Alliance for Changes

A former opposition coalition in Serbia.

The indirect cause of the Alliance for Change's formation was the decision by the Serbian Renewal Movement to leave the Together coalition, effectively causing its dissolution. The remaining members of that group, primarily parties close to the DS and GSS, continued to cooperate closely, and the new alliance formed around them.

Although the coalition was established in the months prior to the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999, its most active period was the second half of that year, when numerous mass protests against the government of Slobodan Milošević were organized across the country, and primarily in Belgrade. In the summer of that year, representatives of the SZP organized protests alongside the SPO, with whom they had previously been at odds regarding the opposition's future course of action. Demonstrations took place in almost every city in Serbia, frequently involving clashes with activists from the ruling coalition and with the police.

This culminated in a massive rally in Belgrade on August 19, 1999, the so-called "Transfiguration Rally", organized by Mlađan Dinkić’s G17 Plus, in which both the SZP and the SPO participated. Although there had been talk of uniting the entire opposition and demanding the formation of a transitional federal government following this rally, this did not materialize, and the opposition remained divided in the months that followed.

Starting in September, the SZP launched a new series of demonstrations across the country in coordination with another coalition, the Alliance of Democratic Parties (comprising the Social Democratic Union, the Reform-Democratic Party of Vojvodina, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Šumadija Coalition, and the Sandžak Coalition). The largest protest occurred on September 29, when tens of thousands of citizens, following a rally at Republic Square, began marching toward Dedinje (where the residences of numerous officials, including Milošević himself, were located). Along the way, they were met by a four-deep police cordon, backed by water cannons and armored riot-control vehicles. The police began beating the demonstrators, who retreated toward the Main Railway Station and the "London" intersection. Similar incidents occurred the following evening on Branko's Bridge. The protests continued sporadically into the autumn months, albeit on a significantly reduced scale. Toward the end of the year, negotiations to form a unified opposition bloc intensified.

On 10 January 2000, representatives of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), the Alliance for Change (SZP), the Alliance of Democratic Parties, and various other movements and parties (such as the DSS) met at the SPO headquarters and signed a coalition agreement, thereby creating the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). From that point on, the SZP ceased to operate as a separate group, although the influence of its constituent parties would decisively shape the direction of DOS in the months and years that followed.

Based on a somewhat similar ideological foundation, the Alliance for Change was established in Republika Srpska in 2014 with the aim of ousting the government of Milorad Dodik.

Commenting on the founding of the Alliance for Serbia in 2018, Peščanik columnist Dejan Ilić called it an "Alliance without change," clearly alluding to this coalition from the late 1990s.

Leader: Zoran Đinđić