Milan Janković (politician)

Milan Janković (), nicknamed Žire, is a politician in Serbia. He was a member of the National Assembly of Serbia from 2001 to 2007, has served three terms as mayor of the Belgrade municipality of Grocka, and is a current member of the Belgrade city council (i.e., the executive branch of the city government). Janković is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS).

Early life and career Janković was born in Umčari, Grocka (a year before the municipality's incorporation into Belgrade), in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated as an economic technician.Milan Janković - Žire, City Council, City of Belgrade, accessed 21 August 2021.

Politician The Milošević years (1992–2000) Janković was elected to the City Assembly of Belgrade for Grocka's fourth division in the May 1992 Serbian local elections and re-elected in the repeat elections in December of the same year.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 17 July 1992, p. 787.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 12 February 1993, p. 39. He was also elected to Grocka's municipal assembly and, in 1995, was chosen as its president (a position at the time equivalent to mayor).Milan Janković - Žire, City Council, City of Belgrade, accessed 21 August 2021.

He was re-elected to the Belgrade assembly in the 1996 Serbian local elections and also led the Socialist Party to a majority victory in Grocka, where he was confirmed as mayor for a second term.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 43 Number 3 (22 February 1997), p. 1.Milan Janković - Žire, City Council, City of Belgrade, accessed 21 August 2021.

During the 1990s, political life in Serbia was dominated by Slobodan Milošević, the leader of the Socialist Party, who oversaw the country's governmental institutions in an authoritarian manner. Milošević was defeated by Vojislav Koštunica of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) in the 2000 Yugoslavian general election, an event that brought about wide-reaching changes in the country's political scene. The Socialist Party was dealt a significant defeat in the concurrent 2000 local elections in Belgrade, winning only four seats out of 110 in the city assembly; Janković was one of the four SPS members elected, winning again in Grocka's fourth division. The DOS won a narrow victory over the SPS for the Grocka municipal assembly in the same electoral cycle, and Janković's term as mayor came to an end.Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 31.

Janković was a candidate for the national assembly on two occasions in the 1990s. He appeared in the forty-sixth (and final) position on the Socialist Party's electoral list for the Belgrade division in the 1993 Serbian parliamentary election and the eleventh (and also final) position on its list for the revised Voždovac division in the 1997 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године; ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Београд), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 19 August 2021.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године; ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2 Вождовац), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 18 August 2021. The party won sixteen seats in Belgrade in 1993 and four seats in Voždovac in 1997; Janković was not selected for a mandate on either occasion.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 19 August 2021.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 19 August 2021.Službeni glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 50 Number 11 (25 January 1994), p. 193.PRVA SEDNICA, 03.12.1997., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 19 August 2021. (From 1992 to 2000, one-third of the country's parliamentary mandates were assigned to candidates from successful lists in numerical order, while the remaining two-thirds were distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties and coalitions. Janković could have been awarded a mandate on either occasion notwithstanding his list position, but in the event he was not.)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.

Parliamentarian (2001–07) After Milošević's defeat in the Yugoslavian election, a new parliamentary election was held in Serbia in December 2000. For this election, the entire country was counted as a single electoral district and all mandates were awarded 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 28 February 2017. Janković was given the seventy-fourth position on the SPS list, which was mostly alphabetical.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Социјалистичка партија Србије – Слободан Милошевић), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 July 2021. The list won thirty-seven mandates, and he was selected for its parliamentary delegation when the assembly met in early 2001.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 11 January 2001, accessed 18 July 2021. The DOS won a majority victory in this election, and the Socialists served in opposition.

He was again included on the Socialist list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election and was given a new mandate when the list won twenty-two seats.He received the ninety-fifth position. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (9. СОЦИЈАЛИСТИЧКА ПАРТИЈА СРБИЈЕ - СЛОБОДАН МИЛОШЕВИЋ) Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 21 August 2021.PRVA SEDNICA, 27.01.2004., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 21 August 2021. In the term that followed, the Socialist Party provided outside support to a government led by the Democratic Party of Serbia (Demokratska stranka Srbije, DSS), the Serbian Renewal Movement (Srpski pokret obnove, SPO) and G17 Plus. Janković served on the committee for petitions and proposals and the committee on local self-government.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ (ЈАНКОВИЋ, МИЛАН), , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 21 August 2021.

Janković was again included on the Socialist Party's lists in the 2007 and 2008 parliamentary elections, although he did not receive a mandate on either occasion.He was given the ninety-seventh position in 2007. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (11 Социјалистичка партија Србије), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 21 August 2021.14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 14 May 2021.He was again given the ninety-seventh position in 2008. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Социјалистичка партија Србије (СПС), - Партија уједињних пензионера Србије (ПУПС) - Јединствена Србија (ЈС)), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 21 August 2021.11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 14 May 2021.

Serbia introduced a system of proportional representation for local elections after 2000. Janković appeared on the Socialist Party's lists for both the Belgrade city assembly and the Grocka municipal assembly in the 2004 Serbian local elections and was re-elected to the latter body.In the 2004 local elections, the first one-third of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. See Law on Local Elections, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 33/2002; made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021.Janković appeared in the thirty-second position on the Socialist list for the city assembly. The list was six seats, and he was not given a mandate. See Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 24 (8 September 2004), p. 4; Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Volume 34 (29 November 2004), pp. 1-2.Janković led the Socialist list in Grocka and received an automatic mandate when it won four seat. See Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 24 (8 September 2004), p. 93; Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 28 (21 September 2004), p. 5; Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 36 (21 December 2004), p. 46.

Since 2008 Janković appeared on the Socialist Party's lists for both Belgrade and Grocka in the 2008 Serbian local elections.For the 2008 local elections, all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. See Law on Local Elections (2007), Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 129/2007); made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021.Janković was given the fiftieth position on the Socialist Party's list. See Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 12 (30 April 2008), p. 8.Perhaps curiously, he appeared in the eleventh position on the party's list in Grocka. The list won only two mandates. See Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 13 (30 April 2008), p. 29; Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 15 (12 May 2008), p. 9. He did not initially take a seat in either assembly.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 20 (16 June 2008), pp. 3-4.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 24 (15 July 2008), pp. 1-2. On 19 August 2008, he returned to the city assembly as the replacement for another SPS member.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 29 (19 August 2008), p. 2.

A shift in the municipal politics of Grocka saw the Socialists take a prominent role in the local coalition government and Janković return to mayor's office on 22 June 2010.Interestingly, Janković briefly took a seat in the Grocka municipal assembly on 22 June before being chosen as mayor. See Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 54 Number 23 (29 June 2010), pp. 21-22. He resigned his seat in the Belgrade assembly on 29 June. See p. 1 from the same source He served in this role for the next two years.