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The People's Movement for the State (Serbian: Народни покрет за државу, romanized: Narodni pokret za državu, abbr. NPZD), also referred to as the Movement for the People and the State (Serbian: Покрет за народ и државу, romanized: Pokret za narod i državu, abbr. PZND), are the working names of the political movement in Serbia initiated by Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia and then-president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in March 2023. Vučić defined it as a "supra-party movement" that would include political parties, such as SNS and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and other political movements, associations, and individuals. He organised rallies to promote the movement in March and May 2023.
People's Movement for the State Народни покрет за државу | |
|---|---|
| Other name | Movement for the People and the State |
| Abbreviation | NPZD, PZND |
| Leader | Aleksandar Vučić |
| Initiated | 8 March 2023 |
| Founded | 7 April 2024 |
| Ideology | Populism |
| Colors | Blue |
| Slogan | "Srbija sanja i snove ostvaruje" ("Serbia dreams and its dreams come true") |
NPZD has not released its programme, despite it being announced in June 2023. Journalists and political scientists have, however, reported that it could take populist and centrist positions. Alongside Vučić's SNS, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia, Movement of Socialists, United Serbia, PUPS – Solidarity and Justice, Serbian Party Oathkeepers, and Greens of Serbia have expressed interest in joining the movement. Inside SPS, there have been voices supportive and opposing of the movement, though Ivica Dačić, the president of SPS, supports the party's inclusion in the movement. All the aforementioned parties, including SPS, contested the 2024 Belgrade City Assembly election as part of the Belgrade Tomorrow electoral list, in which they won 64 out of 110 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade. Miloš Vučević, the president of SNS, said that with the creation of the electoral list, the movement was also officially realised.
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Background
The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was founded in 2008 as a split from the Serbian Radical Party.[1] It was led by Tomislav Nikolić until the 2012 elections, when he resigned from the position of president of SNS after being elected president of Serbia.[2][3] Aleksandar Vučić succeeded him as president of SNS, while in 2017, he also succeeded Nikolić as president of Serbia after being elected in the 2017 Serbian presidential election.[4][5]
Following the 2022 Serbian general election, Vučić hinted at the potential creation of a political bloc or a movement that would act as the rebranded SNS.[6][7] Nova and Vreme news magazines compared the announced project to the All-Russia People's Front, saying that "the only common goal of the blocs is to strengthen [Vučić's and Vladimir Putin's] personal ratings" (zajedničko im je i to što je pravi cilj, zapravo, jačanje njihovog ličnog rejtinga).[8][9] The movement was initially referred to as the Movement for Serbia, Serb Bloc, and My Serbia by the media.[10][11] Since then, the People's Movement for the State (NPZD) and the Movement for the People and the State have been the working names of the movement.[12][13]
Formation
On 8 March 2023, Vučić announced the formation of the NPZD.[12] He also affirmed that SNS would not be dissolved and that the NPZD would instead act as a "supra-party movement" (nadstranački pokret).[14][15] Vučić then organised rallies to promote the movement in Vranje on 11 March and in Pančevo on 19 May.[16][17] Miloš Vučević, the minister of defence, subsequently succeeded Vučić as president of SNS on 27 May.[18][19]
Initially, it was announced that the movement would be formalised on Vidovdan; however, shortly before Vidovdan, Vučić announced that it would instead be formed by September 2023.[20][21] Later in August, Vučević and Darko Glišić, the president of the executive board of SNS, announced that the NPZD would be formalised during the autumn.[22][23] At the session of the main board of SNS, which was held in October 2023, there were no mentions of the NPZD.[24] Shortly after the session, Vučić announced that the NPZD would be formed "in the coming period" (u narednom periodu).[25] Parliamentary and Belgrade City Assembly elections were held in Serbia in December 2023.[26][27] In the parliamentary election, SNS regained its parliamentary majority, while the Belgrade City Assembly election resulted in a hung parliament.[28][29] Election observers declared that electoral fraud occurred on election day.[30][31][32]
Vučić revived the question about the formation of the NPZD in February 2024; he said that the movement "should continue the economic growth of Serbia and defend [Serbia's] national and state interests" (koji će imati snage da ubrza ekonomski rast Srbije i odbrani naše nacionalne i državne interese).[33] He did not, however, announce when the official formation of NPZD would take place.[34] This time, analyst Dejan Bursać described NPZD as a "marketing trick" (marketinški trik) and as an attempt to divert from then-ongoing themes regarding the European Parliament adopting a resolution on the irregularities that occurred in the 2023 elections.[13] Đorđe Vukadinović of Nova srpska politička misao argued the same.[35]
For the 2024 Belgrade City Assembly election, SNS formed a joint electoral list, the Belgrade Tomorrow, with its previous partners in addition to the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and Serbian Party Oathkeepers (SSZ), on 7 April. The electoral list also included Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS), Movement of Socialists (PS), United Serbia (JS), PUPS – Solidarity and Justice (PUPS), Healthy Serbia (ZS), Greens of Serbia (Zeleni), Serbian Radical Party, and Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians.[36] Vučević said with its creation, the movement was also effectively realised.[37] Journalist Zoran Panović agreed, and noted that it was done despite not having an official announcement.[38] In the election, the Belgrade Tomorrow electoral list won 52 percent of the popular vote and 64 out of 110 seats in the City Assembly of Belgrade.[39]
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Vučić and Vučević described the NPZD as a "state-building movement" (državotvorni pokret).[9][40] In June 2023, Vučić announced that the NPZD would also publish its political platform "in 10 or 15 days" (za deset ili 15 dana). However, as of August 2023, the platform has not been published yet.[41] Nataša Anđelković, a BBC News journalist, concluded that its orientation has not been strictly defined.[42] Vujo Ilić described the formation of the movement as the "epitome of catch-all politics" (otelotvorenje catch-all-a).[43][44]
