Esad Džudžo (; born 5 July 1958), who was known until 2014 as Esad Džudžević (), is a Serbian politician from the country's Bosniak community. He has served in the Serbian and Yugoslavian parliaments, led the Bosniak National Council, and played a prominent role in the local government of Tutin.
Džudžo was for many years the leader of the Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandžak (BDSS), which was closely aligned with Sulejman Ugljanin's Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak (SDA).
Early life and career Džudžo was born in the village of Mitrova in Tutin, in the Sandžak region of what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy in sociology in 1986.
He was one of the founders of the Bosniak Cultural Society "Revival" on 9 March 1991, founded and became the first director of the Sandžak National Library "Vehbija Hodžić" in 1994, and was chosen as editor of the newspaper Sandžačkih novina in January 1996.PREDSJEDNIK: Esad Džudžević, , Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandžak, accessed 22 May 2024.
Politician Early years (1996–2000) Džudžo founded the True Party of Democratic Action (Prava Stranka demokratske akcije, PSDA) on 15 June 1996 in Novi Pazar."Novo ime Bosnjacka demokratska stranka", Naša Borba, 21 April 1998, accessed 22 May 2024. The party soon aligned itself with Ugljanin's List for Sandžak (LZS) coalition, which was dominated by the SDA. The LZS won a landslide victory in Tutin in the 1996 Serbian local elections with thirty-two out of thirty-five seats, and Džudžo was chosen afterward as president of the municipality's executive committee.Izbori Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova u Republici Srbiji, 1996, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 80.PREDSJEDNIK: Esad Džudžević, , Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandžak, accessed 22 May 2024.
In the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election, Džudžo appeared in the sixth position on the LZS's electoral list for the Kraljevo constituency.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (21 Краљево), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.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. The list won two seats, which were assigned to its two leading candidates, Fevzija Murić and Šemsudin Kučević.PRVA SEDNICA, 03.12.1997., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 22 May 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. Džudžo could in theory have been assigned the second mandate, though ultimately 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.)
The True Party of Democratic Action renamed itself as the Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandžak on 20 April 1998, due to its opposition to the policies of the Party of Democratic Action of Bosnia and Herzegovina pertaining to Sandžak and the Bosniak community of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Džudžo said at the time that the BDSS would fight for democracy in Yugoslavia, seek to resolve the status of the Sandžak as a modern European region, and affirm the Bosniak community's national rights in the Sandžak."Novo ime Bosnjacka demokratska stranka", Naša Borba, 21 April 1998, accessed 22 May 2024.
In May 1999, Džudžo received a six-month prison sentence for illegal payments to a lawyer in a matter relating to a court case against him. The Bosnian News Agency BH Press described the sentence as politically motivated and as taking place in the context of ongoing state persecution of the Bosniak community."New threat to Muslims in Serbia - agency," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Newsfile, 5 May 1999 (Source: BH Press news agency, Sarajevo, in Serbo-Croat 5 May 99). The conviction would presumably have been appealed, and there is no indication that Džudžo served the sentence.
Member of the Yugoslavian parliament (2000–03) During the 1990s, Serbian and Yugoslavian politics were dominated by the authoritarian rule of Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Slobodan Milošević and his allies. In early 2000, a broad multi-party alliance called the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) was established to challenge Milošević's rule. The List for Sandžak did not join the DOS, due in part to divisions among the Bosniak parties of the Sandžak, but it cooperated with the alliance in the 2000 Yugoslavian general election, in which Milošević fell from power after being defeated by DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica in the presidential contest.
The 2000 Yugoslavian election saw the first and only direct elections for the Chamber of Republics, the upper house of the Yugoslavian parliament. As part of the cooperation pact between the DOS and the LZS, Džudžo was given the nineteenth position out of twenty on the DOS's electoral list for Serbia.Izborna lista za Veće republika Savezne skupštine – Demokratske opozicije Srbije, , Democratic Opposition of Serbia, 17 October 2000, accessed 24 June 2022. The list won ten of the twenty seats, and he was assigned a mandate when the assembly convened on 24 September 2000.Sandžak: Region of Controlled Tensions, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, p. 18. (For this election, half of the assembly mandates were awarded in numerical order with the other half assigned at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions."Ko su poslanici" , Vreme, 28 September 2000, accessed 10 November 2021. Via a prior arrangement with the LZS, Džudžo was given one of the DOS's "optional" mandates.)
