Origin The SDP BiH has its roots in the
Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 1909 during the
Austro-Hungarian rule. The party was founded by workers to defend and represent their rights and interests, and consisted of members of all
ethnic groups. On 20 April 1920, the Social Democratic Party became part of the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia. The SDP BiH was reestablished on 27 December 1992. The party was enlarged by the inclusion of the Social Democrats of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Timeline In the
first post-war election in 1996, under
Nijaz Duraković, the SDP BiH participated as part of the
Joint List coalition. However, its candidates for the Presidency, Sead Avdić and
Ivo Komšić, were not elected, and the party remained in opposition. On 6 April 1997,
Zlatko Lagumdžija was elected as the SDP BiH's new president. A major breakthrough came in the
2000 parliamentary election, when the party won the most seats in the
House of Representatives. This enabled the SDP BiH to enter government and lead a coalition. On 22 February 2001,
Božidar Matić was appointed
Chairman of the Council of Ministers, marking the SDP BiH’s first major role in state-level governance. After losing power in the
2002 general election, the party returned to opposition, where it remained until the
2010 general election. In that election, the SDP BiH again became a key governing party and participated in forming governments at different levels. During this period,
Željko Komšić, elected as the Croat member of the Presidency in
2006 and re-elected in 2010, was one of its most prominent figures. However, internal disagreements weakened the party, and Komšić left in 2013 to found the
Democratic Front. Following the
2014 general election, the SDP BiH lost power and entered a period in opposition. On 7 December 2014,
Nermin Nikšić was elected party president. Ahead of the
2020 municipal elections, the SDP BiH formed a broader opposition alliance known as the “Four,” together with
People and Justice (NiP),
Our Party (NS), and the
Independent Bosnian-Herzegovinian List (NBL). The NBL left the coalition, so the parties left renamed themselves the
Troika. In the
2022 general election, the coalition supported
Denis Bećirović as its candidate for the Bosniak member of the Presidency. He went on to win the election with 57.37% of the vote. Following this success, the SDP BiH returned to power by participating in the formation of a new government together with several parties, including the
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats and the
Croatian Democratic Union. ==Ideology==