Aleksandar Prodanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Продановић; born 13 February 1969) is a Serbian politician. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia and the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro and has held high municipal office in Sremska Mitrovica. From 2007 to 2012, he was the head of Serbia's water directorate. Prodanović was a member of the Democratic Party (DS) until 2013, when he joined Together for Serbia (ZZS).

Private career

Prodanović was born in Sremska Mitrovica, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and later owned a private business and worked for Srem gas.[1]

Politician

Late Milošević years (1999–2000)

Prodanović was the leader of the Democratic Party's municipal committee in Sremska Mitrovica in 1999.[2] During this period, the DS was part of the Alliance for Change, a coalition of parties opposed to Slobodan Milošević's administration.

The Alliance for Change was succeeded by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) in January 2000. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, a watershed moment in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics. The DOS won a majority victory in Sremska Mitrovica in the concurrent 2000 Serbian local elections, and Prodanović was chosen afterward as the leader of the assembly's executive board (i.e., effectively the prime minister of the municipal government).[3][4]

Parliamentarian and local official (2000–06)

Prodanović received the 214th position (out of 250) on the DOS's electoral list for the 2000 Serbian parliamentary election, which was held three months after the Yugoslavian election.[5] The alliance won a majority victory with 176 seats, and he was not initially included in its assembly delegation. (From 2000 to 2011, Serbian parliamentary mandates were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than to individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be awarded out of numerical order. Prodanović could have been given a mandate despite his low position on this list, but he was not.)[6]

He received a mandate under somewhat dubious conditions as the replacement for another parliamentarian on 12 June 2002, when the DOS withdrew the accreditation for several Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) delegates. This took place against the backdrop of the DSS's formal departure from the DOS. [7] The removal of the DSS delegates was later annulled on technical grounds, and Prodanović's mandate was revoked.[8]

The DOS alliance ended in late 2003, and the DS contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election at the head of its own coalition. Prodanović appeared in the twenty-second position on the party's list and received a mandate after the list won thirty-seven seats.[9][10] His term was brief. By virtue its performance in the 2003 election, the DS had the right to appoint thirteen members to the federal assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. Prodanović was chosen as one of his party's federal representatives on 12 February 2004 and so resigned from the national assembly.[11]

The DS was not included in the government of Serbia and Montenegro in April 2004, and its members left the assembly before the new ministers were voted in. Prodanović later mocked the appointment of Vuk Drašković as the federation's minister of foreign affairs, saying, "how will Vuk, when he comes down from Ravna Gora with a knife in one hand and a dagger in the other hand, explain to the international community that we are a civilized nation."[12]

In May 2004, Prodanović was appointed to Serbia and Montenegro's powerful security services committee.[13] He served in the federal assembly until May 2006, when it ceased to exist following Montenegro's declaration of independence.

Prodanović was re-elected to the Sremska Mitrovica assembly in the 2004 Serbian local elections. The DS, DSS, and other parties formed a local coalition government, and Prodanović served as president of the municipal assembly.[14]

State administrator and local official (2007–12)

Prodanović appeared in the 195th position on the DS's mostly alphabetical electoral list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election.[15] The DS formed an unstable coalition government with the DSS and other parties after the election. Prodanović was not given an assembly mandate but was instead appointed to head Serbia's water directorate in October 2007.[16][17]

The DS–DSS alliance broke down in early 2008, and a new parliamentary election was held in May of that year. The DS contested the election at the head of the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance, and Prodanović appeared on the alliance's list.[18] ZES won 102 seats, becoming the largest group in the assembly but falling short of a majority. After complicated negotiations, the DS-led alliance formed a new coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Prodanović was again not given an assembly mandate but continued to head the water directorate.[19][20]

Prodanović also appeared in the second position on the ZES alliance's list in the 2008 Serbian local elections in Sremska Mitrovica and was granted a new mandate when the list won a plurality victory with twenty-two seats.[21][22][23] The DSS at first formed a new coalition government in the city with the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), but this arrangement soon fell apart, and in July 2008 the DSS and DS formed a new local government with Prodanović again in the role of assembly president.[24] He served in this office for the remainder of the assembly's term.[25]

In early 2012, Prodanović oversaw Serbia's response to the freezing of the Danube River and the subsequent threat of floods from fast-melting snow.[26][27]

Since 2012

Serbia's electoral laws were reformed in 2011, such that all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Prodanović appeared in the lead position on the DS's list in Sremska Mitrovica for the 2012 local elections and was re-elected when the list won a plurality victory with eighteen seats.[28][29] A new local government was formed without the DS, and Prodanović led his party's group in opposition.[30][31] The DS was also defeated by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the concurrent 2012 parliamentary election, and Prodanović's term as head of the water directorate came to an end shortly thereafter.[32]

The Democratic Party became increasingly factionalized after its defeat in 2012. Prodanović was removed as leader of the DS Sremska Mitrovica board in August of that year at the initiative of the party's Vojvodina provincial committee. Goran Ivić, who was appointed as his successor, described Prodanović's leadership of the party as a "reign of terror."[33] For his part, Prodanović later said that he was not given an explanation for the local board's dissolution, which he blamed on "the complete inability of the current DS leadership to accept a different opinion in the party."[34] He ultimately left the DS to join the breakaway Together for Serbia party.

