Dragan Jovanović (Serbian politician, born 1972)

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Dragan Jovanović
Драган Јовановић
Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
Assumed office
1 August 2022
In office
16 April 2014 – 3 August 2020
In office
11 June 2008 – 8 July 2008
Leader of Better Serbia
In office
24 July 2017 – 13 April 2023
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byposition abolished
Leader of the Topola Provisional Authority
In office
31 October 2023 – 8 February 2024
Preceded byVladimir Radojković (as mayor)
Succeeded byVladimir Radojković (as mayor)
Mayor of Topola
In office
2004 – 29 August 2014
Preceded byMiomir Tadić
Succeeded byDragan Živanović
Personal details
Born (1972-03-05) 5 March 1972 (age 52)
Aranđelovac, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Political partyNS (until 2017)
BS (2017–2023)
SNS (2023–present)
OccupationPolitician

Dragan Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Јовановић; born 5 March 1972) is a Serbian politician who was the mayor of Topola from 2004 to 2014 and is now serving his fifth term in the National Assembly of Serbia. A prominent member of New Serbia (NS) for many years, he founded Better Serbia (BS) in 2017 and was its leader until 2023, when it merged into the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Early life and career[edit]

Jovanović was born in Aranđelovac, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering with a major in industrial management.[1]

Politician[edit]

Jovanović was New Serbia's secretary-general from 2003 until 2005, when he was elected as a party vice-president. He oversaw party leader Velimir Ilić's campaign in the 2003 Serbian presidential election.[2]

Mayor of Topola[edit]

Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors for the 2004 local elections, and Jovanović ran in Topola with a dual endorsement from New Serbia and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). He was elected in the first round of voting, defeating seven other candidates. At the time, he was the youngest mayor in Serbia.[3] The NS–DSS alliance also won a convincing victory in the concurrent election for the Topola municipal assembly.[4][5]

In December 2007, Jovanović and other members of New Serbia joined with members of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) to prevent the B92 program Peščanik from recording an episode at Aranđelovac's House of Culture; the protesters took control of the microphones and physically stopped the recording from taking place.[6] This action received international attention, including a reference in the United States Department of State's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007, which also indicated that Jovanović made threats against B92 in a subsequent interview.[7] In the aftermath of this controversy, New Serbia members accused B92 of pursuing an "anti-Serb and anti-Constitutional campaign." B92 responded that New Serbia's criticism was really motivated by its own frequent criticisms of Velimir Ilić.[8]

The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned with the 2008 local elections; since this time, Serbian mayors have been chosen by elected members of the local assemblies. The NS–DSS alliance won a majority victory in Topola in 2008, and Jovanović was chosen for a second term as mayor.[9][10] In 2009, he joined with other Serbian politicians from across the political spectrum in accusing Croatian authorities of preventing Serbs originally from Croatia from returning to the country to participate in the 2009 Croatian local elections.[11]

For the 2012 Serbian local elections, Jovanović led a local alliance of New Serbia, the DSS, and the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) in Topola. The alliance won an increased majority, and Jovanović was chosen afterward for a third term as mayor.[12] He stood down from the role in 2014, as he could not hold a dual mandate as a parliamentarian and an executive member of the local government. He was instead chosen as president (i.e., speaker) of the municipal assembly.[13]

New Serbia parliamentarian[edit]

New Serbia contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election in an alliance with the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), and Jovanović received the 201st position out of 250 on their combined list. The alliance won twenty-two seats, and he was not included in his party's assembly delegation.[14][15] (From 2000 to 2011, mandates in Serbian parliamentary elections were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Jovanović could have been given a seat despite his low position on the list, although ultimately he was not.)[16] New Serbia later contested the 2007 parliamentary election in an alliance the DSS, and Jovanović appeared on their list in the twenty-seventh position.[17] The alliance won forty-seven seats, and he was again not given a mandate.[18]

The DSS and NS continued their alliance at the republic level into the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election. Jovanović received the eleventh position on the alliance's list and was this time given a mandate when the list won thirty seats.[19][20] His first term in the national assembly was brief. The overall results of the 2008 election were inconclusive, but the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance eventually formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and New Serbia served in opposition. Velimir Ilić, who had hitherto been a cabinet minister, lost his position in government. Jovanović resigned his seat on 8 July 2008 to allow Ilić to enter the assembly in his place.[21][22][23]

