Đorđe Đukić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђе Ђукић; born 1948) is a former politician in Serbia. He was the president of the executive council of Vojvodina (i.e., effectively the province's prime minister) from 2000 to 2004. He also served at different times in the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the National Assembly of Serbia, and the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro, as well as being the mayor of Žabalj from 1996 to 2000. Originally a member of the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS), he joined the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalno demokratska partija, LDP) following a split in 2005 and later affiliated with the United Regions of Serbia (Ujedinjeni regioni Srbije, URS).

Early life and career

Đukić was born in the village of Gospođinci, Žabalj, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from technical high school in Novi Sad and worked at Jugoalat and at the Faculty of Agriculture in the Institute of Agricultural Engineering. In 1993, he became a private entrepreneur.[1]

Politician

Early candidacies

Đukić was elected to the Žabalj municipal assembly in the 1996 Serbian local elections as a candidate of Zajedno, a coalition of parties including the DS that was opposed to Slobodan Milošević's administration. Zajedno won a majority victory in Žabalj and Đukić was chosen as president of the local assembly, a position that was at the time equivalent to mayor.[2] He served in this role for the next four years.

In 2000, the DS helped to create the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties seeking the overthrow of Milošević's administration. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, an event that caused large-scale changes in Serbian politics. Đukić received the lead position on the DOS's electoral list for the Vrbas division (which included Žabalj) in the concurrent election for the Yugoslavian parliament's Chamber of Citizens and was elected when the list won two of the area's three mandates.[3][4]

President of the Vojvodina executive council

The DOS won a majority of seats in the 2000 Vojvodina provincial election, which was held at the same time as the Yugoslavian federal elections. Although he was not a candidate in the provincial election, Đukić was selected as the president of the province's executive council on 23 October 2000.[5] In this role, he was a vocal proponent of increased autonomy for the province, saying in February 2001 that the province's levels of autonomy "must be significantly enlarged."[6]

Early in his term, Đukić led the provincial executive in adopting what he described as "a letter of intent" for negotiations with the republican government on autonomy; the document covered the responsibilities of the assembly, the local executive, and the relevant provincial secretariats.[7] The provincial assembly approved the executive's proposals on 29 March 2001, by a vote of eighty-six to ten with two abstentions; some delegates boycotted the proceedings.[8]

In September 2001, Đukić said that a working group consisting of members of the provincial and republican governments had reached agreement on a law to restore Vojvodina's original levels of autonomy in the Serbian constitution, overriding restrictions that had been added in 1990 and 1994.[9] Two months later, the working group announced that it had reached agreement on a list of "indisputable powers" to return to the province and that relevant legislation would come before parliament by the end of the year.[10]

The regionalist Reformists of Vojvodina brought forward a non-confidence motion against Đukić in late 2001, arguing that he was insufficiently committed to provincial autonomy and too closely aligned with DS party interests in Belgrade. The party withdrew the motion before a vote.[11]

Đukić's proposals for autonomy were opposed by the Democratic Party of Serbia (Demokratska stranka Srbije, DSS), which was initially one of the parties in the DOS coalition.[12] The DSS was excluded from the provincial executive after a reshuffle in March 2002; Đukić justified this decision on the basis that members of the party had "not only refused to work on the passage of the omnibus law [on autonomy], they went so far as to deny the rest of the DOS members in the Vojvodina Assembly the right to do that."[13]

In early 2003, Đukić led the Vojvodina executive in adopting a symbolic motion on co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). (The ICTY did not have direct relations with the province.)[14] Later in the year, he met with Republika Srpska prime minister Dragan Mikerević and announced an agreement for Vojvodina to open an office in Banja Luka for greater economic co-operation between the entities.[15]

During discussions on the reform of Serbia's constitution in August 2003, Đukić called for Vojvodina and other regions of Serbia to receive greater economic independence.[16] In March 2004, he dismissed calls for a moratorium on privatization in the province.[17]

His term in office ended on 30 October 2004.

Republican and federal politics after 2000

Đukić continued to serve in the Yugoslavian parliament's Chamber of Citizens after becoming president of the Vojvodina executive. In February 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was restructured as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The new state union had a unicameral assembly, the members of which were chosen by the republican assemblies of Serbia and Montenegro; only members of the republican parliaments and the previous federal assembly were eligible to serve. On 25 February 2003, Đukić was selected as part of the DS's delegation to the new body.[18]

Đukić appeared in the nineteenth position on the DS's electoral list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election.[19] The list won thirty-seven mandates, and he was chosen to serve in the DS's delegation when the new assembly met in January 2004.[20] (From 2000 to 2011, all parliamentary mandates were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than to individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be distributed out of numerical order. Đukić did not automatically receive a mandate by virtue of his list position, but he was nonetheless chosen as a Democratic Party representative.)[21] His term in the national assembly was brief; he resigned on 12 February 2004, after being appointed to a new term in the federal assembly of Serbia and Montenegro.[22]

Following a party split in 2005, Đukić joined Čedomir Jovanović's LDP and served on the party's presidency.[23] He was the LDP's only member in the federal assembly.[24] The State Union of Serbian and Montenegro ceased to exist in 2006 when Montenegro declared independence.