Together for Serbia contested the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election on a coalition electoral list led by former DS leader Boris Tadić. Prodanović appeared in the 171st position on the list; this was too low for election to be a realistic prospect, and he was not elected when the list won eighteen seats.[35] He later led a coalition United Opposition of Mitrovica list in the 2016 local elections and was re-elected to the city assembly when the list won three seats.[36][37]

Prodanović's house was fired on by a moving car in June 2016. He described this as an assassination attempt that was politically inspired.[38]

Together for Serbia boycotted the 2020 Serbian local elections, and Prodanović was not a candidate for re-election that year.

References

  1. ↑ "Прeдсeдник Скупштинe грaдa", Archived 2012-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, City of Sremska Mitrovica, accessed 16 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Local office of Serbian opposition party reportedly ransacked," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 12 December 1999 (Source: Radio B2-92, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 0800 gmt 12 Dec 99).
  3. ↑ Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 49.
  4. ↑ "'Smećar' za čistije ulice," Glas javnosti, 1 February 2002, accessed 16 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Демократска опозиција Србије – др Војислав Коштуница (Демократска странка, Демократска странка Србије, Социјалдемократија, Грађански савез Србије, Демохришћанска странка Србије, Нова Србија, Покрет за демократску Србију, Лига социјалдемократа Војводине, Реформска демократска странка Војводине, Коалиција Војводина, Савез војвођанских Мађара, Демократска алтернатива, Демократски центар, Нова демократија, Социјалдемократска унија, Санxачка демократска партија, Лига за Шумадију, Српски покрет отпора – Демократски покрет), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "DSS napustio parlament", Glas javnosti, 13 June 2002, accessed 16 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Milan Milošević, "Mrtve duše živih poslanika", Vreme, 8 August 2002, accessed 18 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5. ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Podrška neoročenoj vladi", Glas javnosti, 15 January 2004, accessed l6 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "Izbor poslanika u Skupštinu SCG", Glas javnosti, 12 February 2004, accessed 16 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Tesna većina za ministre iz Srbije", Glas javnosti, 17 April 2004, accessed 16 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "Serbia-Montenegro Assembly appoints commission for control of security services," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 5 May 2004 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1346 gmt 5 May 04).
  14. ↑ The DS won eleven out of fifty-seven seats. See Direktorijum lokalnih samouprava u Srbiji, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), September 2005, p. 322-324.
  15. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Демократска странка – Борис Тадић), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021.
  16. ↑ 14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 16 August 2023.
  17. ↑ 32. sednica Vlade Republike Srbije, 11. oktobar 2007. godine, Otvorena Vlada, accessed 16 August 2023.
  18. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 ЗА ЕВРОПСКУ СРБИЈУ – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021. Prodanović was given the 177th position on the list, which was again mostly alphabetical.
  19. ↑ 11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 16 August 2023.
  20. ↑ "Prodanović: Poboljšan kvalitet vode u Dunavu", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 30 October 2008, accessed 16 August 2023.
  21. ↑ Službeni list (Opštine Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 4 Number 4 (29 April 2008), p. 5.
  22. ↑ Službeni List (Opštine Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 4 Number 6 (14 May 2008), p. 5.
  23. ↑ For the 2008 local elections, all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. See Law on Local Elections (2007) Archived 2022-03-17 at the Wayback Machine, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 129/2007); made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021.
  24. ↑ "Aleksandar Prodanović ponovo predsednik", Danas, 26 July 2008, accessed 16 August 2023.
  25. ↑ See "Прeдсeдник Скупштинe грaдa", Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, City of Sremska Mitrovica, accessed 16 August 2023.
  26. ↑ Katarina Subašić, "Ice shuts Danube in half-a-dozen countries," Agence France Presse, 9 February 2012.
  27. ↑ Steve Milošević, "Melting snow poses new threat for Western Balkans," Xinhua News Agency, 21 February 2012.
  28. ↑ Službeni List (Grada Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 4 Number 5 (23 April 2012), p. 1.
  29. ↑ Službeni List (Grada Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 4 Number 9 (20 May 2012), pp. 3-4.
  30. ↑ "Nedimović se učlanio u SNS", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 16 January 2015, accessed 16 August 2023.
  31. ↑ L. Valtner, "Odluka centrale za nas ne važi", Danas, 13 January 2013, accessed 16 August 2023.
  32. ↑ Miodrag Pješčić was appointed as acting director later in the year. See "Radovi na rekonstrukciji nasipa na Tisi", City of Zrenjanin, 27 November 2012, accessed 16 August 2023.
  33. ↑ A. Ivanišević, "Pajtićevi danas ulaze u mitrovački odbor DS", Danas, 23 August 2012, accessed 16 August 2023.
  34. ↑ "Mitrovački DS otkazao poslušnost Đilasu", Novi magazin, 13 January 2013, accessed 16 August 2023.
  35. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (11 БОРИС ТАДИЋ - Нова демократска странка - Зелени, ЛСВ - Ненад Чанак, Заједно за Србију, VMDK, Заједно за Војводину, Демократска левица Рома), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021.
  36. ↑ Službeni List (Grada Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 8 Number 6 (13 April 2016), p. 15.
  37. ↑ Službeni List (Grada Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 8 Number 8 (25 April 2016), pp. 1-3.
  38. ↑ L. Valtner, "Prodanović: Pokušaj ubistva politički inspirisan Nedimović: Napad se ne može povezati sa politikom", Danas, 4 June 2016, accessed 16 August 2023.
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