Founded after the multi-party system was introduced in Serbia in late 1989, the DS split after its first president, Dragoljub Micunovic, was defeated by Djindjic during a party election in 1994.
Utemeljena nakon uvođenja višestranačkog sustava u Srbiji 1989. godine, DS se rascijepila nakon što je njezin prvi predsjednik Dragoljub Mićunović poražen od Zorana Đinđića na stranačkim izborima 1994. godine.