Serbia Centre
Serbia Centre (Serbian Cyrillic: Србија центар, romanized: Srbija centar, abbr. SRCE) is a political party in Serbia. It is led by Zdravko Ponoš.
Serbia Centre Србија центар Srbija centar | |
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Abbreviation | SRCE |
President | Zdravko Ponoš |
Vice-Presidents |
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Founder | Zdravko Ponoš |
Founded | 26 June 2022 |
Registered | 12 July 2023 |
Split from | People's Party |
Headquarters | Stojana Protića 48, Belgrade |
Political position | Centre |
National affiliation | Serbia Against Violence |
Colors |
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National Assembly | 0 / 250 |
Assembly of Vojvodina | 0 / 120 |
City Assembly of Belgrade | 0 / 110 |
Website | |
srce-org | |
History
Formation
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
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 coalition in October 2023, a coalition of political parties organising the 2023 protests.[14]
Ideology and platform
SRCE is a centrist organisation,[15][16] a description which it uses to describe itself.[17] 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.[16]
It is opposed to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and it has expressed support for cooperation between opposition parties.[8][18] Following the Belgrade school shooting and Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings, SRCE has expressed its support for the formation of a transitional government.[19][20]
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".[21] 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.[22]
SRCE supports declaring milk as a strategic product for Serbia and adopting measures that would revive the milk production sector.[23] It has criticised the government's approach towards workers at Zastava Arms in January 2023.[24]
Organisation
SRCE is led by Ponoš, its founder, who was re-elected at its assembly in October 2023.[6][25] Duško Lopandić, Mihailo Brkić, Bojan Dimitrijević, Slobodan Cvejić, Tatjana Marković Topalović, and Tijana Perić Diligenski serve as vice-presidents of SRCE.[25] Its headquarters is at Stojana Protića 48, Belgrade.[26]
Ponoš announced in March 2023 that SRCE would begin collecting signatures to register as a political party.[27][28] In June 2023, SRCE announced that they had collected 10,000 signatures that are needed for the registration.[29] On 12 July 2023, it was registered as political party.[26]
List of presidents
# | President | Birth–Death | Term start | Term end | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Zdravko Ponoš | ![]() | 1962– | 26 June 2022 | Incumbent |
References
- "Ponoš o napuštanju predsedništva NS: Nisam spreman na "trule kompromise"". N1 (in Serbian). 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- "Ujedinjena Srbija predstavila kandidate za predsednika i premijerku Srbije, gradonačelnika Beograda". Voice of America (in Serbian). 2 February 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- "RIK usvojio konačne rezultate predsedničkih izbora". Danas (in Serbian). 9 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- "Zdravko Ponoš napustio Narodnu stranku". Politika (in Serbian). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- 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.
- "Ponoš i zvanično izabran za predsednika pokreta SRCE". N1 (in Serbian). 4 December 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Ponoš osnovao organizaciju "Srbija centar"". N1 (in Serbian). 5 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- "Zdravko Ponoš predstavio novu stranku Srbija centar – SRCE". Radio Television of Serbia (in Serbian). 6 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- "Ponoš najavio osnivanje stranke". Blic (in Serbian). 23 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- 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.
- "Pokret Srce: Napadnute prostorije gradskog odbora u Vranju". Južne vesti (in Serbian). 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Ponoš: Podržavamo protest "Srbija protiv nasilja" jer je to građanski bunt". N1 (in Serbian). 8 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "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.
- Dragojlo, Saša (27 October 2023). "Serbia's Pro-European Opposition Makes Unity Pact for Elections". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- Panović, Zoran (4 October 2022). "Svi naši pokreti". Demostat (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- 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.
- "Ponoš predstavio pokret Srbija Centar". Direktno (in Serbian). 6 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Ponoš: Srbija Centar se zalaže za ulazak Srbije u EU i za saradnju medju opozicionim strankama". Novinska agencija Beta (in Serbian). 6 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Ponoš: Treba nam prelazna vlada za mirnu tranziciju iz krize ka normalnosti". N1 (in Serbian). 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- 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.
- "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.
- "Političke stranke "preko noći" postaju ekološke". Nova Ekonomija (in Serbian). 16 January 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Srbija centar: Država da proglasi mleko strateškim proizvodom". Danas (in Serbian). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- Vučković, Branko (19 January 2023). "Godine raspleta obeležene štrajkovima u kragujevačkom 'Zastava oružju'". Radio Free Europe (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Ponoš i zvanično predsednik stranke: Opozicija mora da se ujedini i bolje organizuje". N1 (in Serbian). 1 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- "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.
- Živić, Miona (22 March 2023). "Ponoš najavio osnivanje političke stranke: Vreme je da napravimo korak dalje". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Pokret SRCE počinje prikupljanje potpisa za registrovanje političke stranke". NOVA portal (in Serbian). 24 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- "Pokret Srbija centar Zdravka Ponoša sakupio potpise za registraciju političke partije". Danas (in Serbian). 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.