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Željko Ožegović

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Željko Ožegović (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Ожеговић; born 16 October 1962) is a politician in Serbia. He was the mayor of New Belgrade (a municipality in the City of Belgrade) from 2000 to 2008 and later served in the executive branches of both the Serbian government and the City of Belgrade government. He was also briefly a member of the National Assembly of Serbia in 2002. During his time as an elected official, Ožegović was a member of the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS).

Early life and career

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Ožegović was born in Belgrade, 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 Economics and worked in the private sector before entering political life.[1]

Politician

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Mayor of New Belgrade and parliamentarian

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Ožegović entered political life as a member of the DS. He was elected to the New Belgrade municipal assembly in the 1996 Serbian local elections as a candidate of the Zajedno (English: Together) alliance, a coalition of parties opposed to the authoritarian rule of Slobodan Milošević.[2] Zajedno won the election for the City Assembly of Belgrade, but their victory was not initially recognized by the authorities; Ožegović, who was not elected to the city assembly in this cycle, took part in protests against the Milošević government and was arrested on two occasions.[3] Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia ultimately formed a new coalition government in New Belgrade following the election, and Ožegović served in opposition in the term that followed.

The DS participated in the 2000 Serbian local elections as a part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, which won landslide victories in both the city of Belgrade and the municipality of New Belgrade. Ožegović was re-elected to the New Belgrade assembly and also elected to the Belgrade city assembly as a DOS candidate.[4][5] He was chosen as president of the municipal assembly in New Belgrade after the election; at the time, this position was equivalent to mayor. In 2001, Transparency International recognized New Belgrade as having the "best new municipal leadership".[6]

The 2000 local elections were held concurrently with the 2000 Yugoslavian general election, which brought about the downfall of the Milošević administration. Serbia subsequently held a new parliamentary election in December 2000, and Ožegović appeared in the 167th position out of 250 on the DOS's electoral list.[7] The DOS won a landslide victory in this election with 176 seats; Ožegović was not, however, initially given a mandate when the assembly met in January 2001.[8] (From 2000 to 2011, mandates in Serbian parliamentary elections were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties and coalitions, irrespective of numerical order. Ožegović did not automatically receive a mandate by virtue of his list position.)[9]

Several members of the national assembly voluntarily resigned or were deprived of their mandates on 12 June 2002, amid the backdrop of serious divisions between the DOS and the Democratic Party of Serbia (Demokratska stranka Sribje, DSS). Ožegović was awarded a mandate as the replacement for another member and served, in this capacity, as part of the administration's parliamentary majority.[10] The resignations and expulsions of 12 June 2002 were later overturned on a technicality; the delegates who left the assembly on that day had their mandates restored, and the mandates of the replacements were revoked.[11] Ožegović later appeared on the DS's lists in the 2003, 2007 and 2008 parliamentary elections, although he was not awarded a mandate on any of these occasions.[12][13][14]

Serbia introduced proportional representation for local elections in 2004 and also separated the positions of the mayor and assembly president. The DS fielded its own lists in the 2004 Serbian local elections. Ožegović led the DS"s list in New Belgrade and was re-elected when the list won a plurality victory with twenty-eight out of sixty-seven seats.[15][16][17] He also received the seventh position on the DS's list in Belgrade and was re-elected when the list won thirty-four seats.[18] He was confirmed for a second term as mayor of New Belgrade following the election.[19]

Member of the Belgrade City Council

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Ožegović did not seek re-election in New Belgrade in 2008, although he appeared on the DS-led For a European Belgrade list at the city level.[20] The results of the 2008 Belgrade election were initially inconclusive, although For a European Serbia eventually formed an administration with the Socialist Party of Serbia. Ožegović was not given an assembly mandate but was instead appointed to the Belgrade city council (i.e., the executive branch of the city government) in December 2008 and served in this role for the term that followed.[21][22]

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Ožegović received the twelfth position on the DS's Choice for a Better Belgrade list and was re-elected to the assembly when the list won a plurality victory with fifty seats.[23] He also received the second position on the party's list for New Belgrade (after Aleksandar Šapić) and was re-elected when the list won thirty-one mandates.[24][25] He was re-appointed to another term on the city council and so resigned both assembly mandates soon thereafter.[26][27][28] He served on council until 24 September 2013, shortly before the defeat of Dragan Đilas's city administration.[29]

He also served as president of the board for the Belgrade International Book Fair during this time.[30]

Council of Europe

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Ožegović was a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in the Council of Europe from 2004 to 2013. He led the delegation from Serbia and Montenegro in the 2006–07 term and led Serbia's delegation from 2007 to 2013.[31]

Mayoral candidate in Belgrade

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Ožegović left the DS in early 2014 and joined the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalno demokratska partija, LDP). He appeared in the lead position on the latter party's electoral list in the 2014 Belgrade City Assembly election and in this role was the party's candidate for mayor.[32][33] While he ran a high-profile campaign, the party ultimately fell below the electoral threshold to win representation in the city assembly.