Journalists and political scientists have reported the possible positions NPZD could take. According to the newspaper Danas, the movement would likely promote "responsible national and civic positions" (odgovorne nacionalne ali i građanske politike) and economically liberal policies.[6] Nova reported that the movement would be positioned in the political centre, that it would support the accession of Serbia to the European Union, and that it would oppose sanctions on Russia related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[15][45] Political scientist Věra Stojarová noted that NPZD could adopt populist elements due to its proposed name.[42]
Deutsche Welle reported that the NPZD would represent the "third way" (treći put) in Serbian politics.[46] Bojan Klačar, the executive director of CeSID, stated for Blic that the movement would likely be ideologically lean to the political centre-right.[47] Balkan Insight has described the movement as centrist.[48] Euronews said that with the creation of the movement, politically extremist and pro-Russian individuals could be excluded from taking part in the movement.[49] Regarding this, Vučić said "We will not let you destroy Serbia, neither you extremists on the left, nor you extremists on the right. We want to go straight into the future." (Ne damo vam da uništite Srbiju, ni vama ekstremistima s leve, ni vama ekstremistima s desne strane. Hoćemo da idemo pravo u budućnost).[50]
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At its rallies, the "Serbia dreams and its dreams come true" (Srbija sanja i snove ostvaruje) slogan was used.[51][52] Nova reported that the movement would not officially have a president but that Vučić would instead act as its representative; Danas reported that Vučić would preside over a body that would include leaders of other political parties.[45][53] After his election as president of SNS, Vučević said that Vučić would be the leader of the NPZD.[54]
Potential members
Political commentator Predrag Rajić said that "the most logical thing for the movement would be to include ruling parties" (najlogičnije bilo da u tom bloku budu partije vladajuće većine); he named the SPS, SDPS, PS, and JS as potential members.[49] Political scientist Zoran Stojiljković said that it could also include minor parties like the Serbian Renewal Movement and individuals that are supportive of Vučić but were not directly involved in politics before.[10] Danas reported that PUPS and Strength of Serbia Movement could be the potential members of the NPZD.[55] Klačar said the bloc could exclude far-right parties.[56] Vučić stated that the bloc "also needs Bosniaks, Hungarians, Roma, Slovaks, and Romanians in it" (u njemu su nam potrebni i Bošnjaci, Mađari, Romi, Slovaci, Rumuni) and that independent individuals would be part of the bloc.[57][58] He also saw SPS as a potential member.[59] Goran Vesić, the minister of construction, transport, and infrastructure, added that non-governmental organisations could also take part in the movement.[60]
At the party conference on 10 March 2023, SNS stated its support for the formation of the NPZD, while after Vučević's election as president of SNS, it was confirmed that SNS would take part in the movement.[54][61] Rasim Ljajić, the leader of SDPS, said that "it is logical for his party to be part of the new movement" (logično da ... stranka bude deo novog pokreta), while SPS, JS, PUPS, and the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina expressed their support for the creation of the movement.[43][62][63] In an August 2023 interview for Politika, Ljajić said that "[SDPS] certainly expects talks with our coalition partner, the Serbian Progressive Party" ([SDPS] svakako očekuje razgovore s našim koalicionim partnerom Srpskom naprednom strankom) and that he sees the potential of the movement to be the "barrier to any extremism, especially right-wing extremism" (ja ga vidim kao branu svakom ekstremizmu, naročito desničarskom).[64] Milan Stamatović's ZS negotiated with SNS about joining the movement in October 2023.[65] The SSZ initially declined to take part in the movement; however, in February 2024 Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, the party's president, confirmed that negotiations were held regarding the party joining the NPZD.[62][66] Klačar argued that with the addition of Đurđević Stamenkovski and SSZ, the NPZD could receive votes from the right-wing bloc.[67] Aleksandar Vulin, the former president of PS, also said in February 2024 that PS would join the NPZD if it received an invitation.[68]
Ivica Dačić, the leader of SPS, argued that with the formation of the movement, the cooperation between SPS and SNS could be put on an even higher stage.[69] A faction opposed to joining the NPZD was formed inside SPS with individuals such as vice-president Predrag J. Marković, who has said that SPS would lose its identity if it joined the movement.[70][71] Vladan Zagrađanin also said that if SPS joined, it would "renounce everything that it had built up over the years" (odrekla svega što je građeno godinama).[72] Besides Dačić, Đorđe Milićević and Snežana Paunović have also been supportive of SPS joining NPZD.[73][74] During his visit to Germany, Milićević also called Serbs that live in Hamburg to support the movement. Paunović said that SPS joining the NPZD would not "threaten the party's identity" (ne bi ugrozio stranački identitet) and that they would "put ideological differences aside in order to achieve a common goal" (staviti po strani ideološke razlike i objediniti se oko zajedničkog cilja).[74] Dragan Marković, the president of JS and a coalition partner of SPS, also expressed his support for joining the NPZD.[13] The Zeleni, another partner of SPS, expressed their willingness to join the NPZD in February 2024.[75]
Opposition parties such as the New Democratic Party of Serbia, Party of Freedom and Justice, Democratic Party, Dveri, and Movement of Free Citizens criticised its formation or declined to take part in the movement.[62][73] Enis Imamović, a Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak member of parliament, said that "the movement does not provide answers to questions of vital importance for Bosniaks" (niti daje odgovore na druga pitanja od vitalnog značaja za Bošnjake), while the Justice and Reconciliation Party said that it would consider participating in the movement.[76] The We – Voice from the People refused to comment on the matter.[34]
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