Zoran Subotički Explained

Zoran Subotički (Serbian: Зоран Суботички; born 21 June 1960) is an author, academic, and former politician in Serbia. He served in the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro from 2004 to 2006 and the National Assembly of Serbia from 2006 to 2007 as a member of G17 Plus.

Early life, academic career, and literary works

Subotički was born in Bečej, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated and received a master's degree from the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Philosophy in the department of Yugoslav literature, general literature, and the Serbo-Croatian language, and he taught Renaissance and Baroque literature at the same faculty from 1988 to 2002. Subotički has written a number of books, including Užas i lepota smeha - Poetika smeha Miloša Crnjanskog (1988), Snovi i kultura Renesanse (2000), and Čudesni svet Dunđerskih (2021).[1] [2] His play, Od raja do beznjenice (2017), focusing on the historical romance of Laza Kostić and Lenka Dunđerski, was premiered in Belgrade in 2017.[3]

Politician

Subotički was elected to the Bečej municipal assembly in the 1996 Serbian local elections as a candidate of the Zajedno coalition, a coalition of parties opposed to the authoritarian rule of Slobodan Milošević and his allies. He was re-elected in the 2000 local elections as a candidate of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a successor of sorts to the previous coalition.

He was a G17 Plus candidate in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election, appearing in the 222nd position out of 250 on the party's electoral list.[4] The list won thirty-four seats, and he was not initially included in the party's assembly delegation. (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. Subotički could have received an assembly mandate notwithstanding his low position on the list, which was in any event mostly alphabetical.)[5]

By virtue of its performance in the 2003 Serbian election, G17 Plus had the right to appoint twelve members of the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro in February 2004. Subotički was appointed to the federal assembly as part of the G17 Plus delegation and served for the next two years.[6] The assembly ceased to exist in 2006 when Montenegro declared independence.

Subotički was belatedly appointed to the national assembly on 16 May 2006 as the replacement for another G17 Plus member.[7] He served as a parliamentarian over the following year and was elected to the party's presidency in September 2006.[8] He appeared on the list of G17 Plus for the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election and was this time not awarded a mandate.[9] [10]

Subotički also ran for mayor of Bečej in the 2004 local elections and again in a 2006 by-election and was defeated both times. In the 2004 Vojvodina provincial election, he appeared in the third position on the G17 Plus list, which did not cross the electoral threshold to win representation in the provincial assembly.[11]

He left G17 Plus after the 2007 parliamentary election and in 2008 created a local political group in Bečej called Kao jedna kuća (English: As One House).[12] He appeared in the fourth position on the group's list for Bečej in the 2008 Serbian local elections.[13] The list won two seats, and he did not take a mandate for the sitting of the municipal assembly that followed.[14] [15] He appears to have left politics after this time.

Electoral record

Municipal (Bečej)

