István Ispánovics (; 2 September 1939–13 April 2011) was a Serbian politician from the country's Hungarian community. He was the mayor of Subotica from 2001 to 2003, served in the Serbian parliament from 1997 to 2007, and was also a member of the Vojvodina provincial assembly. Ispánovics was at different times a member of the Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMDK), the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ), and G17 Plus.
Early life and career Ispánovics was born in Padej, a predominantly Hungarian village in what was then the municipality of Novi Kneževac in the Danube Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, the village became part of the newly created municipality of Čoka in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, People's Republic of Serbia, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
Ispánovics graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law and worked as a lawyer in private life.Ištvan Išpanovič, , City of Subotica, 27 January 2003, accessed 4 September 2025.
Politician Early years (1990–97) Ispánovics joined the Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians on its formation in 1990.Ištvan Išpanovič, , City of Subotica, 27 January 2003, accessed 4 September 2025. Although Serbia nominally returned to multiparty democracy in that year, its political culture over the next decade was dominated by the authoritarian rule of Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Slobodan Milošević and his allies.
Ispánovics was elected to the Subotica city assembly in the May 1992 Serbian local elections.Magyar Szó, 3 June 1992, p. 10. Most of Serbia's leading opposition parties boycotted these elections on the grounds that they were neither free nor fair; the VMDK chose to participate in order to prevent the SPS from winning by default in predominantly Hungarian areas.Milan Milošević, "Round Table of the Government and Opposition", Vreme, 18 May 1992, accessed 18 May 2025. The VMDK ultimately won the Subotica city election and afterward formed a coalition government with the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV), making the city one of the few jurisdictions governed by parties opposed to Milošević's rule.Magyar Szó, 17 June 1992, p. 14.Magyar Szó, 24 June 1992, p. 14. Ispánovics served in the assembly as a supporter of the local administration.
Due to ongoing doubts about the legitimacy of the May 1992 elections, the Serbian government held new local elections in December 1992. Ispánovics was re-elected to the Subotica city assembly as the VMDK–DSHV alliance won an increased victory overall.Magyar Szó, 6 January 1993, p. 10.Magyar Szó, 5 January 1993, p. 6; Magyar Szó, 12 January 1993, p. 14.
Ispánovics appeared in the twentieth position (out of twenty-eight) on the VMDK's electoral list for the Zrenjanin division in the 1993 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2 Зрењанин), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024. The party won five seats in the division, and he was not chosen for a mandate.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), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.Službeni Glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 50 Number 11 (25 January 1994), pp. 193-194. (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.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. Ispánovics could have been given a mandate despite his list position, although this did not occur.)
The Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians experienced a serious split in 1994, with several of its leading members forming the breakaway Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. Ispánovics joined the new party on its formation, ultimately serving on its presidency and as leader of its city branch in Subotica. The VMSZ quickly surpassed the VMDK as the leading Hungarian party in the city.
Although the Socialist Party experienced unprecedented defeats in several Serbian cities in the 1996 local elections, it actually improved its standing in the Subotica assembly. Ispánovics lost his seat to SPS candidate Tomislav Karadžić; the VMSZ won the city election but was forced to share power afterward with the SPS and other rival parties.Magyar Szó, 9 November 1996, p. 7.Magyar Szó, 19 November 1996, p. 5.Magyar Szó, 4 January 1997, pp. 1, 7.
Parliamentarian (1997–2007) and Mayor of Subotica (2001–03) Ispánovics was given the second position on the VMSZ's electoral list for Subotica in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election and received a parliamentary mandate after the list won three seats in the division.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Суботица), , 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.PRVA SEDNICA, 03.12.1997., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 30 July 1997. The Socialist Party's electoral alliance won the election, and the SPS afterward formed a coalition government with the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and the Yugoslav Left (JUL). Ispánovics served with the VMSZ in opposition. From 29 December 1997 to 13 September 1999, he was a deputy speaker of the national assembly.Multi-party National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (1991-2025), National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 4 September 2025.
In early 2000, the VMSZ joined the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a coalition of parties opposed to Milošević's continued rule. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, and Milošević subsequently fell from power on 5 October 2000.
The DOS won a landslide victory in Subotica in the 2000 Serbian local elections, which took place concurrently with the Yugoslavian vote.Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 35. Ispánovics was re-elected to the city assembly and once again served as a supporter of the local administration, which was dominated by the VMSZ.Magyar Szó, 28 September 2000, p. 7. In addition, he was elected to the Vojvodina provincial assembly for Subotica's fifth division as a VMSZ candidate. The parties of the DOS won almost every seat in the provincial assembly; Ispánovics supported the new provincial administration and was leader of the VMSZ's assembly group.Ištvan Išpanovič, , City of Subotica, 27 January 2003, accessed 4 September 2025.
Serbia's government fell after Milošević's defeat in the Yugoslavian election, 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 electoral division and all assembly 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 6 June 2021. Ispánovics was given the fortieth position on the DOS's electoral list.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Демократска опозиција Србије – др Војислав Коштуница (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 majority victory with 176 out of 250 mandates, and he was included in the VMSZ's delegation when the new assembly convened in January 2001.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 11 January 2001, accessed 18 July 2021. In his second parliamentary term, he was a member of the legislative committee and the committee on the judiciary and administration, as well as serving on commissions for drafting the new Serbian constitution and the Basic Law of Vojvodina.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: ИШПАНОВИЧ, ИШТВАН, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 4 September 2025."Ispánovics odlazi iz zdravstvenih razloga", Hrvatska Riječ, 9 May 2003, accessed 9 August 2025.
Subotica's longtime mayor József Kasza was appointed as a deputy prime minister of Serbia in early 2001. When he stood down as mayor on 8 February of that year, Ispánovics was chosen as his successor. During Ispánovic's mandate, Subotica established the foundations for new municipal offices, including a city ombudsman and city manager, as well as a council on interethnic relations. Ispánovics also took credit for working to ensure transparency in the city's spending practices. He resigned as mayor on 29 May 2003, citing health concerns, although rumours circulated at the time that the real reason had more to do with divisions in the VMSZ. In leaving office, he said, "appropriate decisions were made, but it's not my fault that they didn't come to life, I hope it will happen soon.""Ispánovics odlazi iz zdravstvenih razloga", Hrvatska Riječ, 9 May 2003, accessed 9 August 2025.
G17 Plus representative (2003–07)