DEMOKRATSKA, SAMOSTALNA DEMOKRATSKA I NARODNA RADIKALNA STRANKA U PRIMORJU (1920-1929)
DEMOCRATIC, INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATIC AND PEOPLE’S RADICAL PARTY IN ADRIATIC COAST (1920-1929)

Summary/Abstract: The Democratic Party in Susak was founded as a result of the organization of the followers of before war Party of Rights upon whom were forced, under the influence of Barcic and Supilo, moderate Yugoslavism. They recognized the particularity of Croatia, but saw it within the equality of the “tri-tribal” union. In the new state they sought protection from the pretensions of Italian irredentism. This, brought them overwhelming victories in elections until 1925 (1920 - 33.7%; 1923 - 74.9%; and 1925 - 62.9% of the vote). They became a problem for the Pribicevic current in the Party and already in the 1923 elections came out as a separate list which supported Davidovic. Part of the Democrats switched to Radic and the HSS in 1925. A second part, led by Dr. Kucic, did not join the HSS. They appeared in City Council elections in 1926 as a “Citizens’” List (33.97%), attempting to show themselves as a non-party group working for the City’s benefit. The County and District never showed any interest in them. In the 1927 Provincial elections they aligned themselves with the SDS and the Radicals (51.35%), while in Parliamentary elections the same year they went on their own (41.76%), wanting to preserve their uniqueness in the City. With the proclamation of the dictatorship, they ceased their work. The Independent Democratic Party (SDS) was established by a secession from the Democratic Party in 1926. The division into two currents within the Democratic Party, the Davidovic current and the Pribicevic current, however, was felt in Susak even earlier. In elections in 1925, pressure by Pribicevic’s forces and the Radicals (the PP list) culminated in their receiving 18.40% of the vote in the City. In elections for the City Council in 1926 it endured a fiasco with 7.65%. In the Provincial elections in 1927 it came out with the Democrats, and together they received 51.35% of the vote in the City, but this was really a victory of the Democrats. In elections for Parliament in 1927, its share of the vote fell to 15.34%. The solutions proposed by the SDS did not find “fertile ground” among voters. In elections in 1920 only 0.85% and in 1923 1.99% of the electorate voted for the National Radical Party because they had placed primary emphasis in their campaign on using the port in Bakar as an alternative to Susak. By themselves they got no results, so they entered into a coalition with the SDS, but the Pasic-Pribicevic “PP” list in 1925, despite all pressure, received only 18.04% of the vote of the City’s population. In elections in 1926 the party received 6.99% of the vote and a mandate in the City’s Municipal Council. This success was “godfathered” by the decision of government concerning the division of mandates. Provincial elections in 1927 brought it as a partner into coalition with the SDS and the Democrats, which received 51.35% of the vote. In Parliamentary elections in 1927 the “government” Radicals (3.70%) and the “Pasic” Radicals (1.74%) posted separate lists. Because of this division they received no mandate despite the large number of votes they received in districts with Serbian inhabitants. The number of voters for the Radicals in Susak did not exceed 150. They received most of their votes from the center of the City where most of their electoral supporters lived, many of them being recently arrived state officials and some craftsmen and private businessmen.

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