alliance of Democratic Youth of Serbia after the interwar Democratic Party's youth organization which Pekić had been a member of. Inside the DEPOS, the DSS was especially backed by some of the DEPOS intellectuals less keen on backing Drašković, like Matija Bećković.[6]

From 28 June to 5 July 1992, the DEPOS coalition organized the Vidovdan Assembly. Meetings were held every day in front of the Federal Assembly building in Belgrade. Citizens were addressed by Drašković, Bećković, Vladeta Janković and Nikola Milošević in front of DEPOS and Vojislav Koštunica in front of the Democrats for DEPOS faction, as well as prominent public figures such as Patriarch Pavle, Crown Prince Alexander, the actor Miloš Žutić and Dragan Đilas, the leader of a concurrent student protest.[7] The assembly called for President Milošević to step down, as well as the formation of a "government of national salvation". It was attended by around 200 to 500 thousand people according to foreign observers, with the Studio B citing the number of 700 thousand.[8][6] The government refused to step down, but agreed to a round table where the electoral system would be discussed, with the government supporting a first-past-the-post system and the opposition a proportional one.[9]

The DEPOS was formally founded as a political organization on 28 August 1992 in Belgrade. In addition to the SPO, DSS, SLS, ND and SSS, the DEPOS was also joined by a group of independent public figures including the painter Mića Popović, the architect Ivan Antić, as well as writers Danko Popović, Slobodan Selenić and Ljubomir Simović.[1]

In July 1992, Milošević invited Serbian American businessman Milan Panić to take over the position of Federal Prime Minister, trying to project a more moderate image for the government both at home and abroad. However, a rift formed between the two almost immediately, and in early August the federal government stated its support for the opposition's proposal for early elections. The elections were ultimately held under a proportional system.[9][10]

In late October 1992, the National Assembly acquiesced to the opposition's demands and decided to hold elections at all levels. On 27 October, the constitutional electoral law was modified and a new law on local government was passed, allowing the opposition to capitalize on its activities during the previous two years.[11] Federal President Dobrica Ćosić emerged as an ally in Panić's split with Milošević, and on 3 November, Drašković invited him to unite the opposition for the election. Panić gathered the opposition for round table talks on several occasions, where they agreed to form the short-lived Democratic Coalition (DEKO). The DEKO would include the DEPOS, the DS, the Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS) and Čedomir Mirković's Social Democratic Party. However, it split two days later, and a decision was made to participate in the election in two separate lists, with the DS and the DEPOS each putting forth separate candidates.[12] In addition to the DS, the SSS also ran independently.[13] The DEPOS decided to participate in the election after internal deliberation, a move largely opposed by the DSS and SLS who favored a boycott, and supported by the SPO and ND. The coalition agreed to support Vuk Drašković as presidential candidate on 17 November.[12]

In late November, Ćosić decided against formally endorsing any opposition party, despite the DS trying to win his support due to his disapproval of monarchist imagery promoted by the DEPOS. Panić's ministers from the SPS started resigning, and he replaced several with DS members and Social Democrats. This caused several voices from the DEPOS to speak out against him accusing him of harboring leftist biases, mainly the SLS and the leader of SPO's parliamentary group Slobodan Rakitić.[12]

Despite this, Panić eventually became the presidential candidate supported by DEPOS during the 1992 presidential election. He presented his signatures last minute on 30 November, and faced legal obstacles from the Electoral Commission in early December.[14] After these were resolved by the Supreme Court, Drašković revoked his candidature on 10 December to endorse Panić.[12] His campaign focused on removing UN sanctions, ending the Bosnian War and reintegrating Serbia into the global community. Panić asked the Western bloc for a temporary suspension of the sanctions in the run-up to the election as a statement of support for the opposition. Their refusal was seen by some DEPOS members as implicit support for Milošević, particularly Matija Bećković. The DEPOS moderated their image in comparison to the SPO campaign for the 1990 election, focusing on reconciliation.[15] They criticized the SPS for not cutting ties with their communist roots, which they claimed created structural and economic problems, and stifled democracy.[14]

The December 1992 elections ended in a crushing defeat for the opposition. The DEPOS was forced into third place after the up until then marginal Serbian Radical Party (SRS). However, they achieved significant victories in the local elections in some of Belgrade's central municipalities such as Stari Grad, Vračar, Savski Venac, Zvezdara and Voždovac.[16] Unable to form a coalition government with the SRS to oust Milošević due to personal animosity between Drašković and SRS president Vojislav Šešelj, the DEPOS ultimately remained in the opposition while the SRS gave minority support to a new SPS government.[17]

By turning to the civic option in late 1993, DEPOS was left without the Democratic Party of Serbia, which was trying to fill the vacant space in the center-right position. However, Civic Alliance of Serbia and Peasants Party of Serbia joined the coalition. The Democratic Movement of Serbia, weakened by the withdrawal of the DSS from the coalition, achieved a slightly worse result compared to the previous elections. DEPOS slipped from almost 800,000 votes to 715,000, winning 45 seats, five less than in 1992. The reasons for that should be sought primarily in the independent performance of the DSS, which, by winning 218,000 votes, certainly dragged a part of the voters to DEPOS. However, the electoral system did not go hand in hand with Vojislav Koštunica's party, whose votes were unevenly distributed among constituencies, so with just over five percent of the vote at the Republic's level, it won only seven seats (2.8 percent).[18]

The coalition received 16.89% of the popular vote in the 1992 and 16.64% in the 1993 parliamentary elections. The coalition was dissolved in 1994 after New Democracy entered into a coalition government with the Socialist Party.

Election year	#	Candidate	1st round votes	%	2nd round votes	%
1992	2nd	Milan Panić	1,516,693	32.11	—	—

^note: Independent candidate, support

• Krstić, Uglješa, ed. (1994). DEPOS, od koalicije do stranke (in Serbian). Belgrade: Vajat.
• Jovanović, Milan (2008). Mihailović, Srećko (ed.). "Predsednički izbori u Srbiji od 1990. do 2008. godine" (PDF). Oko izbora 16 (in Serbian). Belgrade: CeSID: 73–139.
• Goati, Vladimir (2000). Partije Srbije i Crne Gore u političkim borbama od 1990 do 2000 (in Serbian). Bar: Conteco.
• Thomas, Robert (July 2000). Serbia Under Milošević: Politics in the 1990s. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 1-85065-341-0. Retrieved 8 April 2023.