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all parliamentary mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists in numerical order.[24] New Serbia joined an alliance led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) prior to the 2012 parliamentary election and continued the alliance through the elections of 2014 and 2016. Jovanović was not a candidate in 2012, but he received the ninety-eighth position on the SNS-led list in 2014 and was elected when the list won a landslide victory with 158 out of 250 seats.[25] In his first full term, Jovanović was a member of the spatial planning committee,[a] a deputy member of the economy committee[b] and the agriculture committee,[c] and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia), Russia, and the United Kingdom.[26]

Jovanović was given the 107th position on the SNS-led list in 2016 and was elected to a third term when the list won another majority victory with 131 mandates.[27] In the parliament that followed, he was a member of the spatial planning committee, a deputy member of the agriculture committee and the committee for environmental protection, and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, France, Italy, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.[28]

He was also received the lead position on a coalition list of the Progressives, New Serbia, and other parties for the 2016 Serbian local elections in Topola and was re-elected when the list won twenty-nine out of forty-one seats.[29][30] He was chosen afterward for another term as speaker of the local assembly.[31]

Independent parliamentarian[edit]

In January 2017, Velimir Ilić withdrew his support from Serbia's SNS-led administration. Jovanović, speaking as a party vice-president, stated that Ilić was entitled to his personal opinions but that the party as a whole would continue to support the government.[32] Ilić then expelled Jovanović from the party, claiming that he had disobeyed the decisions of the party leadership, had made false claims about a diploma, and was compromised because of his involvement in a 2012 car accident. Jovanović rejected these accusations and said that Ilić was really concerned about a possible leadership challenge.[33][34][35]

At around the time that Jovanović was expelled from New Serbia, his fellow deputies Dubravka Filipovski and Mladen Grujić voluntarily left the party in order to continue supporting Serbia's SNS-led administration. Initially, all three ex-NS members served in the assembly as government supporters without any party affiliation.[36]

Founding of Better Serbia[edit]

In June 2017, Jovanović joined with Miroslav Parović and Vladan Glišić to present a manifesto for a new right-wing political party. Jovanović said that the group would offer conservative Serb voters a third choice, distinct from the country's existing government and opposition blocs.[37] Shortly after this meeting, he launched a new political party called Better Serbia with himself in the role of party president.[38]

Better Serbia and Healthy Serbia (ZS) fielded a joint list in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election, and Jovanović was included in the third position.[39] He had withdrawn his support for Serbia's SNS-led government by this time, contending that it had turned out to be worse than the administration that preceded it.[40] The ZS–BS list did not cross the electoral threshold to win representation in the assembly.

2020 local elections and after[edit]

Better Serbia fielded its own list in Topola for the 2020 local elections, and Jovanović appeared in the lead position.[41] The list won a narrow victory over the Progressive Party's coalition list, sixteen seats to fifteen,[42] but the Progressives were able to form a new local government with the support of smaller parties, and Better Serbia served in opposition.[43]

Jovanović was expelled from the Topola municipal assembly in November 2020 on the grounds that he had changed his residence from Topola to Belgrade and was no longer on the local voters list. Jovanović said that his expulsion was based on falsified information and that he had actually been removed from the assembly for being a "thorn in the side" of the local authorities.[44]

The defection of two SNS delegates in April 2021 allowed Better Serbia to form a new municipal administration.[45] Jovanović did not return to the mayor's office but was instead named as a member of the municipal council (i.e., the executive branch of the municipal government) with responsibility for infrastructure and the economy.[46]

Return to the National Assembly[edit]

Notwithstanding the previous hostility between Better Serbia and the Progressive Party, Jovanović announced in February 2022 that the parties had established an alliance and that Better Serbia would contest the 2022 Serbian parliamentary election on the SNS list.[47] He himself appeared in the sixty-third position and was elected to a fourth term when the list won a plurality victory with 120 seats; formally, his endorsement was from the SNS.[48][49] The Progressives remained the dominant power in Serbia's coalition government after the election, and Jovanović served as a government supporter. In the 2022–24 parliament, he was a member of the spatial planning committee and the agriculture committee, a deputy member of the judiciary committee[d] and the finance committee,[e] the leader of Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with Namibia, and a member of the friendship groups with Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.[50] By virtue of once again serving in the national assembly, he stood down from the Topola city council on 10 September 2022.[51]

Better Serbia merged into the SNS on 13 April 2023, and Jovanović became a member of the latter party.[52]

The Topola municipal assembly was dissolved in late 2023, and Jovanović was appointed as the leader of a provisional administration.[53] He appeared in the lead position on the SNS's list for Topola in the 2023 Serbian local elections and was re-elected when the list won twenty out of forty-one seats.[54][55] The SNS formed a local coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia after the election, and Jovanović was once again chosen as speaker of the assembly.[56]

