Democratic Movement of Serbia

Vuk Drašković, President of SPO and leader of DEPOS

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.[3]

Organized by DEPOS, the Vidovdan Council was held on the plateau in front of the Federal Assembly from June 28 to July 5, 1992, demanding the resignation of Milošević, the dissolution of the Serbian Parliament and the formation of the so-called government of national salvation. Tens of thousands of citizens were addressed by a large number of prominent personalities, among whom were the Serbian patriarch Pavle, the heir to the throne Aleksandar Karađorđević and the writer Matija Bećković. The Vidovdan Council ended in an atmosphere of disappointment because the government did not agree to the demands of DEPOS, but only to the holding of non-binding round tables of the government and the opposition, at which the election legislation would be discussed. The focus was on the electoral system - the government advocated remaining a majority, while the opposition demanded proportionality. The federal government, headed by Milan Panić, an American businessman of Serbian descent, in July 1992, also supported the opposition's proposal that the elections be conducted according to the proportional system, which was eventually adopted.[6]

Panić became presidential candidate supported by DEPOS during 1992 Serbian presidential election. The Democratic Movement of Serbia tried to present itself to voters as an alternative to the government, basing the campaign on black and white contrast, symbolizing the difference between the Milošević regime and what the opposition advocated.

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).[7]

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