Ljubiša Jovašević
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Ljubiša Jovašević ( sr-Cyrl, Љубиша Јовашевић; born 20 December 1953) is a Serbian medical doctor and politician. He was a parliamentarian in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
and the successor
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
from 2000 to 2006 and has served as the mayor of
Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-Cyrl, Краљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar River, Ibar, in the geographical region of ...
on two occasions. A member of the
Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia (, , abbr. NDSS), known as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) until 2022, is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Miloš Jovanović serves as the current president of NDSS. DSS was formed as ...
(''Demokratska stranka Srbije'', DSS) for many years, he left the party in 2007 to form the Movement for Kraljevo (''Pokret za Kraljevo''). From 2010 to 2018, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the Movement of United Local Self-Governments (''Pokret ujedinjenih lokalnih samouprava'', PULS).


Early life and private career

Jovašević was born in
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
, in what was then the
People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...
in the
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in 1978 and worked in
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, as part of his internship. He later specialized at the clinic for orthopedic surgery and traumatology at the
University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine The Belgrade Faculty of Medicine (/''Medicinski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu'') is a constituent institution of the University of Belgrade, which offers a wide range of academic courses in Serbian and English, including specialist practice wit ...
, completed post-graduate studies in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and in 1988 became the leader of the on-call trauma group at the Emergency Center in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. He earned his Ph.D in 1992; he has taught at the University of Priština in
Leposavić Leposavić ( sr-Cyrl, Лепосавић, ), also known as Leposaviq or Albanik ( sq-definite, Leposaviqi or ''Albaniku''), is a town and the northernmost municipality in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has ...
and has published in his field.


Politician


Early years

Jovašević was a founding member of the Democratic Party (''Demokratska stranka'', DS) in 1990. When the party split in 1992, he joined the breakaway Democratic Party of Serbia. He appeared in the eighth position on the DSS's
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
for the
Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...
division in the
1993 Serbian parliamentary election The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its calendar advanced 24 hours to ...
; the list won two seats, and he did not receive a mandate. (From 1992 to 2000, Serbia's electoral law stipulated that one-third of parliamentary mandates would be assigned to candidates on successful lists in numerical order, while the remaining two-thirds would be distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of sponsoring parties or coalitions. Jovašević could theoretically have been awarded a mandate despite his list position, but he was not.)


