Srboljub Živanović (; born 5 May 1953) is a Serbian politician. He has served four terms in the Serbian parliament and one term in the federal assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. Živanović is a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS).
He is not to be confused with a Serbian anthropologist of the same name.
Early life and career Živanović was born in Šabac, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Priština Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 1980 and earned a master's degree from the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 1988, and later worked as a manager at the company Zorka.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 15 Number 1859 (September 2004), p. 4. During his political career, he lived in the Šabac borough of Jelenča.Marko Albunović, "Magistar lak na jeziku", Politika, 3 January 2009, accessed 24 December 2024.
Politician Early candidacies Živanović appeared in the second position on the Radical Party's electoral list for the Šabac division in the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 11 Number 901 (September 2000), p. 8. The party did not win any seats in the division.ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), p. 78. He also ran in Šabac's fifty-seventh constituency ward in the concurrent 2000 Serbian local elections and, like all SRS candidates in the city, was defeated.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 11 Number 1201 (September 2000), p. 19.
Parliamentarian The 2000 Yugoslavian election was a watershed moment in Serbian politics, in which longtime leader Slobodan Milošević was defeated by Vojislav Koštunica and subsequently fell from power. The Serbian government fell soon after the Yugoslavian vote, and a new Serbian parliamentary election was called for December 2000. Serbia's electoral system was reformed prior to the vote, such that the entire country became a single constituency and all mandates were awarded to candidates 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 13 April 2024. Živanović appeared in the seventy-fifth position on the Radical Party's list and was awarded a mandate after the list won twenty-three out of 250 seats.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), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 13 April 2024. The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) won a majority victory, and the Radical delegates served in opposition for the term that followed. Živanović took his seat when the new assembly convened in January 2001.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 24 December 2024.Детаљи о народном посланику: ЖИВАНОВИЋ, СРБОЉУБ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 December 2024.
He was given the nineteenth position on the Radical Party's list in the 2003 parliamentary election and received a mandate for another term after the list won eighty-two seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2. СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.PRVA SEDNICA, 27.01.2004., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 18 May 2018. Although the Radicals won more seats than any other party, they fell well short of a majority and ultimately remained in opposition. Živanović's second term was in any event very short. By virtue of its performance in the 2003 election, the Radicals had the right to appoint thirty members to the federal assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. Živanović was chosen as one of his party's delegates and so resigned from the republican parliament on 12 February 2004.DRUGO VANREDNO ZASEDANjE, 12.02.2004., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 24 December 2024."Izbor poslanika u Skupštinu SCG", , Glas javnosti, 12 February 2004, accessed 24 December 2024.
Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors for the 2004 Serbian local elections. Živanović was the Radical Party's candidate in Šabac and was defeated in the second round of voting.UKUPNI REZULTATI LOKALNIH IZBORA ZA PREDSEDNIKA OPŠTINE ŠABAC and IZBORI ZA PREDSEDNIKA OPŠTINE ŠABAC 03.10.2004 - DRUGI KRUG, , Municipality of Šabac, accessed 24 December 2024. He was elected in the concurrent municipal assembly election and served in opposition for the term that followed.Direktorijum lokalnih samouprava u Srbiji, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), September 2005, pp. 296-298. The Radical Party's city board became divided during this time, amid significant acrimony between Živanović and his colleague Mira Blagojević, who ultimately left the party.M. Mijušković, "Struja trese radikale", Politika, 12 December 2006, accessed 24 December 2024.
Živanović remained a member of the federal assembly until 2006, when the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro dissolved following Montenegro's declaration of independence.Посланици, , Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro, accessed 24 December 2024. He later received the fifty-fourth position on the Radical Party's list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election and was once again awarded a national assembly mandate after the list won eighty-one seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Српска радикална странка - др Војислав Шешељ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024. As in 2003, the Radicals won more seats than any party, fell short of a majority, and served in opposition. In his third term, Živanović was a member of the education committee and the committee on science and technological development.Детаљи о народном посланику: ЖИВАНОВИЋ МР, СРБОЉУБ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 December 2024. During a December 2007 speech, he was widely believed to have said that Zoran Đinđić (a former Serbian prime minister assassinated in 2003) "should have" been killed as a traitor. Aleksandar Vučić, at the time Živanović's colleague in the Radical Party, explained this as a misunderstanding resulting from a grammatical error.Defamation of Đinđić simply 'grammatical error'", B92, 12 December 2007, accessed 24 December 2024.
The coalition government that was formed after the 2007 election proved unstable, and a new election was called in 2008. Živanović received the seventy-first position on the Radical Party's list and was again chosen for a mandate after the list won seventy-eight seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - Др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 December 2024. The overall results of the election were inconclusive, and the Radicals afterward held discussions with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) about forming a new coalition government. This ultimately did not happen. The Socialists instead joined a coalition government led by the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance, and the Radicals again served in opposition. Notwithstanding this, Živanović became chair of the science and technological development committee, as well as being a member of the committee on transport and communications and the parliamentary friendship group with Romania.СРБОЉУБ ЖИВАНОВИЋ мр, , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 December 2024.
Źivanović was also re-elected to the Šabac city assembly in the 2008 local elections, which were held concurrently with the parliamentary vote.OPŠTINSKA IZBORNA KOMISIJA, City of Šabac, 2 June 2008, accessed 23 December 2024.Lokalni Izbori 2008, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, pp. 12, 51. The Democratic Party (DS) won the election, and the Radicals continued to serve in opposition at the city level as well.Miroljub Mijušković, "Svi šabački gradonačelnici", Politika, 25 December 2023, accessed 23 December 2024.
Radical Party split and after The Radical Party experienced a serious split in late 2008, with several of its members joining the more moderate Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) under the leadership of Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić. Živanović remained with the Radicals and was considered a loyalist supporter of party leader Vojislav Šešelj, to the point of personally removing posters of Nikolić from the SRS offices in Šabac."U Šapcu formiran odbor za osnivanje nove radikalske stranke", Danas, 22 September 2008, accessed 24 December 2024. He was later alleged to have been involved in several violent incidents against members of the Progressive Party, reportedly kicking Nikolić and repeatedly cursing his mother, insulting Jorgovanka Tabaković "as a woman and a mother," physically attacking Predrag Mijatović at a pedestrian crossing, and punching Igor Bečić in the nose.Marko Albunović, "Magistar lak na jeziku", Politika, 3 January 2009, accessed 24 December 2024."Tuča u Skupštini", Radio Television of Serbia, 2 December 2009, accessed 24 December 2024.
In 2011, Živanović spoke at an event in Šabac protesting the arrest of Božidar Vučurević, who served as mayor of Trebinje during the Bosnian War."Radikali u Šapcu protestovali zbog hapšenja Vučurevića", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 14 April 2011, accessed 24 December 2024.
Serbia's electoral system was again reformed in 2011, such that all parliamentary mandates were awarded 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. Živanović appeared in the forty-third position on the Radical Party's list in the 2012 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - ДР ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 13 April 2024. Weakened by the split four years earlier, the party fell below the electoral threshold for assembly representation, and Živanović lost his seat. The Radicals also fell below the threshold in Šabac in the concurrent 2012 local elections, and his term in the city assembly also came to an end., Center for Free Elections and Democracy, accessed 20 December 2021; ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012., Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 12, 66.
Živanović was given the sixty-fourth position on the SRS list in the 2014 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - ДР ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 13 April 2024. Once again, the party fell below the electoral threshold. He has not sought a return to the assembly since this time.
Electoral record Local (Šabac)