Gojko Veličković (; born 31 August 1952) is a Serbian politician. He has served three terms as the mayor of Leskovac and was a member of the Serbian parliament from 1994 to 1997. He is currently a member of the Leskovac city assembly. Veličković has at different times been a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), a member and the leader of the Socialist People's Party (SNS), a member of the Social Democratic Alliance (SDS), a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), and the leader of his own political movement.
Early life and career Veličković was born in the village of Lozane in the municipality of Bojnik, in 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 Political Sciences, worked as a journalist and editor at Radio Novi Pazar, and began working for the municipal administration of Leskovac in the early 1980s.Gojko Veličković, istinomer.rs, accessed 31 January 2026. In the late 1980s, he was secretary of the Socialist Alliance of Working People (SSRN) in Leskovac.Borba, 13 September 1988, p. 4.
Politician Socialist Party of Serbia From 1990 to 2000, the Socialist Party dominated the political culture of Serbia under the authoritarian leadership of Slobodan Milošević. Veličković joined the SPS and was elected to the Leskovac municipal assembly in the December 1992 Serbian local elections. The Socialists won a landslide majority victory in the city, and he was chosen afterward as assembly president, a position that was then equivalent to mayor.Magyar Szó, 5 January 1993, p. 5.Borba, 9 November 1993, p. 5.
Veličković appeared in the ninth position on the Socialist Party's electoral list for the Leskovac electoral division in the 1993 Serbian parliamentary election and was awarded a mandate when the list won seventeen out of twenty-five seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Лесковац), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.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. Veličković was not automatically elected by virtue of his list position, but he received a mandate all the same.) The Socialists won a strong plurality victory overall in the 1993 election and afterward formed a new government with support from the smaller New Democracy (ND) party. In the assembly, Veličković served as a member of the constitutional committee and the committee on foreign affairs.Službeni Glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 50 Number 16 (11 February 1994), pp. 353, 354.
Veličković complained about the historical mismanagement of Leskovac's textile industry in this period, remarking that, "not a single program goal in [the] industry has been achieved in the last fifty years. There was not even a clearly defined development concept. The problem of developing the Leskovac textile industry is a problem of strategy."Borba, 31 January 1995, p. 9.
The Socialists won another majority victory in Leskovac in the 1996 Serbian local elections, taking forty-five out of sixty-nine seats. The Yugoslav Left (JUL), a party generally aligned with the SPS, won a further thirteen seats.Izbori Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova u Republici Srbiji, 1996, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 86. Gojković was chosen afterward for a second term as mayor, although he did not remain long in office.
Independent On 17 February 1997, the main board of the SPS voted to expel Veličković from the party due to "disrespect for party discipline and serious damage to the reputation of an SPS member."Borba, 18 February 1997, p. 4. The exact nature of these charges was not revealed, though it was noted in the Serbian media that Veličković had previously quarrelled with Ivica Dačić over the leadership of the SPS's city board in Leskovac. The expulsion led to a split in the ranks of the SPS in the city; at least initially, a majority of the party's representatives in the local assembly sided with Veličković. The JUL representatives, however, unanimously opposed him.Zoran Đorđević, "The Crack of a Whip", Vreme, 1 March 1997, accessed 31 January 2026. Although it was not initially clear which side would command a majority in the assembly, Veličković's tenure as mayor ended not long afterward.Borba, 9 September 1997, p. 2.Borba, 13 March 1997, p. 2. His parliamentary mandate was terminated on 15 April 1997.Službeni List (Republike Srbije), Volume 53 Number 25 (15 April 1997).
Veličković led his own electoral list for the smaller, redistributed Leskovac division in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (25 Лесковац), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024. The list did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.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.
Slobodan Milošević fell from power in October 2000, and the Socialists ceased to dominate the political life of Serbia after this time.
Socialist People's Party Former SPS parliamentary leader Branislav Ivković founded the breakaway Socialist People's Party in 2003. Veličković was a founding member of the new organization.Gojko Veličković, istinomer.rs, accessed 31 January 2026.