State Secretary

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Ožegović was appointed as a state secretary in Serbia's ministry of public administration and local self-government in May 2014. The ministry was run by a non-party "expert" in this period, and Ožegović was appointed as a non-partisan representative.[34] In October 2014, he indicated that he would make it easier for citizens to obtain municipal documents electronically via the national portal eUprava.[35] He was also active in targeting Serbia's gray economy, particularly in areas such as tobacco sales.[36][37] He remained in the ministry until 2017.

Electoral record

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Local (City Assembly of Belgrade)

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2000 City of Belgrade election
New Belgrade Division VII[38]
Ivan Bakić Serbian Renewal Movement
Paja Momčilov Serbian Radical Party
Željko Ožegović Democratic Opposition of Serbia Elected
Dejan Stjepanović Socialist Party of Serbia–Yugoslav Left

References

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  1. ^ Ministry of Public Administration and Self-Government – Secretaries of State, Archived 2016-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Government of Serbia, 16 December 2016, accessed 11 August 2021.
  2. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 22 January 1997, p. 2. He was elected for the tenth division.
  3. ^ "Two representatives of opposition coalition arrested in Serbia," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans (Source: Beta news agency in Serbo-Croat 1353 1 December 96).
  4. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 46 Number 15 (20 October 2000), p. 469-470.
  5. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), 6 November 2000, p. 538. He was elected for the thirteenth division in New Belgrade.
  6. ^ Ministry of Public Administration and Self-Government – Secretaries of State, Archived 2016-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Government of Serbia, 16 December 2016, accessed 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (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), Republika Srbija – Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.
  8. ^ PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 11 January 2001, accessed 18 July 2021.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ DRUGO VANREDNO ZASEDANJE, 12.06.2002., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 17 July 2021.
  11. ^ Milan Milošević, "Mrtve duše živih poslanika", Vreme, 8 August 2002, accessed 18 July 2021.
  12. ^ He received the 114th position in 2003. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), Republika Srbija – Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.
  13. ^ He received the 178th position in 2007. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Демократска странка – Борис Тадић), Republika Srbija – Republička izborna komisija, accessed 10 July 2021.
  14. ^ He received the 153rd position on the party's For a European Serbia list in 2008. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (ЗА ЕВРОПСКУ СРБИЈУ – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), Republika Srbija – Republička izborna komisija, accessed 10 July 2021.
  15. ^ In the 2004 local elections, the first one-third of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. See Law on Local Elections, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 33/2002; made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021.
  16. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 24 (8 September 2008), p. 55.
  17. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 28 (21 September 2004), p. 3.
  18. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 24 (8 September 2008), p. 2.
  19. ^ "Željko Ožegović, novi-stari predsednik Novog Beogradac", Glas javnosti, 17 November 2004, accessed 11 August 2021.
  20. ^ Ožegović appeared in the seventy-eighth position. See Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 52 Number 12 (30 April 2008), p. 2.
  21. ^ Ministry of Public Administration and Self-Government – Secretaries of State, Archived 2016-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Government of Serbia, 16 December 2016, accessed 11 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Gojković i Ožegović novi članovi gradskog Veća", 16 December 2008, accessed 11 August 2021.
  23. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 56 Number 21 (25 April 2012), p. 1.
  24. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 56 Number 21 (25 April 2012), p. 41.
  25. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 56 Number 25 (7 May 2012), p. 2.
  26. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 56 Number 35 (12 June 2012), p. 5.
  27. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 56 Number 36 (13 June 2012), p. 2.
  28. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 56 Number 43 (12 July 2012), p. 14.
  29. ^ Ministry of Public Administration and Self-Government – Secretaries of State, Archived 2016-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Government of Serbia, 16 December 2016, accessed 11 August 2021.
  30. ^ "China receives Open Book of 58th Belgrade Book Fair as next year's guest of honor country," Xinhua News Agency, 27 October 2013, 16:38.
  31. ^ Ministry of Public Administration and Self-Government – Secretaries of State, Archived 2016-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Government of Serbia, 16 December 2016, accessed 11 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Ožegović kandidat LDP za gradonačelnika Beograda", Mondo, 29 January 2014.
  33. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 58 Number 15 (5 March 2014), p. 9.
  34. ^ "Danas: Ožegović državni sekretar", B92, 7 May 2014, accessed 11 August 2021.
  35. ^ "Ožegović: Građani će moći efikasnije da ostvaruju prava", Blic, 27 October 2014, accessed 11 August 2021.
  36. ^ "Ožegović: Nagradnom igrom do suzbijanja sive ekonomije", Blic, 25 December 2016, accessed 11 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Ožegović: Podići svest građana o štetnosti sive ekonomije", N1, 1 February 2017, accessed 11 August 2021.
  38. ^ Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 46 Number 13 (15 September 2000), p. 429; Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 46 Number 15 (20 October 2000), p. 469-470.
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