Goran Ćirić (; born 25 July 1960) is a Serbian politician and administrator. He was the mayor of Niš from 2000 to 2004 and has served three terms in the Serbian parliament. Ćirić was a member of the Democratic Party (DS) during his time as an elected official, although he left the party in 2020.
Early life and career Ćirić was born in Niš, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Niš Faculty of Electronics in 1984 and worked as a technical support engineer for the company El Honeywell from 1985 to 1991, implementing information technology projects throughout major firms in Yugoslavia. He ran his own company from 1991 to 1997, overseeing a team that designed integrated information systems.GORAN ĆIRIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 21 August 2017.
Politician Early years (1992–2000) Ćirić joined the Democratic Party in 1992 and became part of its main board in 1996. The party contested the 1996 Serbian local elections as part of Zajedno, a coalition of parties opposed to the governing Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) led by Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. These elections, marked by controversy and protests, ultimately led to victories for Zajedno in several major Serbian cities, including Niš.Izbori Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova u Republici Srbiji, 1996, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, pp. 82-83. Ćirić was elected to the Niš city assembly and served on its executive board for the term that followed; he was also president of the DS's city board for Niš in the same period.Списак одборника, , City of Niš, accessed 15 November 2024.Чланови Извршног одбора, , City of Niš, accessed 15 November 2024.GORAN ĆIRIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 21 August 2017. Zoran Živković, also a member of the Democratic Party, served as president of the assembly, a position that was at the time equivalent to mayor.
In late 1999, Ćirić helped to organize protests in Niš against Milošević's continued rule."Serbian opposition alliance to hold rally in southeastern town on 18th August," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 12 August 1999 (Source: Pancevo Radio in Serbo-Croat 1900 gmt 12 Aug 99); "Some 2,000 rally in major southern Serbian town," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 26 October 1999 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1811 gmt 26 Oct 99).
The Democratic Party became part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a successor to the Zajedno coalition, in 2000. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, which led to Milošević's fall from power and brought about widespread changes in the political culture of Serbia and Yugoslavia. The DOS also won landslide victories in several cities in the concurrent 2000 Serbian local elections; in Niš, the alliance won eighty-five out of ninety-five seats.Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 122. Ćirić was re-elected to the assembly for the city's forty-eighth division and was appointed afterward as a vice-president of the executive board, overseeing the department of public services. Živković was appointed to another term as mayor.Списак одборника, , City of Niš, accessed 15 November 2024.КОНСТИТУИСАНА ЈЕ СКУПШТИНА ГРАДА НИША, , Daily News Service of the City of Niš, accessed 4 January 2022.
Mayor of Niš and parliamentarian (2000–04) Živković's second term as mayor of Niš proved to be brief; he was appointed to a ministerial position in the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in late 2000 and so resigned from the mayoral office. Ćiric was chosen as his successor on 10 November 2000. In December 2000, he hosted a meeting in Niš between Yugoslavian president Koštunica and Bulgarian president Petar Stoyanov."Yugoslav president arrives in Nis for meeting with Bulgarian counterpart," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 20 December 2000 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1239 gmt 20 Dec 00).
The Serbian government fell after Milošević's defeat in the Yugoslavian election, and a new Serbian parliamentary election was held in December 2000. Prior to the vote, Serbia's electoral laws were reformed such that the entire country became a single electoral division and all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful electoral lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions, irrespective of numerical order.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 6 June 2021. Ćirić appeared in the forty-fourth position on the DOS list and was awarded a mandate after the list won a landslide majority with 176 out of 250 seats.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 7 April 2024. He took his seat when the new assembly convened in January 2001.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 11 January 2001, accessed 18 July 2021.
Between 2001 and 2002, Ćirić and his Bulgarian counterparts sought to construct a highway from Niš to Sofia with funding from the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.Lili Granitska, "FINANCING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SOFIA-NIS HIGHWAY TO BE SOUGHT FROM THE STABILITY PACT," Bulgarian News Agency, 27 September 2001. This project was indefinitely postponed in 2002 when the European Investment Bank withheld funding, stating that demand for the highway was insufficient and that the project would not quickly recoup its initial losses.Lili Granitska, "Sofia-Nis Motorway Project Put Off Indefinitely," Bulgarian News Agency, 1 March 2002. This notwithstanding, Ćirić and the mayors of Sofia and Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, signed an agreement to form a euroregion centred around their communities in 2003."Sofia, Skopje, Nis to Create Euro-Region in Fall," Bulgarian News Agency, 22 February 2002; "Bulgaria, Macedonia, FR Yugoslavia to Establish Euroregion of Cooperation," Bulgarian News Agency, 26 October 2002; "Mayors of Sofia, Nis, Skopje Sign Agreement on Euro-Balkan Region's Status," Bulgarian News Agency, 21 September 2003.
Ćirić served two terms as chair of the Permanent Conference of the Cities and Municipalities in Yugoslavia during his time as mayor. In early 2002, he signed an accord with a representative of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria for greater cooperation between the local governments of both countries."Bulgarian, Yugoslav Municipality Associations Sign Cooperation Agreement," Bulgarian News Agency, 15 February 2002.
Čirić resigned his seat in the national assembly on 12 June 2002, but his resignation was later overturned on technical grounds and his mandate restored.DRUGO VANREDNO ZASEDANjE, 12.06.2002., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 15 November 2024.Milan Milošević, "https://vreme.com/vreme/mrtve-duse-zivih-poslanika/", Vreme, 7 August 2002, accessed 15 November 2024. He continued to serve for the remainder of the parliamentary term.See Детаљи о народном посланику: ЋИРИЋ, ГОРАН, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 15 November 2024.
In early 2003, Ćirić reached an agreement with Radio Television of Serbia for Radio Niš to be privatized after one year of transitional funding."Mayor says city to finance Nis radio for one year before its sale," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 23 February 2003 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1303 gmt 23 Feb 03).
The DOS had dissolved by the time of the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election, and the DS contested the vote at the head of its own alliance. Ćirić received the sixty-fifth position its list and did not receive a new mandate when the list won thirty-seven seats.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 7 April 2024."Podrška neoročenoj vladi", , Glas javnosti, 15 January 2004, accessed 13 March 2024.27 January 2004 legislature, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 21 August 2017. His term ended when the new assembly convened in early 2004.
In what proved to be a short-lived experiment, the Serbian government introduced the direct election of mayors in the 2004 Serbian local elections. Ćirić sought re-election in Niš but was defeated in the second round by Smiljko Kostić, who was endorsed by New Serbia (NS)."Serbian local polls: NGO says DS winning in Belgrade, NS in Nis, SRS in Novi Sad," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 3 October 2004 (Source: Radio B92, Belgrade, in Serbian 1925 gmt 3 Oct 04).
Administrator The Serbian government appointed Ćirić as managing director of PTT Saobraćaja Srbija on 2 November 2007."Serbian government appoints directors of public companies," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 2 November 2007. In 2009, he announced that the organization would become a closed shareholding company in state ownership."Tandem Financial - Serbian Daily Report - Oct 12, 2009," South East Europe News Digest, 13 October 2009. He stood down as director in 2012, following a change in government that saw the Democratic Party move into opposition.Goran Ćirić, www.istinomer.rs, accessed 30 March 2017.
Ćirić was elected as a deputy chair of the Democratic Party in November 2012."New leader vows to reform opposition party, draft plan for Serbia's recovery," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 November 2012 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 26 Nov 12).
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