Serbia reformed its local electoral laws after the 2000 Serbian local elections, separating the offices of mayor and assembly president and introducing direct elections for mayors. Leskovac held an early off-year election in December 2002; Veličković was the SNS's nominee for mayor and defeated SPS candidate Dušan Cvetković in the second round of voting, which was held in January 2003. The SNS won eleven out of seventy-five seats in the concurrent elections for the local assembly and later formed a coalition government with several other parties, including the SPS, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija, Lokalni Izbori 2004, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, p. 108.Direktorijum lokalnih samouprava u Srbiji, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), September 2005, p. 186.
Veličković appeared in the fifth position on the SNS's electoral list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (15. СОЦИЈАЛИСТИЧКА НАРОДНА СТРАНКА - НАРОДНИ БЛОК - ГЕНЕРАЛ НЕБОЈША ПАВКОВИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 14 August 2022. The list did not cross the electoral threshold.
Following the 2004 Serbian presidential election, Branislav Ivković left the Socialist People's Party to join the Strength of Serbia Movement (PSS)."Minor Serbian party rejects decision to merge with tycoon's party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 24 November 2004 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0816 gmt 24 Nov 04). Veličković succeeded him as SNS leader and oversaw the party's re-registration at the republic level in March 2005.Borba, 9 April 2005, p. 15. Although the party remained active for several more years, it ceased to be a major force in Serbian politics after this time.
Veličković faced a recall election in October 2004, initiated by opposition parties that charged he was enriching himself in office and that construction companies he owned were receiving improper funding through municipal tenders."Glasanje za opoziv Veličkovića", B92, 10 October 2004, accessed 31 January 2026. He ultimately survived the vote and remained in office.
In October 2005, Veličković was arrested while entering Croatia at the Bajakovo border crossing, due to his name appearing on a wanted list. He was released when it was discovered that the "Gojko Veličković" on the list was a different person.Borba, 28 October 2005, p. 5.
Leskovac's annual municipal budget was approved at a contentious meeting of the local assembly in December 2005. Prior to the vote, assembly president Goran Cvetanović of the SRS announced his resignation, citing poor relations with the mayor. During this period, reports circulated that Veličković was allegedly involved in the misappropriation of funds intended for municipal social assistance.Borba, 5 December 2005, p. 4.
Veličković ran for re-election as mayor of Leskovac in the 2006 off-year local election. He finished third and was eliminated in the first round of voting.
The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned with the 2008 Serbian local elections. In that year, the Socialist People's Party and the SDP ran in an alliance in Leskovac and won five seats.Lokalni Izbori 2008, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, p. 77. Veličković was re-elected to the assembly; after the election, the SNS formed an assembly group with G17 Plus.Одборници скупштине града, , City of Leskovac, 28 December 2010, accessed 31 January 2026.
In June 2011, the High Court in Leskovac convicted Veličković of misappropriating several million dinars intended for social assistance. The Appellate Court in Niš subsequently overturned the decision and ordered a new trial.Gojko Veličković, istinomer.rs, accessed 31 January 2026. In March 2016, he was found not guilty of the charges."Gojko Veličković oslobođen optužbi za krađu socijalne pomoći", Južne vesti, 8 August 2016, accessed 31 January 2026.
Social Democratic Alliance The Socialist People's Party dissolved in 2010. Veličković subsequently joined the Social Democratic Alliance and appeared third on its electoral list in the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (13 СОЦИЈАЛДЕМОКРАТСКИ САВЕЗ - НЕБОЈША ЛЕКОВИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021. The list did not cross the electoral threshold. Veličković attempted to lead a local coalition of the SDS and the United Peasant Party (USS) in Leskovac for the concurrent 2012 local elections, but the list was annulled by the city election commission due to irregularities."Sud poništio usvojenu listu SDS-a i USS-a", Južne vesti, 30 April 2012, accessed 31 January 2026.
Serbian Progressive Party