The List for Sandžak also won a second consecutive landslide victory in Tutin for the 2000 Serbian local elections, taking thirty-four out of thirty-seven seats.Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 66. Džudžo continued serving as chair of the municipal government's executive committee for the four-year term that followed.PREDSJEDNIK: Esad Džudžević, , Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandžak, accessed 22 May 2024.
During this period, Džudžo was an advocate for decentralization within the constitutional framework of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He supported calls for greater autonomy in Vojvodina and Šumadija and argued that Bosniaks were increasingly prepared to support the unity of Yugoslavia along with the unity of the Sandžak and the Bosniak people."Serbia only carries out changes if pressured from outside - Sandzak official," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 20 October 2001 (Source: Radio Novi Pazar in Serbo-Croat 1400 gmt 19 Oct 01). In October 2001, he encouraged Bosniaks in Kosovo to participate in the 2001 Kosovan parliamentary election."Sandzak coalition official says Bosniaks should go to Kosovo elections," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 20 October 2001 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1323 gmt 19 Oct 01).
In June 2002, Yugoslavian president Vojislav Koštunica appointed Džudžo to a constitutional commission drafting the charter of the new State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (successor to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)."Yugoslav leader appoints another Sandzak member of constitutional commission," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 13 June 2002 (Source: Radio Novi Pazar in Serbo-Croat 1400 gmt 13 Jun 02). At a press conference after his appointment, Džudžo called for the commission to address the issue of minority communities via accepted European standards, which would include setting guidelines for regionalization."Sandzak official hopes new Yugoslav charter to acknowledge European principles," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 6 June 2002 (Source: Radio Novi Pazar in Serbo-Croat 1400 gmt 6 Jun 02). As a member of the committee, he called for Bosniaks to be recognized as a constituent nation of Serbia and Montenegro and proposed that an assembly of peoples and regions become part of the future state union's parliament."Sandzak official wants Bosniaks made constituent in Serbian-Montenegrin state," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 5 August 2002 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1435 gmt 5 Aug 02)."Yugoslav deputy wants constitutional guarantees for Bosniaks in future state," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 6 August 2002 (Source: Radio Novi Pazar in Serbo-Croat 1400 gmt 6 Aug 02). Mujo Muković of the Sandžak Democratic Party (SDP), the only other commission member from the Sandžak, had a poor relationship with Džudžo and accused him of making "unrealistic" requests that did not take into account the border dividing the Sandžak region between Serbia and Montenegro."Splits appear in Bosniak delegation to constitutional commission," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 19 July 2002 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1207 gmt 19 Jul 02). Džudžo ultimately resigned from the commission in November 2002 when it refused to accept some of his proposals; he said that he could not agree to "the Sandžak region that stretches on both sides of the [Serbia-Montenegro] border being divided.""Member quits Yugoslav charter commission over division of Sandzak," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 3 November 2002 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1631 gmt 3 Nov 02). In January 2003, he said that the completed charter did not recognize the legitimate rights of national minorities and created a legal framework for the division of its two constituent republics."Official says new Yugoslav charter fails to recognize Sandzak's interests," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 January 2003 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1209 gmt 28 Jan 03).
The Yugoslavian Chamber of Republics was abolished when the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro formally came into being on 4 February 2003, and Džudžo's parliamentary term came to an end. He criticized the fact that Bosniaks had no representatives in the new unicameral parliament of the state union."Sandzak bloc gives full support to Serbian government, slates that of Montenegro," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 25 March 2003 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1352 gmt 25 Mar 03).
Member of the Serbian parliament and the Bosniak National Council