Milan Ćuk (; born 21 October 1956) is a politician in Serbia. He has been at different times a member of the National Assembly of Serbia, the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro, and the Assembly of Vojvodina, as well as serving as the mayor of Odžaci. Ćuk is a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS).
Early life and private career Ćuk was born in Odžaci, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He lives in the village of Bački Gračac and is a private entrepreneur.Potpredsjednik Milan Ćuk, Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, accessed 24 February 2022.
Politician Ćuk became politically active in 1992. He appeared in the seventeenth position on the Radical Party's electoral list for Novi Sad in the 1993 Serbian parliamentary election; the list won seven mandates, and he was not included in the party's assembly delegation.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6 Нови Сад), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (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 2 July 2021. (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 on the lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties.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. It was common practice for the latter mandates to be awarded out of order. Ćuk could have been awarded a mandate despite his list position, although he was not.)
Parliamentarian Ćuk appeared in the sixth and final position on the SRS's list for the redistributed Sombor division in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election. The list won three mandates, and he was not initially given a mandate.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (8 Сомбор), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.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, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021. The Radical Party joined a coalition government led by the Socialist Party of Serbia (Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS) in March 1998; Stanko Studen, one of the Radical Party's deputies for Sombor, was appointed as deputy minister of agriculture and was required to resign from the assembly. Ćuk was given a mandate as his replacement on 26 May 1998 and served as a supporter of the administration.TREĆA SEDNICA, PRVOG REDOVNOG ZASEDANJA, 26.05.1998., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 24 February 2022.TREĆA SEDNICA, PRVOG REDOVNOG ZASEDANJA, 26.05.1998., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 24 February 2022.
SPS leader Slobodan Milošević was defeated in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, a watershed moment in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics. Ćuk stood as a candidate for Odžaci's second constituency seat in the concurrent 2000 Vojvodina provincial election and for the municipality's fifth seat in the 2000 Serbian local elections.Velika Srbija [Radical Party publication], Volume 11 Number 1201 (Belgrade, September 2000), pp. 6, 14. He was defeated in both contests.The Radicals won no seats in Odžaci in the municipal election. See Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 43.
Serbia's SPS-led administration fell after Milošević's defeat, and a new provisional government was established pending new elections; the new administration did not include the SRS. A new Serbian parliamentary election was held in December 2000. As a result of reforms introduced before the vote, the entire country was counted as a single electoral division and all mandates were awarded at the discretion of successful parties and 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. Ćuk appeared in the eighty-ninth position on the Radical Party's list.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Српска радикална странка – др Војислав Шешељ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021. His name is misspelled on the list as "Milan Đuk." The list won twenty-three mandates, and he was not included in the party's delegation. The term ended when the new assembly convened in January 2001.
Ćuk was given the fourteenth position on the SRS's list for the 2003 parliamentary election. The party won eighty-two seats, and on this occasion, he was included in its delegation when the assembly met in January 2004.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2. СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ) Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021."Skupština čeka demokrate", Glas javnosti, 13 January 2004, accessed 29 December 2021. Although the Radicals were the largest party in the assembly after the election, they fell short of a majority and served in opposition.
By its performance in the 2003 parliamentary election, the SRS had the right to appoint thirty delegates to the federal assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. Ćuk was given a federal mandate on 12 February 2004; by this appointment, he was required to resign from the national assembly."Izbor poslanika u Skupštinu SCG", Glas javnosti, 12 February 2004, accessed 24 February 2022. Ćuk served as an opposition member in the federal parliament for the next two years. The federal union of Serbia and Montenegro ceased to exist in 2006 when Montenegro declared independence.
Ćuk appeared on the Radical Party's electoral lists in the 2007 and 2008 parliamentary elections, though he was not given a mandate on either occasion.Ćuk received the 107th position in 2007 and the 122nd position in 2008. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Српска радикална странка - др Војислав Шешељ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021; and Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године (ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ – 4 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - Др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021. For his absence from the assembly, see 14 February 2007 legislature and 11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 5 March 2017.
Mayor of Odžaci Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors in the 2004 local elections. Ćuk was elected as mayor of Odžaci, defeating Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS) candidate Predrag Cvetanović in the second round. He faced a recall vote on 3 December 2006 and survived the challenge."Poverenje predsednicima dve opštine", B92, 4 December 2006, accessed 22 February 2022.
The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment; for the 2008 local elections, Serbia's local election laws were reformed such that mayors would be chosen by the elected members of city and municipal assemblies. Ćuk led the Radical Party to victory in the 2008 cycle and was confirmed for another term in office afterward.Lokalni Izbori 2008; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 11, 43.
The Radical Party experienced a serious split in late 2008, with several members joining the more moderate Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) under the leadership of Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić. Ćuk remained with the Radicals.
Ćuk's administration in Odžaci fell in 2009 after the SPS withdrew its support. He stood down as mayor in August 2009 and was appointed as the SRS's representative in a multi-party provisional administration.Slobodan Mirić, "Smenjuju partijske direktore", Blic 22 August 2010, accessed 22 February 2022."Vanredni izbori u Odžacima u nedelju", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 19 January 2010, accessed 19 February 2022.J. Jorgačević, "Za evropske Odžake", Vreme, 28 January 2010, accessed 19 February 2022. A new off-year local election was held in January 2010; weakened by the 2008 split, the SRS finished in fourth place with only three mandates.ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012., Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 148, 37. Ćuk was elected as one of the party's delegates and served as an opposition member of the local assembly for the next four years.Одборници, , Municipality of Odžaci, 21 February 2013, accessed 24 February 2022.
In 2012, Ćuk was indicted on charges of accepting bribes during his tenure as mayor. He denied the charges."Bivši predsednik opštine Odžaci: Nisam odgovoran za afere", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 19 October 2012, accessed 24 February 2022. Online sources do not indicate how the matter was resolved.
Provincial delegate Vojvodina introduced a system of mixed proportional representation for the 2004 Vojvodina provincial election. Ćuk ran for the Radical Party in the redistributed Odžaci division and was defeated in the second round by SPS incumbent Đorđe Bogdanović, the same candidate who defeated him in the 2000 provincial election.
He was elected for the Odžaci constituency seat in the 2008 provincial election, defeating Bogdanović in another rematch. The DS and its allies won a majority victory, and the Radicals served in opposition for the next term.