Editing Party of Democratic Action (section)

==History==
The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was founded on 26 May 1990 in [[Sarajevo]], as a "party of Muslim cultural-historic circle". It was a realisation of [[Alija Izetbegović]]'s idea of an Islamic religious and national party in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]].{{Cn|date=September 2023}} Many members of the [[Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina]], including [[imam]]s, took part in the party's foundation. Alija, who was chosen as its chairman, tried to resolve disputes between the Muslim nationalist Islamists led by [[Omer Behmen]] and the left-wing Muslims led by [[Adil Zulfikarpašić]].{{sfn|Perica|2004|p=87}} The party has its roots in the old [[Yugoslav Muslim Organization]], a conservative Muslim party in the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]]. [[Yugoslav Muslim Organization]] was a successor of Muslimanska Narodna Organizacija (Muslim National Organization), a conservative Muslim party founded in 1906 during the Austro-Hungarian era. The Muslim National Organization was itself a successor of the conservative Muslim "Movement for [[waqf]] and educational autonomy" (Pokret za vakufsko-mearifsku autonomiju) that goes back to 1887.

The SDA achieved considerable success in elections after the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]] in the early 1990s. It founded the newspaper ''[[Ljiljan]]''. The party remains the strongest political party among the Bosniak population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In November 2000, the party was defeated by the [[Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Social Democratic Party]] and other parties gathered into the "Alliance for Change", and found itself in opposition for the first time since its creation.<ref>{{cite book |last= Al-Azmeh |first= Aziz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uoSUovCrjLwC&pg=PA117|title=Islam in Europe: Diversity, Identity, and Influence| access-date=2009-06-18|page=118 |year=2007 |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521860116}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=Defeated at what level?|date=February 2015}} After the [[2022 Bosnian general election|2022 general election]], the SDA became once again the largest party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The party has branches in [[Slovenia]], [[Kosovo]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Croatia]] and the [[Sandžak]] region of [[Serbia]]. One of the goals of the party, outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, is to represent and defend the interests of Bosniaks and other Muslim [[South Slavs]] in the entire [[Balkans|Balkan]] region. In [[Montenegro]], the SDA merged with smaller Bosniak and Slavic Muslim parties to create the [[Bosniak Party]].

The party is an observer member of the [[European People's Party]] (EPP).