Đukić appeared on the LDP's electoral lists in the 2007 and 2008 Serbian parliamentary elections, although he did not take a mandate in the assembly on either occasion.[25][26][27][28] He also appeared on the party's list for the Assembly of Vojvodina in the 2008 provincial election.[29] The list did not cross the electoral threshold to win any mandates in the provincial assembly.

After withdrawing from politics for a time, Đukić re-emerged in 2013 as the provincial leader of the URS in Vojvodina.[30] He appeared in the 104th position on the party's list in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election. This list, too, failed to cross the relevant electoral threshold.[31] The party dissolved the following year.

References

  1. ↑ "Čanak predsednik", Glas javnosti, 24 October 2000, accessed 24 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Čanak predsednik", Glas javnosti, 24 October 2000, accessed 24 August 2021.
  3. ↑ ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), p. 46.
  4. ↑ For this election, half of the mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order and the other half were distributed at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. By virtue of leading the list, Đukić received an automatic mandate. See "Ko su poslanici", Vreme, 28 September 2000, accessed 23 July 2021. He is not to be confused with a different Đorđe Đukić who served in the Chamber of Citizens from 1992 to 2000.
  5. ↑ "Čanak predsednik", Glas javnosti, 24 October 2000, accessed 24 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Vojvodina government head expects 'enlarged' autonomy for province," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 16 February 2001 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1557 gmt 15 Feb 01).
  7. ↑ "Cabinet passes platform on autonomy," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 3 March 2001 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1654 gmt 28 Feb 01).
  8. ↑ "Vojvodina Assembly's autonomy platform outlines competences," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 29 March 2001 (Source: Text of report by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug).
  9. ↑ "Vojvodina official says restoration of autonomous powers has started," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political', 8 September 2001 (Source: Except of report by Serbian news agency Beta). See also "Vojvodina official pleased with talks on autonomy restoration," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 6 November 2001 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1418 gmt 5 Nov 01).
  10. ↑ "Agreement reached on authorities to be restored in Vojvodina," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 23 November 2001 (Source: Radio B92 text web site, Belgrade, in English 2157 gmt 22 Nov 01).
  11. ↑ "Party withdraws motion for no-confidence vote in Vojvodina leader," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 26 November 2001 (Source: Radio Belgrade in Serbo-Croat 1400 gmt 26 Nov 01).
  12. ↑ "Serbian party official says assembly will not endorse Vojvodina's autonomy," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 8 September 2001 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1228 gmt 8 Sep 01).
  13. ↑ "Yugoslav president's party representatives not elected to Vojvodina government," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 12 March 2002 (Source: Text of report by Serbian TV satellite service on 12 March).
  14. ↑ "Vojvodina provincial government adopts declaration on cooperation with Hague," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 29 January 2003 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1551 gmt 29 Jan 03).
  15. ↑ "Bosnian Serb, Vojvodina officials discuss economic cooperation, refugee issues," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 22 July 2003 (Source: Text of report by Bosnian Serb RTRS Radio web site on 22 July).
  16. ↑ "Vojvodina executive council chairman seeks greater economic independence," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 3 August 2003 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1401 gmt 3 Aug 03).
  17. ↑ "Five Serbian parties urge minister to suspend privatization in Vojvodina," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 11 March 2004 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1145 gmt 11 Mar 04).
  18. ↑ PETO VANREDNO ZASEDANJE, 25.02.2003., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 25 August 2021.
  19. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), Republika Srbija – Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.
  20. ↑ PRVA SEDNICA, 27.01.2004., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 25 August 2021.
  21. ↑ 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, accessed 28 February 2017.
  22. ↑ "DRUGO VANREDNO ZASEDANJE, 12.02.2004.", Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 25 August 2021.
  23. ↑ "New party says Djindjic legacy threatened in Serbia," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 November 2005 (Source: Text of report in English by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text website on 7 November).
  24. ↑ "Čedin LDP već u Skupštini SCG", Glas javnosti, 5 November 2005, accessed 25 August 2021.
  25. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Либерално демократска партија - Грађански савез Србије - Социјалдемократска унија - Лига социјалдемократа Војводине - Чедомир Јовановић), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 25 August 2021.
  26. ↑ 14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 14 May 2021.
  27. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (ЛИБЕРАЛНО ДЕМОКРАТСКА ПАРТИЈА - ЧЕДОМИР ЈОВАНОВИЋ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 25 August 2021.
  28. ↑ 11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 14 May 2021.
  29. ↑ Изборна листа 3 - ЛИБЕРАЛНО ДЕМОКРАТСКА ПАРТИЈА - ЧЕДОМИР ЈОВАНОВИЋ, Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 July 2021.
  30. ↑ "Đorđe Đukić na čelu vojvođanskog odbora URS", '"Radio Television of Vojvodina, 6 April 2013, accessed 25 August 2021.
  31. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 УЈЕДИЊЕНИ РЕГИОНИ СРБИЈЕ - МЛАЂАН ДИНКИЋ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 21 August 2021.
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