2006 Bečej municipal by-election
Mayor of Bečej - First and Second Round Results
[16]
CandidateParty or CoalitionVotes%Votes%
Dušan JovanovićDemocratic Party of Serbia2,57117.059,14765.45
Dragan Živkov DžajaSerbian Radical Party2,65817.634,82934.55
Peter KneziAlliance of Vojvodina Hungarians2,41716.03
Živan GavrilovićSocialist Party of Serbia1,74311.56
Zoran SubotičkiG17 Plus1,74111.55
Gordana KovačevDemocratic PartyBoris Tadić1,54410.24
Šandor RepergerStrength of Serbia MovementBogoljub Karić9086.02
Slobodan Borojević BataCitizens' Group6294.17
Sándor PállDemocratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians5843.87
Laslo FrišDemocratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians2821.87
Total valid votes15,07710013,976100
2004 Bečej municipal election
Mayor of Bečej - First and Second Round Results
[17]
CandidateParty or CoalitionVotes%Votes%
Đorđe Predin BadžaPeople's Democratic Party1,87914.267,21553.31
József F. VargaCoalition: Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and Christian Democratic European Movement3,06823.296,31946.69
Dragan Živkov DžajaSerbian Radical Party1,82813.87
Zoran SubotičkiG17 Plus1,82113.82
Sándor PállDemocratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians1,50011.39
Živan GavrilovićSocialist Party of Serbia1,2399.40
Zoran Stojšin (incumbent)Democratic Party9377.12
Šandor RepergerStrength of Serbia Movement5834.43
Đorđe TotCitizens' Group3202.43
Total valid votes13,17510013,534100
2000 Bečej municipal election
Bečej Municipal Assembly – Ing. Ivan Perišič II (First-past-the-post)
[18]
CandidateParty or CoalitionVotes%
Zoran Subotički (incumbent)Democratic Opposition of Serbia–Dr. Vojislav Koštunica51263.52
Svetlana Gagić CecaSocialist Party of SerbiaYugoslav LeftSlobodan Milošević19824.57
Branislav LozanovSerbian Radical Party9611.91
Total valid votes806100
1996 Bečej municipal election
Bečej Municipal Assembly – Bečej (division unspecified)
[19]
CandidateParty or CoalitionResult
Zoran SubotičkiZajednoelected in the second round
other candidates

Notes and References

  1. https://www.prometej.rs/autori/zoran-suboticki/ Зоран Суботички
  2. https://www.knjizara.com/Cudesni-svet-Dundjerskih-Zoran-Suboticki-159770 "Čudesni svet Dunđerskih"
  3. https://www.blic.rs/kultura/vesti/od-raja-do-beznjenice-pozorisni-komad-o-lazi-kosticu-i-lenki-dunderski-u-gvarneriusu/d0rmqx6 "OD RAJA DO BEZNJENICE Pozorišni komad o Lazi Kostiću i Lenki Dunđerski u 'Gvarneriusu'"
  4. http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-2003.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Г17 ПЛУС - МИРОЉУБ ЛАБУС)
  5. 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.
  6. http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2004/02/12/srpski/P04021103.shtml "Izbor poslanika u Skupštinu SCG"
  7. https://otvoreniparlament.rs/transkript/6336?page=7 ČETVRTA SEDNICA, PRVOG REDOVNOG ZASEDANJA, 16.05.2006.
  8. https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/14929/Dinkic-predsednik B. Đ. Bilbija, "Dinkić predsednik"
  9. http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-2007.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Г17 плус - Млађан Динкић)
  10. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/national-assembly/composition/members-of-parliament/legislature-archive/14-february-2007-legislature.489.html 14 February 2007 legislature
  11. As at the republic level, proportional mandates in Vojvodina provincial elections were awarded at the discretion of successful parties or coalitions during this period. Subotički's position on the list had no specific bearing on his chances of election. See РЕШЕЊЕ О УТВРЂИВАЊУ ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ ЗА ИЗБОРЕ ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ У СКУПШТИНУ АУТОНОМНЕ ПОКРАЈИНЕ ВОЈВОДИНЕ, 19. СЕПТЕМБРА 2004. ГОДИНЕ, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
  12. https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/posveceni-problemima-sopstvene-sredine/ "Posvećeni problemima sopstvene sredine"
  13. Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 44 Number 4 (30 April 2008), p. 9.
  14. Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 44 Number 6 (12 May 2008), pp. 171-172.
  15. Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 44 Number 8 (28 May 2008), p. 7.
  16. Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 42 Number 2 (26 January 2006), pp. 1-2; Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 42 Number 3 (7 February 2006), pp. 1-2; Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 42 Number 4 (20 February 2006), p. 1.
  17. Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 40 Number 5 (10 September 2004), p. 27; Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 40 Number 7 (20 September 2004), p. 3; Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 40 Number 8 (7 October 2004), p. 3.
  18. Sluźbeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 36 Number 6 (14 September 2000), p. 44; Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 36 Number 8 (23 October 2000), p. 107.
  19. Službeni List (Opštine Bečej), Volume 32 Number 7 (26 November 1996), p. 88.