of his supporters in June 2002, describing the event as a SPS meeting that would lead to renewal in the party. He was formally chosen as the group's leader at this meeting; he paid tribute to Milošević in his acceptance speech but also called for the SPS to adopt a reformist approach under new leadership. In this period, Ivković was often described in the international media as a "moderate." Ultimately, Ivković's group did not retain ownership of the SPS name. He ran in the September 2002 Serbian presidential election as the leader of an independent group called "Socialists for Return to the Basics" and was defeated, receiving just over one per cent of the vote. In October 2002, he announced plans to create a new party to be called simply the Socialist Party (Partija Socijalista, PS). Ivković and his supporters established an assembly group called the People's Socialists (Narodni socijalisti) in November 2002. The DOS government had experienced several splits and defections by this time, and the following month Ivković's group co-operated with the administration on a crucial budgetary vote for the upcoming year. In this period, Ivković was a member of the committee for constitutional affairs and the committee for science and technological development. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formally reconstituted as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003, and the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro was established as its legislative branch. The first members of this body were chosen by indirect election from the republican parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro, with each parliamentary group allowed representation proportional to its numbers. Only sitting members of the Serbian assembly or the Montenegrin assembly, or members of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia at the time of the country's reconstitution, were eligible to serve. The "People's Socialists" group was allotted one seat in the federal assembly, which was assigned to Ivković. Ivković's group coalesced as the Serbian People's Party (SNS) later in 2003. In September of that year, he proposed that the SPS and his party run a joint candidate in the upcoming presidential election. The SPS rejected the offer; Ivica Dačić accused Ivković of wanting to benefit the DOS by running as a candidate himself. The SNS contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election in an alliance with a group called the People's Blok. Ivković appeared in the second position on the party's list, after former SPS parliamentarian