Movement of Free Citizens (Serbia)

Movement of Free Citizens
Покрет слободних грађана
Pokret slobodnih građana
President Saša Janković
Founded 21 May 2017 (2017-05-21)
Headquarters Ilije Garašanina 22, Belgrade
Ideology Social democracy
Social liberalism
Participatory democracy
Regionalism
Secularism
Anti-fascism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position Centre-left
Colours White and Navy blue
National Assembly
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Assembly of Vojvodina
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City Assembly of Belgrade
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Website
pokretslobodnih.rs

The Movement of Free Citizens (Serbian: Покрет слободних грађана, ПСГ / Pokret slobodnih građana, PSG) is a social-democratic and social-liberal political movement in Serbia. It is a centre-left political organization in Serbia, founded after 2017 presidential elections, by Saša Janković, who ended up second with nearly 17% of the vote.[1] It has no representatives in the National Assembly, since it was founded after the last parliamentary elections in Serbia.

The Movement's organizational structure includes Assembly, Presidency, Main board and Council.

Since its inception it has positioned itself as a major opposition movement to government led by Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

History

Saša Janković was in the position of state ombudsman, and as such, he often criticized practices of the government, led by SNS and Vučić. This positioned him among voters as opposition spokesperson and led to him enjoying relatively high ratings in relation to actual opposition leaders and politicians.[2] As his term was about to end, he decided to resign and run in the presidential elections, scheduled for April 2017. His most notable endorsement came from the Democratic Party, which decided to support Janković, rather than to have a candidate of its own.[3] This helped him create a relatively united front against Vučić in the upcoming elections.

In the aftermath of the elections, Janković, who finished second with 16.3% of the vote, decided to form his own political movement, rather than joining the Democratic Party. His movement "Apel 100", formed for the purposes of gathering support from intellectuals and other notable citizens for his presidential candidacy, was thereby transformed into a political organization, the Movement of Free Citizens.[1]

Despite competing against each other in the presidential election, Janković's movement now cooperates closely with the People's Party, a party formed by Vuk Jeremić after the election.[4]

Many of the founding members have left the Movement, accusing Janković of running it like his own 'company', and revealed that Janković's wife exerts enormous influence on how the Movement is run.[5] Following the accusations, the Movement's Presidency held an emergency meeting, where Janković offered his resignation, a motion denied by the Presidency.[6] This turmoil within the Movement led political analysts and other opposition leaders and politicians to question the capacity of Janković and the Movement to lead the opposition against Vučić's government.[7]

Presidents of the Movement of Free Citizens

# President Born–Died Term start Term end
1 Saša Janković 1970– 21 May 2017 Incumbent

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Osnovan pokret Saše Jankovića".
  2. ↑ "Vlast se plaši rejtinga Saše Jankovića".
  3. ↑ "Demokratska stranka podržala Sašu Jankovića za predsednika Srbije".
  4. ↑ "Narodna stranka i PSG počeli razgovore o saradnji".
  5. ↑ "Škoro: Da sam znao samo pet odsto svega, nikad ne bih ušao u PSG (In Serbian)".
  6. ↑ "Janković ponudio ostavku na mesto predsednika PSG, skupština odbila (In Serbian)".
  7. ↑ "Janković više nije "pouzdanica" opozicije (In Serbian)".
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