Dragan Jovanović () is a Serbian politician who was the mayor of Topola from 2004 to 2014 and is now serving his fifth term in Serbia's national assembly. A prominent member of New Serbia (NS) for many years, he founded Better Serbia (BS) in 2017 and was its leader until 2023, when it merged into the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
Early life and career Jovanović was born in Aranđelovac, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering with a major in industrial management.ПОТПРЕДСЕДНИЦИ, , New Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
Politician Jovanović was New Serbia's secretary-general from 2003 until 2005, when he was elected as a party vice-president. He oversaw party leader Velimir Ilić's campaign in the 2003 Serbian presidential election.ПОТПРЕДСЕДНИЦИ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
Mayor of Topola Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors for the 2004 local elections, and Jovanović ran in Topola with a dual endorsement from New Serbia and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). He was elected in the first round of voting, defeating seven other candidates. At thirty-two years old, he was the youngest mayor in Serbia."Parlament izlazi na ulice među narod", , Glas javnosti, 25 October 2004, accessed 18 May 2022. The NS–DSS alliance also won a convincing victory in the concurrent election for the Topola municipal assembly.Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija; Lokalni Izbori 2004; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 14, 81.Direktorijum lokalnih samouprava u Srbiji, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), September 2005, p. 344.
In December 2007, Jovanović and other members of New Serbia joined with the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) to prevent the B92 program Peščanik from recording an episode at Aranđelovac's House of Culture; the protesters took control of the microphones and physically stopped the recording from taking place."Serbia: Protestors disrupt Belgrade-based B92 radio program presentation," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 5 December 2007 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 0903 gmt 4 Dec 07). This action received international attention, including a reference in the United States Department of State's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007, which also indicated that Jovanović made threats against B92 in a subsequent interview.Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007, United States Department of State, p. 1607. In the aftermath of this controversy, prominent New Serbia members accused B92 of pursuing an "anti-Serb and anti-Constitutional campaign." B92 responded that New Serbia's criticism was really motivated by its own frequent criticisms of Velimir Ilić."Serbia: Radio B92 accuses minister's party of launching campaign against it," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Media, 14 December 1997 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1746 gmt 11 Dec 07).
The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned with the 2008 local elections; since this time, Serbian mayors have been chosen by elected members of the local assemblies. The NS–DSS alliance won a majority victory in Topola in 2008, and Jovanović was chosen for a second term as mayor.Lokalni Izbori 2008; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 13, 58.Dragan Jovanović, istinomer.rs, accessed 14 March 2022. In 2009, he joined with other Serbian politicians from across the political spectrum in accusing Croatian authorities of preventing Serbs originally from Croatia from participating in the 2009 Croatian local elections."Croatia attempting to prevent Serbs from voting – Serbian politicians," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 May 2009 (Source: Glas javnosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 9 May 9, p3).
For the 2012 Serbian local elections, Jovanović led a local alliance of New Serbia, the DSS, and the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) in Topola. The alliance won an increased majority, and Jovanović was chosen afterward for a third mayoral term., Center for Free Elections and Democracy, accessed 20 December 2021; ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012., Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 12, 75. He stood down from the role in 2014, as he could not hold a dual mandate as a parliamentarian and an executive member of the local government. He was instead chosen as president (i.e., speaker) of the municipal assembly.DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 11 August 2017; "Serbian minister re-elected party chairman," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 November 2005 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1339 gmt 26 Nov 05).
New Serbia parliamentarian New Serbia contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election in an alliance with the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), and Jovanović received the 201st position out of 250 on their combined list. The alliance won twenty-two seats, and he was not included in his party's assembly delegation.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6. СРПСКИ ПОКРЕТ ОБНОВЕ - НОВА СРБИЈА - ВУК ДРАШКОВИЋ - ВЕЛИМИР ИЛИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.27 January 2004 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022. (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. Jovanović could have been given a seat despite his low position on the list, although ultimately he was not.)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 7 April 2024. New Serbia later contested the 2007 parliamentary election in an alliance the DSS, and Jovanović appeared on their list in the twenty-seventh position.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Демократска странка Србије - Нова Србија - др Војислав Коштуница), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The alliance won forty-seven seats, and he was again not given a mandate.14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
The DSS and NS continued their alliance at the republic level into the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election. Jovanović received the eleventh position on the alliance's list and this time received a mandate when the list won thirty seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Демократска Странка Србије - Нова Србија - Војислав Коштуница), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.R. Ognjanović, "U klupama novi poslanici", Novosti, 10 June 2008, accessed 29 June 2022. His first term in the national assembly was brief. The overall results of the 2008 election were inconclusive, but the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance eventually formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and New Serbia served in opposition. Velimir Ilić, who had hitherto been a cabinet minister, lost his position in government. Jovanović resigned his seat on 8 July 2008 to allow Ilić to enter the assembly in his place.DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 11 August 2017.11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 11 August 2017. This source erroneously lists Jovanović as a member of the Democratic Party of Serbia."I Velja Ilić u poslaničkoj klupi", Mondo, 16 July 2008, accessed 27 December 2022.
Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all parliamentary mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists in numerical order.Law on the Election of Members of the Parliament (2000, as amended 2011) (Articles 88 & 92) made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 6 June 2021. New Serbia joined an alliance led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) prior to the 2012 parliamentary election and continued the alliance through the elections of 2014 and 2016. Jovanović was not a candidate in 2012, but he received the ninety-eighth position on the SNS-led list in 2014 and was elected when the list won a landslide victory with 158 out of 250 seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – Изборне листе (1 АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - БУДУЋНОСТ У КОЈУ ВЕРУЈЕМО (Српска напредна странка, Социјалдемократска партија Србије, Нова Србија, Српски покрет обнове, Покрет социјалиста)), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 30 March 2024. In his first full term, Jovanović was a member of the spatial planning committee, a deputy member of the economy committee and the agriculture committee, and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia), Russia, and the United Kingdom.DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
Jovanović was given the 107th position on the SNS-led list in 2016 and was elected to a third term when the list won another majority victory with 131 mandates.Избори за народне посланике 2016. године » Изборне листе (1 АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - СРБИЈА ПОБЕЂУЈЕ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 October 2021. In the parliament that followed, he was a member of the spatial planning committee, a deputy member of the agriculture committee and the committee for environmental protection, and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, France, Italy, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.DRAGAN JOVANOVIĆ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
He also received the lead position on a coalition list of the Progressives, New Serbia, and other parties for the 2016 Serbian local elections in Topola and was re-elected when the list won twenty-nine out of forty-one seats.Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), Volume 20 Number 7 (13 April 2016), p. 1.Službeni Glasnik (SO Topola), Volume 20 Number 10 (25 April 2016), p. 1. He was chosen afterward for a new term as assembly speaker.СКУПШТИНА ОПШТИНЕ ТОПОЛА, , Municipality of Topola, accessed 27 December 2022.
Independent parliamentarian