Party of Serbian Unity

Party of Serbian Unity

Странка српског јединства
Stranka srpskog jedinstva
Party of Serbian Unity Странка српског јединства; Stranka srpskog jedinstva
Abbreviation	SSJ
President	Borislav Pelević
Founder	Željko Ražnatović
Founded	1993
Dissolved	2007
Preceded by	Civic Group – Željko Ražnatović Arkan
Merged into	Serbian Radical Party
Succeeded by	Council of Serbian Unity
Headquarters	Belgrade (1993–1998); Jagodina (1998–2007)
Military wing	Serb Volunteer Guard (1993–96)
Ideology	Serbian ultranationalism; National conservatism; Serbian irredentism;
Political position	Far-right
Colours	Grey
National Assembly	0 / 250
Party flag
	Politics of Serbia; Political parties; Elections;

The Party of Serbian Unity (Serbian: Странка српског јединства, romanized: Stranka srpskog jedinstva; abbr. SSJ) was a far-right, ultranationalist political party in Serbia founded by Željko Ražnatović.^[4] After its merging into the Serbian Radical Party, the Council of Serbian Unity was the formed to be the party's successor in 2013.

Goals

The key goals of the party were:

Unity of the Serbian people
Preserving the integrity and territory of Serbia
Parliamentarism and Democracy
Preservation of tradition, family and the Cyrillic script

History

In 1992, a new party formed by Ražnatović called the Civic Group – Željko Ražnatović Arkan.^[5] It gained five seats in the National Assembly during the 1992 general elections. After changing to the SSJ in 1993, the party lost its five seats for failing to receive the 5% threshold. In 1998, the party moved its headquarters from Belgrade to Jagodina.

Following the assassination of Ražnatović in 2000, Borislav Pelević became president of the party. At the last legislative election in 2003, the SSJ was a part of the For National Unity alliance. However, the coalition failed to receive any seats. The SSJ merged into the Serbian Radical Party in 2007.^[4]

On 21 January 2013, the party was re-founded as the Council of Serbian Unity by Pelević, Slobodan Radosavljević and Jelena Kostić in Belgrade.^[6] The new party took part in the 2014 parliamentary election as part of the Patriotic Front coalition, but failed to reach the 5% threshold.^[7]

Electoral results

Parliamentary

Year	Leader	Popular vote	% of popular vote	# of seats	Seat change	Coalition	Status
1992	Željko Ražnatović	17,352	0.39%	5 / 250	5	—	Opposition
1993		41,632	1.00%	0 / 250	5	—	Opposition
1997		5,590	0.14%	0 / 250	0	—	Opposition
2000	Borislav Pelević	200,052	5.33%	14 / 250	14	—	Opposition
2003		68,537	1.82%	0 / 250	14	For National Unity	Opposition
2014		4,514	0.17%	0 / 250	0	Patriotic Front	Opposition