Jovanović also received the ninety-first position on the SNS's list in the 2023 parliamentary election and was re-elected to the national assembly when the list won a majority victory with 129 seats.[57] He is now a member of the agriculture committee and the spatial planning committee, a deputy member of the environmental protection committee, and a deputy member of Serbia's delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly (where Serbia has observer status).[58]

Electoral record[edit]

Local (Topola)[edit]

2004 Municipality of Topola local election: Mayor of Topola
CandidatePartyVotes%
Dragan JovanovićNew Serbia–Democratic Party of Serbia (Affiliation: New Serbia)5,33456.04
all other candidates (combined total)4,18543.96
Dušan MladenovićSerbian Radical Party
Total9,519100.00
Source: [59][60]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Formally known as the Committee on Spatial Planning, Transport, Infrastructure, and Telecommunications.
  2. ^ Formally known as the Committee on Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism, and Energy
  3. ^ Formally known as the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management.
  4. ^ Formally known as the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration, and Local Self-Government.
  5. ^ Formally known as the Committee on Finance, State Budget, and Control of Public Spending.

References[edit]

  1. ^ ПОТПРЕДСЕДНИЦИ, Archived 2016-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, New Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
  2. ^ ПОТПРЕДСЕДНИЦИ, Archived 2016-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Parlament izlazi na ulice među narod", Archived 2022-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, Glas javnosti, 25 October 2004, accessed 18 May 2022.
  4. ^ Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija; Lokalni Izbori 2004; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 14, 81.
  5. ^ Direktorijum lokalnih samouprava u Srbiji, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), September 2005, p. 344.
  6. ^ "Serbia: Protestors disrupt Belgrade-based B92 radio program presentation," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 5 December 2007 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 0903 gmt 4 Dec 07).
  7. ^ Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007, United States Department of State, p. 1607.
  8. ^ "Serbia: Radio B92 accuses minister's party of launching campaign against it," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Media, 14 December 1997 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1746 gmt 11 Dec 07).
  9. ^ Lokalni Izbori 2008; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 13, 58.
  10. ^ Dragan Jovanović, istinomer.rs, accessed 14 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Croatia attempting to prevent Serbs from voting – Serbian politicians," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 May 2009 (Source: Glas javnosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 9 May 9, p3).
  12. ^ REZULTATI IZBORA 2012 (Topola - Rezultati izbora 2012.), Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Center for Free Elections and Democracy, accessed 20 December 2021; ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012., Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 12, 75.
  13. ^ DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 11 August 2017; "Serbian minister re-elected party chairman," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 November 2005 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1339 gmt 26 Nov 05).
  14. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6. СРПСКИ ПОКРЕТ ОБНОВЕ - НОВА СРБИЈА - ВУК ДРАШКОВИЋ - ВЕЛИМИР ИЛИЋ), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
  15. ^ 27 January 2004 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
  16. ^ Serbia's Law on the Election of Representatives (2000) stipulated that parliamentary mandates would be awarded to electoral lists (Article 80) that crossed the electoral threshold (Article 81), that mandates would be given to candidates appearing on the relevant lists (Article 83), and that the submitters of the lists were responsible for selecting their parliamentary delegations within ten days of the final results being published (Article 84). See Law on the Election of Representatives, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 35/2000, made available via LegislationOnline, Archived 2021-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 7 April 2024.
  17. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Демократска странка Србије - Нова Србија - др Војислав Коштуница), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
  18. ^ 14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
  19. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Демократска Странка Србије - Нова Србија - Војислав Коштуница), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
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  22. ^ 11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 11 August 2017. This source erroneously lists Jovanović as a member of the Democratic Party of Serbia.
  23. ^ "I Velja Ilić u poslaničkoj klupi", Mondo, 16 July 2008, accessed 27 December 2022.
  24. ^ Law on the Election of Members of the Parliament (2000, as amended 2011) (Articles 88 & 92) made available via LegislationOnline, Archived 2021-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 6 June 2021.