Federal representative and first term as mayor

In 2000, the DSS joined the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije, abbr. DOS) was a wide electoral alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist Par ...
(''Demokratska opozicija Srbije'', DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties opposed to the rule of
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
and his allies. DOS candidate
Vojislav Koštunica Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...
defeated Milošević in the
2000 Yugoslavian presidential election General elections were held in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 24 September 2000.Dieter Nohlen & Philip StöverP (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1678 They included the presidential election, which was held using the two- ...
, a watershed moment in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics. In the concurrent Yugoslavian parliamentary election, Jovašević appeared in the lead position on the DOS's list for the Kraljevo division and was elected when the list won two of three available seats. The DOS afterward formed a
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
with the
Socialist People's Party of Montenegro The Socialist People's Party of Montenegro () is a List of political parties in Montenegro, political party in Montenegro. It is a Social democracy, social-democratic and Social conservatism, socially conservative party, that is positioned on ...
(''Socijalistička narodna partija Crne Gore'', SNP), and Jovašević initially served as a supporter of the administration. Jovašević was also elected to the Kraljevo municipal assembly in the
2000 Serbian local elections Local elections were held in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) on 24 September 2000, concurrently with the first round of voting in the 2000 Yugoslavian general election and the 2000 Vojvodina provincial election. This was the fourth and final local elec ...
, which took place at the same time the federal election. The DOS won a majority victory, and Jovašević was chosen as president of the assembly, a position that was at the time equivalent to mayor. He had little practical authority in this role, however, as most important municipal positions were held by members of the DS, the other major party in the DOS coalition. The DSS withdrew support from Serbia's DOS government in 2001 and left the alliance entirely in 2002. In July 2002, Jovašević accused recently dismissed military official
Nebojša Pavković Nebojša Pavković ( sr-cyr, Небојша Павковић; born 10 April 1946) is a former Serbian army general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia from February 2000 to June 2002. He also served as the ...
of misusing a multi-million dollar fund for military hospitals and of having connections to a
cigarette smuggling The illicit cigarette trade is defined as "the production, import, export, purchase, sale, or possession of tobacco goods which fail to comply with legislation" by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Illicit cigarette tra ...
ring. Pavković, who denied the accusation and initiated legal charges against Jovašević, had been considered as a supporter of DS leader
Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until Assassination of Zoran Đinđić, ...
, and the accusations contributed to ongoing divisions between the DS and DSS. 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 The Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Скупштина Србије и Црне Горе, Skupština Srbije i Crne Gore) also known as the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Парламент Србије и Ц ...
was established as its legislative branch. The first members of this body were chosen by
indirect election An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...
from the republican parliaments of Serbia and
Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...
, 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 DSS was permitted seventeen members in the federal assembly, and Jovašević was included in the party's delegation. On 23 June 2003, he was also chosen as part of Serbia and Montenegro's delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...
(PACE). At the municipal level, Jovašević was no longer supported by a majority of the delegates in Kraljevo's assembly by mid-2003, and the local government had become unstable. In July 2003, the Serbian government dissolved the assembly and dismissed Jovašević from office, calling a new election for November. By this time, Serbia had introduced the direct election of mayors; Jovašević ran as the DSS's candidate and was defeated in the second round by Radoslav Jović of the
Serbian Renewal Movement The Serbian Renewal Movement (, abbr. SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1990 by writer Vuk Drašković, who served as the party's president until 2024. Aleksandar Cvetković is the incumbent leader. ...
(''Srpski pokret obnove'', SPO). Jovašević appeared in the nineteenth position on the DSS's list in the
2003 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 28 December 2003 to elect members of the National Assembly of Serbia, National Assembly. Serbia had been in a state of political crisis since the overthrow of the post-communist ruler, Slobodan Milo ...
and was awarded a mandate in the republican assembly when the list won fifty-three seats. (From 2000 to 2011, Serbian parliamentary mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions, and it was common practice for the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Jovašević was not automatically elected by virtue of his list position.) His term was in any event brief; he was appointed to a new term in the federal parliament on 12 February 2004 and was required to give up his seat in the national assembly. He was also re-appointed to the PACE in April 2004. During his time in the PACE, he was at different times the president of the bioethics committee, the vice-president of the legal and political committee, and a member of the foreign policy committee.


Administrator of the Raška District

The
Serbian government The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...
gave Jovašević additional responsibilities as administrator of the
Raška District The Raška District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia. It expands to the southwestern part of the country. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 296,532 inhabitants. The administrative center of the Raška distric ...
in September 2005. In this capacity, he oversaw the territory during the
2006 Montenegrin independence referendum An independence referendum was held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006. It was approved by 55.5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. By 23 May, preliminary referendum results were recognized by all five permanent members of the United Natio ...
and supported prominent
Sandžak Sandžak (Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) is a historical and geo-political region in the Balkans, located in the southwestern part of Serbia and the eastern part of Montenegro. The Bosnian/ Serbian term ''Sandžak'' derives from the Sanjak of Novi Paza ...
politician
Bajram Omeragić Bajram might refer to: Holiday *Eid (disambiguation)#Islamic holidays, Eid *Bayram (Turkey), Bayram People *Bajram Curri (1862–1925), ethnic Albanian nationalist from Kosovo *Bajram Fetai (born 1985), Danish-Albanian professional football forwar ...
's call for Bosniaks in Montenegro to vote against independence. This effort was ultimately unsuccessful; the independence option won the election with the support of most Bosniaks in the country. The federal assembly ceased to exist after Montenegro's declaration of independence in June 2006, and Jovašević's parliamentary tenure came to an end. He appeared in the seventy-third position on a combined
Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia (, , abbr. NDSS), known as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) until 2022, is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Miloš Jovanović serves as the current president of NDSS. DSS was formed as ...
New Serbia (''Nova Srbija'', NS) list in the
2007 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 21 January 2007 to elect members of the National Assembly of Serbia, National Assembly. The first session of the new National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was held on 14 February 2007. The elec ...
and did not receive a mandate when the list won forty-seven seats. His term as head of the Raška District ended in August 2007.


