Zlata Đerić (; born 23 December 1958) is a Serbian politician. She has served four terms in the National Assembly of Serbia and is now serving her second term in the Assembly of Vojvodina. A leading member of New Serbia (NS) for many years, she now serves on the presidency of the New Democratic Party of Serbia (NDSS), which was known until May 2022 as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). Before entering political life, she worked as a teacher and has published several works on the Serbian language and literature.
Private career Đerić was born in Sombor, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. She graduated from the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy in 1982, later earned a master's degree in literature, and has published a number of works on the Serbian language and Serbian literature, including Psihologija srpske politike - Ispravljanje krive Drine.ZLATA ĐERIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 26 January 2021.Злата Ђерић , METLA 2020, accessed 27 January 2021.АРХИВА: ИЗБОРИ 2023 – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ КАНДИДАТА ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ (Изборна листа 5 – ДР МИЛОШ ЈОВАНОВИЋ – НАДА за СРБИЈУ – НАДА за ВОЈВОДИНУ – Српска коалиција НАДА – Национално демократска алтернатива – Нова Демократска странка Србије (Нови ДСС) – Покрет обнове Краљевине Србије (ПОКС) – Војислав Михаиловић), Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, accessed 6 April 2024.
Politician Early years and first national assembly term Đerić entered political life as a member of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO). In the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election, she appeared in the lead position on the party's electoral list for the Sombor division.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (8 Сомбор), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024. She would have automatically received a mandate had the party won any seats in the division, but it did not.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године (Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997.) године, , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.From 1992 to 2000, Serbia's electoral law stipulated that one-third of parliamentary mandates would be assigned to candidates from successful lists in numerical order, while the remaining two-thirds would be distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties. See Guide to the Early Election , Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia, December 1992, made available by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, accessed 14 July 2017.) The SPO experienced a serious split the following year, and Đerić joined the breakaway New Serbia party under the leadership of Velimir Ilić.
Serbia's electoral system was reformed prior to the 2000 parliamentary election, such that the entire country became a single electoral district and all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful 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 7 April 2024. New Serbia participated in the 2000 election as part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties opposed to the recently overthrown regime of Slobodan Milošević. Đerić was included on the DOS list in the 212th position out of 250.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Демократска опозиција Србије – др Војислав Коштуница (4 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. The list won a landslide victory with 176 seats; she was not initially included in her party's assembly delegation but received a mandate on 4 December 2001 as the replacement for another NS member.DRUGA SEDNICA, DRUGOG REDOVNOG ZASEDANJA, 04.12.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 26 January 2021. New Serbia provided support for Serbia's DOS government until 2002, when it broke from the alliance and moved into opposition. In her first term, Đerić was a member of the labour committee and the committee for environmental protection.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: ЂЕРИЋ, ЗЛАТА , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 October 2022.
New Serbia contested the 2003 parliamentary election in an alliance with the SPO, and Đerić received the twelfth position on their combined list.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. The list won twenty-two seats, and she was not given a mandate. She later appeared in the second position on New Serbia's list for the 2004 Vojvodina provincial election.РЕШЕЊЕ О УТВРЂИВАЊУ ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ ЗА ИЗБОРЕ ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ У СКУПШТИНУ АУТОНОМНЕ ПОКРАЈИНЕ ВОЈВОДИНЕ, 19. СЕПТЕМБРА 2004. ГОДИНЕ, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Her name is misspelled in this source as "Zlata Ćerić." The list did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.
Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors for the 2004 Serbian local elections, which took place concurrently with the provincial vote. Đerić ran as New Serbia's candidate for mayor of Sombor; her campaign was also endorsed by Social Democracy (SD) and two smaller political movements. She was defeated in the first round of voting."Za sebe, stranku ili grad?", soinfo.org, 26 August 2004, accessed 25 February 2022; "Šest kandidata uz nove najave", Hrvatska Riječ, 27 August 2004, accessed 25 February 2022; Uređene liste, soinfo.org, 8 September 2004, accessed 25 February 2022; "Izborno rešavanje", soinfo.org, 1 October 2004, accessed 26 February 2004; ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ: Председници општина и градова, изабрани на локалним изборима, 2004., , Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 3 October 2010, accessed 12 July 2021. She was, however, included on New Serbia's list for the Sombor municipal assembly and was elected when the list won three seats."Sva skupštinska imena", soinfo.org, 8 October 2004, accessed 25 February 2022.Odbornici, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, 23 June 2007, accessed 12 February 2022. The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned in 2008; since this time, mayors have been chosen by the elected members of the local assemblies.
New Serbia contested the 2007 parliamentary election in an alliance with the Democratic Party of Serbia, and Đerić was given the sixteenth position on their combined list. The list won forty-seven seats, and she once again did not receive a mandate.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 2024.14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 December 2022.
Return to the national assembly The DSS and New Serbia continued their alliance into the 2008 parliamentary election; Đerić received the fiftieth position on their list and was given a mandate for a second assembly term 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 2024.11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 November 2017. In the concurrent 2008 Serbian local elections, New Serbia formed an alliance in Sombor with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and other parties. Đerić received the third position on their combined list, which did not cross the threshold for assembly representation.Službeni List (Opštine Sombor), Volume 41 Number 5 (30 April 2008), p. 8.Službeni List (Opštine Sombor), Volume 41 Number 6 (13 May 2008), p. 2.
The results of the parliamentary election were inconclusive, and serious discussions later took place between the DSS–NS alliance, the SPS, and the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) about forming a new coalition government."Serbian PM's party, Radicals to form coalition - daily," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 22 April 2008 (Source: Blic, Belgrade, in Serbian 19 Apr 08, pp 2-3). This ultimately did not happen; the SPS instead entered a coalition government with the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance, and New Serbia served in opposition. Đerić became deputy chair of the labour committee and was a member of the committee for gender equality, the working group on the rights of the child, and the parliamentary friendship groups with Israel, Italy, and the Sovereign Order of Malta.ЗЛАТА ЂЕРИЋ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 October 2022.
Serbia's electoral system was reformed again in 2011, such that all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. New Serbia formed an alliance with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in this period and contested the 2012 parliamentary election on the latter's Let's Get Serbia Moving list. Đerić received the fifty-seventh position and was re-elected when the list won seventy-three mandates.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 POKRENIMO SRBIJU - TOMISLAV NIKOLIĆ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021. The SNS and SPS subsequently formed a new coalition government that included New Serbia, and Đerić served as part of its parliamentary majority. In the 2012–14 parliament, she was a member of the committee for human and minority rights and gender equality, a deputy member of the foreign affairs committee and the committee on the rights of the child, and a member of Serbia's friendship groups with Denmark, Finland, Israel, Italy, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.ZLATA ĐERIĆ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 October 2022.