  25. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – Изборне листе (1 АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - БУДУЋНОСТ У КОЈУ ВЕРУЈЕМО (Српска напредна странка, Социјалдемократска партија Србије, Нова Србија, Српски покрет обнове, Покрет социјалиста)), Archived 2020-08-09 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 30 March 2024.
  26. ^ DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, Archived 2016-04-14 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
  27. ^ Избори за народне посланике 2016. године » Изборне листе (1 АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - СРБИЈА ПОБЕЂУЈЕ), Archived 2020-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 October 2021.
  28. ^ DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, Archived 2016-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
  29. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), Volume 20 Number 7 (13 April 2016), p. 1.
  30. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), Volume 20 Number 10 (25 April 2016), p. 1.
  31. ^ СКУПШТИНА ОПШТИНЕ ТОПОЛА, Archived 2017-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Municipality of Topola, accessed 27 December 2022.
  32. ^ KULMINIRALE TENZIJE U NS Potpredsednik Nove Srbije se ograđuje od Ilićevih izjava, Blic (source: Tanjug), 20 January 2017, accessed 11 August 2017.
  33. ^ Mirjana R. Milenković, "Dragan Jovanović isključen iz Nove Srbije", Danas, 26 January 2017, accessed 11 August 2017.
  34. ^ M. R. Milenković, "Moguć novi Pokret Nova Srbija", Danas, 27 January 2017, accessed 11 August 2017.
  35. ^ Mirjana Čekerevac, "Velja rastura stranku zbog lične sujete", Politika, 28 January 2017, accessed 11 August 2017.
  36. ^ Usvojene izmene zakona, Vlada dobija još dva ministarstv, Radio Television of Serbia, 26 June 2017, accessed 11 August 2017. See also DEVETA POSEBNA SEDNICA , 29.06.2017, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 11 August 2017, which indicates that all three former New Serbia members voted to confirm SNS-nominated candidate Ana Brnabić as prime minister.
  37. ^ Filip Rudic, "Serbian Right-Wingers Unveil Populist Platform", Balkan Insight, 15 June 2017, accessed 27 September 2017.
  38. ^ "Bolja Srbija – nova stranka, predsednik Dragan Jovanović", Archived 2017-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Tanjug, 24 July 2017, accessed 29 May 2024.
  39. ^ "Ko je sve na listi Milana Stamatovića i Dragana Jovanovića za poslanike?", Danas, 22 May 2020, accessed 14 February 2021.
  40. ^ Mirjana R. Milenković, "Jovanović: Mislio sam da su žuti najgori, ali naprednjaci su gori", Danas, 6 March 2020, accessed 4 February 2021.
  41. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), Volume 24 Number 6 (8 June 2020), p. 1.
  42. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), Volume 24 Number 7 (29 June 2020), p. 2.
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  44. ^ "Dugogodišnjem predsedniku opštine Topola oduzet odbornički mandat", N1, 30 November 2020, accessed 4 February 2021.
  45. ^ "U Topoli prekomponovana vlast, Bolja Srbija dobila podršku troje naprednjaka", Danas, 27 April 2021, accessed 27 April 2021.
  46. ^ "Izabrano novo Opštinsko veće u Topoli", Danas, 30 April 2021, accessed 30 April 2021.
  47. ^ G. Gligorijević, "Topola: Dragan Jovanović i “Bolja Srbija” ipak na listi SNS", Danas, 15 February 2022, accessed 15 February 2022.
  48. ^ "Ko su kandidati SNS za narodne poslanike?", Danas, 17 February 2022, accessed 17 April 2022.
  49. ^ Additional Documents – Electoral Lists (Parliamentary 2022 – 1. АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - ЗАЈЕДНО МОЖЕМО СВЕ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 17 December 2022.
  50. ^ DRAGAN JOVANOVIC, Archived 2023-03-27 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 May 2024.
  51. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), 2022 Number 13 (10 September 2022), p. 205.
  52. ^ TANJUG (12 April 2023). "Glišić: Stranka Bolja Srbija danas kolektivno pristupila SNS-u". tanjug.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  53. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), 2023 Number 34 (31 October 2023), pp. 8, 12.
  54. ^ Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), 2023 Number 38 (4 December 2023), p. 1.
  55. ^ УКУПАН ИЗВЕШТАЈ О РЕЗУЛТАТИМА ИЗБОРА ЗА ОДБРОНИКЕ СКУПШТИНЕ ОПШТИНЕ ТРСТЕНИК, Lokalni Izbori 2023, Topola Municipal Election Commission, accessed 18 April 2024.
  56. ^ "Izabrano opštinsko rukovodstvo u Topoli , predsednici iz SNS, zamenici iz SPS", Puls Šumadije, 8 February 2024, accessed 18 April 2024.
  57. ^ "Pogledajte ko su kandidati na Vučićevoj listi Srbija ne sme da stane", Danas, 3 November 2023, accessed 29 March 2024.
  58. ^ DRAGAN JOVANOVIC, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 May 2024.
  59. ^ ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ: Председници општина и градова, изабрани на локалним изборима, 2004., Archived 2010-10-03 at the Wayback Machine, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 3 October 2010, accessed 12 July 2021; DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 4 April 2022.
  60. ^ Mladenović's identity as the Radical Party's candidate is confirmed in Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 15 Number 1838 (September 2004), p. 20.
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