Serbian Radical Party
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Template:Politics of Serbia and Montenegro
This article is about contemporary political party. For Nikola Pašić's Radical Party in the Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes refer to the article on People's Radical Party. For Milan Stojadinović's Serbian Radical Party from the end of 1930s and the beginning 1940s, see the article Yugoslavian Radical Community.
The Serbian Radical Party (Serbian: Српска радикална странка, Srpska radikalna stranka) is a nationalist political party in Serbia. It was formed in 1991 when the People's Radical Party (a party from 1990s, not Nikola Pašić's People's Radical Party) and Serbian Chetnik Movement joined into one organisation. Serbian Chetnik Movement was formed after a split in the Serbian Renewal Movement in 1990. It supports a Greater Serbian idea and claims Chetnik heritage.
During the 1998-2000 period it formed governments with Socialist Party of Serbia at times while it also spent its time in opposition with the leader, Vojislav Šešelj, landing in jail in 1994. Šešelj is awaiting trial at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague.
At the 2003 general elections, it picked up a plurality of seats and votes, with 27.6 % of the popular vote and 82 out of 250 seats.
The Radical Party's policies include implementing United Nations Resolution 1244 allowing Serbian police and Army to protect their citizens in the province of Kosovo, a NATO protected territory. The SRS has been part of a Government coalition with Slobodan Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia during his presidency.
Since the SRS won the majority of votes in last December’s parliamentary elections, they have added a lot of social elements to their programme.
The SRS's deputy president, leading the Party while Šešelj is in The Hague is Tomislav Nikolić. Nikolić won one of the invalid presidential elections when less than 50 per cent of citizens voted. In the last presidential election the law on turnout was abolished. In first round of Serbian presidential elections, 2004 he won about 30% of votes. In the second round he lost to DS leader Boris Tadić winning 45%.