Leader of the Movement for Kraljevo

Jovašević left the DSS in September 2007 and formed the local Movement for Kraljevo party the following month. In December 2007, five former
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
(''Srpska radikalna stranka'', SRS) delegates and one former DSS delegate in the municipal assembly joined the party, giving it official status. Serbia abolished the direct election of mayors with the
2008 Serbian local elections Local elections were held in Serbia on 11 May 2008, concurrently with the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election and the 2008 Vojvodina provincial election. A re-vote was held at three poling stations in Belgrade on 18 May 2008 due to irregularities ...
; since this time, mayors in Serbia have been chosen by the elected delegates of municipal assemblies. Jovašević appeared in the lead position on the Movement for Kraljevo's list for this cycle and was re-elected to the assembly when the list won six seats. In March 2009, the Movement for Kraljevo became a part of the city's coalition government, and Jovašević was chosen as the city's deputy mayor.


Leader of the PULS

Jovašević brought the Movement for Kraljevo into a new local coalition called PULS Serbia in early 2010. He was chosen for a second term as mayor of Kraljevo under unusual circumstances in April 2010, when some elected delegates were controversially replaced immediately before the election of the city's new coalition government. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new administration was not stable; the former administration of local DS leader Ljubiša Simović did not accept the legitimacy of Jovašević's election, and a period followed in which both Simović and Jovašević claimed the mayoralty. The Serbian government ruled in Simović's favour, and the controversy was largely resolved by the end of July 2010; Jovašević continued to claim that he was the city's legitimate mayor, but he no longer held practical authority. Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all mandates were assigned in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Jovašević appeared in the lead position on PULS Serbia's list in Kraljevo and was re-elected when the list won five mandates. The party served in opposition after the election. In 2015, Jovašević brought the PULS into the "Patriotic Bloc" coalition led by the Democratic Party of Serbia and
Dveri The Serbian Movement Dveri (), commonly just known as Dveri (), is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Serbia. Its current president since 2024 is Ivan Kostić, who succeeded Boško Obradović, one of the co-founders of ...
at the republican level. He subsequently withdrew from the coalition, however, and intended to appear on a list led by Danica Grujičić in the
2016 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 24 April 2016. Initially, the election were originally due to be held by March 2018, but on 17 January 2016 Prime Minister of Serbia, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić called for a snap election cla ...
. The list was ultimately not approved by the country's election commission. He again appeared in the lead position on PULS Serbia's list in the concurrent 2016 local elections in Kraljevo and was not re-elected when the list fell below the
electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...
. Jovašević voluntarily gave up control over PULS Serbia in July 2018 and allowed
Aleksandar Šapić Aleksandar Šapić ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шапић; born 1 June 1978) is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player who has been the mayor of Belgrade since 2024, previously serving that role from 2022 to 2023. A ...
to take over the party, which was promptly reconstituted as the
Serbian Patriotic Alliance The Serbian Patriotic Alliance (, abbr. SPAS; ) was a right-wing populist political party in Serbia. It was led by Aleksandar Šapić, the president of the New Belgrade municipality. The legal predecessor of SPAS was the Movement of United L ...
(''Srpski patriotski savez'', SPAS). This arrangement allowed Šapić to forgo the usual, somewhat complicated process of party registration.


Since 2018

For the
2020 Serbian local elections Local elections were held in most cities and municipalities of Serbia (excluding the Status of Kosovo, disputed territory of Kosovo) on 21 June 2020, with repeat voting later taking place in some communities. The elections were held concurrently w ...
, Jovašević brought his local political movement into an alliance with New Serbia. He led the alliance's list in Kraljevo and was not elected when the list again fell below the threshold.''Službeni List (Grada Kraljeva)'', 2020 Number 22 (23 June 2020), pp. 3-4
Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija
Lokalni Izbori 2020; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 14, 54.


Electoral record


Local (Kraljevo)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovasevic, Ljubisa 1953 births Living people Politicians from Sarajevo Politicians from Kraljevo Members of the Chamber of Citizens (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) Mayors of places in Serbia Members of the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) Democratic Party of Serbia politicians Movement of United Local Self-Governments politicians