The Bunjevac-Šokac Party (; abbr. BŠS) was a political party in Serbia representing the Bunjevac national minority community. Founded in 1991, the party won representation in the Vojvodina provincial assembly in the May 1992 provincial election and also had a presence in the Subotica city assembly from 1992 to 2000. The BŠS's leader for most of its existence was Nikola Babić.
After the formation of Serbia's Bunjevac National Council in 2002, the party changed its name to the Bunjevac Party (; abbr. BS). It ceased to exist after 2008. A successor "Bunjevac Party" was established in 2012 and is still listed on the Serbian registry of political parties as of 2025.
Although the party established in 1991 claimed to be a successor to the historical Bunjevac-Šokac Party, it should not be confused with that organization. It should also not be confused with the Croatian Bunjevac-Šokac Party, a completely different organization that represented Serbia's Croat national minority. The renamed Bunjevac Party of 2002, similarly, should not be confused with the Bunjevac Party of Vojvodina founded in 2008.
History Formation The Bunjevac–Šokac Party was founded in Vojvodina on 24 March 1991, shortly before the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. Nikola Čakić, the chairman of the BŠS's initiative committee, said that the party's main aim was to preserve the national identity of the Bunjevac and Šokac people. He added that this goal could be best achieved in a united Yugoslavia, with the Bunjevac and Šokac population living in peace and friendship with other national communities. He encouraged Bunjevci to declare their national identity in Yugoslavia's upcoming census. Most of the party's members were from Subotica.Magyar Szó, 25 March 1991, p. 5.
The party's leader in its early years was Miroslav Vojnić Hajduk.Magyar Szó, 4 April 1992, p. 8.Magyar Szó, 12 September 1993, p. 5.
Elections in 1992 Two candidates endorsed by the BŠS were elected to the Vojvodina assembly in the May 1992 provincial election: Nikola Babić and Ivan Vojnić Tunić, a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia who held a dual endorsement from that party and the BŠS. Both were elected for constituencies in Subotica.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине 31. маја и 14. јуна 1992. године, , Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 30 March 2025. The SPS won a majority victory overall, due in part to a boycott by many of Serbia's leading opposition parties, and Vojnić Tunić served afterward as a vice-president of the assembly.Borba, 3 June 1992, p. 11.
Three BŠS candidates were also elected to the Subotica city assembly in the concurrent May 1992 Serbian local elections: Antun Stanković, Mirko Nimčević, and Ivan Bogešić.Magyar Szó, 17 June 1992, p. 14. The Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMDK) won the city election and afterward formed a coalition government with the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV).Magyar Szó, 30 June 1992, p. 7.
Due to ongoing doubts about the legitimacy of the May 1992 elections, new provincial and local elections were held in December 1992. Babić was defeated in his bid for re-election to the provincial assembly, and no other candidates endorsed by the party were elected. (Vojnić Tunić was re-elected, but his endorsement was only from the SPS on this occasion.)Magyar Szó, 15 December 1992, p. 6.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине на превременим изборима одржаним 20. децембра 1992. године, , Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 25 June 2025.
The BŠS contested the December 1992 local elections in Subotica in an alliance with the Party of Yugoslavs. Three of the alliance's candidates were elected, two of whom were members of the BŠS: Stanković and Bogešić.Magyar Szó, 5 January 1993, p. 6; Magyar Szó, 12 January 1993, p. 14. The VMDK–DSHV alliance won an increased victory overall in the city.Magyar Szó, 13 January 1993, p. 1.
Subsequent activities The BŠS never won another seat at the provincial level after 1992. Miroslav Vojnić Hajduk stood down as party leader in 1994 and was succeeded by Nikola Babić.Žig, 30 July 1994, p. 3. It will be noted that this source was hostile to the Bunjevac-Šokac Party. Babić was elected to the Subotica city assembly in the 1996 Serbian local elections, but no other party candidates were successful on this occasion.Magyar Szó, 19 November 1996, p. 5.
The party contested the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election in affiliation with the Socialist Party of Serbia's electoral alliance, and Babić appeared in the fifth position (out of six) on the SPS's coalition list in Subotica.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Суботица), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024. The list won two seats, and he did not receive a parliamentary mandate.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године (Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997.) године, , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.PRVA SEDNICA, 03.12.1997., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 30 July 1997.
The BŠS fielded two candidates in the 2000 local elections in Subotica: Babić and Nikola Vizen. Neither was elected.Magyar Szó, 15 September 2000, p. 7.Magyar Szó, 28 September 2000, p. 7.
Serbia's Bunjevac National Council was established in 2002, and its members were initially chosen by an electoral college of community leaders. Babić was elected to the council and became its first president, serving in the role from 2002 to 2010.Nacionalni savit od 2002. do 2010. godine, Bunjevac National Council, accessed 11 September 2025.
Serbia adopted a system of proportional representation for local elections after 2000. The BŠS, now renamed as the Bunjevac Party, contested the 2004 local elections in Subotica under the new system and fell below the electoral threshold.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 40 Number 43 (20 September 2004), pp. 1-3.
By 2005, Darko Babić had succeeded Nikola Babić as party leader."Prijete i zahtjevom za zabranu DSHV-a", Hrvatska riječ, 22 July 2005, accessed 5 September 2025. In September 2005, Nikola Babić was expelled from the party. The officially stated reason for this decision was that the party disapproved of Babić's decision to take part in the Dužijanac harvest ceremonies in his capacity as chair of the Bunjevac National Council."Nikola Babić isključen iz Bunjevačke stranke", Hrvatska Riječ, 9 September 2005, accessed 11 September 2025.
The Bunjevac Party, under Darko Babić's leadership, contested the 2008 local election in Subotica and fared poorly, receiving less than one per cent of the vote.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 44 Number 12 (12 May 2008), p. 2. The party seems to have dissolved soon after this time; an article published in Nova srpska politička misao in 2010 indicates that it no longer existed.Dušan Kovačev, "Bunjevci neće 'putovnicu'", Nova srpska politička misao, 4 March 2010, accessed 5 September 2025.
Re-establishment of the Bunjevac Party in 2012 A new political party called the Bunjevac Party was established in January 2012 and was officially registered with the Serbian government the following month."Регистроване нове две странке, 87 укупно", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 8 March 2012, accessed 5 September 2025. The party won a single seat in the 2012 local election in Subotica and afterward participated in a coalition government in the city."Modest Dulić novi gradonačelnik Subotice", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 10 July 2012, accessed 5 September 2025. Although it was not the same organization, it had some connections to the BŠS's legacy; Nikola Babić was one of the party's candidates.Službeni List (Grada Subotice), Volume 28 Number 23 (25 April 2012), p. 12.
The Bunjevac Party has not fielded a slate of candidates in any local election since 2012, but it is still listed on the state registry of parties as of 2025.Registry of Political Parties, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Government, Government of Serbia, 6 September 2025, accessed 6 September 2025.
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