For most of his time in public life, Svilar was a member of the Serbian Renewal Movement (Srpski pokret obnove, SPO).
[4] The far-right Serbian Radical Party (Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS) emerged as the dominant force in Novi Sad's government after the election, and the DEPOS members served in opposition.
The Socialist Party of Serbia (Socijalistička partija Srbije) won the election; the DEPOS coalition dissolved shortly after the vote, and the SPO served in opposition at this level of government as well.
In April 1997, he gave a press conference in which he threatened to resign from the SPO if certain issues between the party and the Zajedno coalition were not settled.
[10] SPO leader Vuk Drašković called on Svilar to resign as mayor the following month,[11] and he ultimately stepped down on 18 June.
Svilar sought re-election to the national assembly in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election as the leader of an independent list in Novi Sad.
He apparently reconciled with the SPO after this time, as he contested the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election at the head of the party's list in Novi Sad.