Movement of Socialists

The Movement of Socialists (Serbian: Покрет социјалиста, romanized: Pokret socijalista, abbr. PS) is a left-wing nationalist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 2008 by Aleksandar Vulin, who served as the party's president until 2022 when he was succeeded by Bojan Torbica.

History

It was founded on 8 August 2008 by Aleksandar Vulin, a former high-ranking member of Yugoslav Left who left it in 1998 after perceiving the party to have "betrayed its program and became a political mask for the wealthy sitting in the party". It is a part of the governing coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). It was formed by former members of the Socialist Party of Serbia because they disagreed with the pro-European policy of the party; however, it was a member of the pro-European SNS-led coalitions in the 2012 (as part of Let's Get Serbia Moving alliance) and in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary elections. In December 2022, Vulin resigned as the leader of PS after being appointed as the director of the Security Intelligence Agency.

Ideology and platform

It is a self-described radical left or leftist political party, and has been identified to be a part of the leftist camp in Serbian politics. Observers have described it as a centre-left party. The party has been assessed as social-democratic and left-wing nationalist. Its foreign views are orientated towards Euroscepticism, and have been accused of being anti-Western-orientated. PS is supportive of further cooperation with China and Russia.

It was created as a party vehicle for Vulin, who has been described as a nationalist, and has expressed irredentist views. In 2022, PS proclaimed "Serbian world" as its primary political idea and goal. It has been also described as a satellite party of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.

In an opinion article, Miloš Baković Jadžić, now-leader of the Political Platform Solidarity and member of the party Together, criticised PS by describing it as a conservative and neoliberal party "with nothing in common with progressive left-wing politics but its name, symbolism, occasional rhetoric and a somewhat radical program," having engaged in active anti-worker and anti-progressive politics. Sociologist Jovo Bakić has also disputed the leftism of PS due to "their support for the nationalistic and neoliberal policies". Political theorist Srećko Horvat noted PS' participation in the governing coalition's "harsh neoliberal measures, including pension cuts, public sector wage cuts, deregulation and labor market flexibilization" and minister Vulin's direct responsibility for "one of the worst new labor laws" that had been passed in Serbia in 2014. He further discredited the party as having nothing to do with socialism or left-wing politics.

In 2015, Vulin said that he was opposed to same-sex marriage and that, as minister for social policy, he would never sign a law making it possible.