Branislav Bogaroški

Branislav Bogaroški (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав Богарошки; born 9 November 1976) is a politician in Serbia. He is a member of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV), currently serving as a party vice-president and as the leader of the party's parliamentary group in the Assembly of Vojvodina. He was previously a vice-president of Vojvodina's government and provincial secretary responsible for agriculture, water management, and forestry from 2014 to 2016.

Early life and career

Bogaroški was born in Novi Sad, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He received his early education in Zrenjanin and later graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. He has worked at the Novi Sad municipal court and been the director of the public transit company JGSP Novi Sad.[1]

Political career

Bogaroški became a member of the LSV in 1996. He sought election to the National Assembly of Serbia in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election, appearing in the twenty-second position on the LSV's Together for Tolerance electoral list.[2] The list did not cross the electoral threshold to win representation in the assembly. He also ran in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election, receiving the thirty-first position on a coalition list that included the Liberal Democratic Party, the LSV, and other parties.[3] The list won fifteen seats, and he was not selected for a mandate. (From 2000 to 2011, Serbian parliamentary mandates were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than to individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be awarded out of numerical order. Bogaroški could have been awarded a mandate despite his relatively low position on the list – which was in any event mostly alphabetical – though in fact he was not.)[4]

Member of the Assembly of Vojvodina (2008–14)

Bogaroški was first elected to the Vojvodina assembly in the 2008 provincial election; he received the second position on the LSV's Together for Vojvodina list and was included in the party's assembly delegation when the list won five proportional mandates.[5][6] (During this time, half of the seats in the assembly were determined by proportional representation and the other half by constituency elections.) He was subsequently chosen as the party's assembly leader. The election was won by the For a European Vojvodina coalition led by the Democratic Party, with which the LSV was aligned. Bogaroški served as a supporter of the province's coalition government and, in this period, was a vocal advocate for a new constitution that would restore the autonomy taken from Vojvodina two decades earlier.[7]

In late 2008, Bogaroški introduced a proposal for the government of Serbia to provide the equivalent of 840 million Euros to Vojvodina as compensation for having sold Naftna Industrija Srbije, a major petroleum company based in Novi Sad, for what he described as "a pittance." The motion was defeated after failing to win the support of the Democratic Party.[8] Bogaroški later urged the Vojvodina Assembly to be recalled for an emergency session if the Serbian parliament did not approve Vojvodina's new constitution; the constitution was ultimately approved in November 2009.[9]

The electoral systems of both Serbia and Vojvodina were reformed in 2011, such that parliamentary mandates were awarded in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Bogaroški received the fourth position on the LSV's list in the 2012 provincial election and was re-elected when it won eight seats via the proportional system.[10][11] The Democratic Party's alliance and the LSV together won enough seats for a majority, and the LSV continued to serve on the government side. Bogaroški became a vice-president of the LSV at a party convention in December 2012.[12]

The Vojvodina Assembly approved the Declaration on Protecting the Constitutional and Legal Rights of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in May 2013. This document proved contentious, in part because of a clause added by Bogaroški recognizing that the autonomy of Vojvodina is the inalienable historical and natural right of its citizens, as it was established and confirmed by its peoples at the Assembly of the Vojvodina People's Delegates organized by victorious Yugoslav Partisan forces in July 1945. Bogaroški said that this statement affirmed the declaration's anti-fascist values; parties that reject the legitimacy of the 1945 assembly were critical of its inclusion.[13]

Member of the Vojvodina government (2014–16)

The Democratic Party experienced a serious split in 2014, which led to a restructuring of Vojvodina's government on 3 November of that year.[14] Bogaroški was appointed as one of the province's three vice-presidents and as provincial secretary for agriculture, water management, and forestry.[15] In this capacity, he was a frequent critic of Serbia's minister of agriculture and environment, Snežana Bogosavljević Bošković.[16] In 2015, Bogosavljević Bošković proposed leasing part of Serbia's unused state land to investors with thirty-year leases. Bogaroški called for this proposal to be withdrawn, charging that parts of it were unconstitutional and expressing particular concern over a provision that would allow foreign investors to purchase the land after two years.[17][18] He also criticized the Serbian government for reducing farm subsidies[19] and, in 2016, accused it of creating "wild west" conditions of farmland ownership in Sombor via a provision for farmers to continue operating illegally usurped land in return for rental fees.[20]

Member of the Assembly of Vojvodina (2016–)

Bogaroški appeared at the head of the LSV's list in the 2016 provincial election and was re-elected to a third term when the list won nine mandates.[21][22] This election was won by the Serbian Progressive Party and its allies; Bogaroški stood down from his government position, and the LSV moved into opposition. He was also a candidate for the National Assembly in the concurrent 2016 Serbian parliamentary election, receiving the fiftieth position on a combined list of the LSV, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party. This was too low a position for election to be a realistic prospect, and indeed he was not elected when the list won only thirteen mandates.[23]

References

1. "Predstavljanje kandidata i kandidatkinja na izborima u LSV", League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, accessed 23 October 2018.
2. Sedlarević received the 184th list position. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године (ЗАЈЕДНО ЗА ТОЛЕРАНЦИЈУ - ЧАНАК, КАСА, ЉАЈИЋ) Archived 2017-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 9 August 2018.
3. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Либерално демократска партија - Грађански савез Србије - Социјалдемократска унија - Лига социјалдемократа Војводине - Чедомир Јовановић) Archived 2018-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 July 2017.
4. 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.
5. Изборне листе за изборе за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине 11. мај 2008. године, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2018.
6. "О УКУПНИМ РЕЗУЛТАТИМА ИЗБОРА ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ У СКУПШТИНУ АУТОНОМНЕ ПОКРАЈИНЕ ВОЈВОДИНЕ РАСПИСАНИХ ЗА 11. МАЈ 2008. ГОДИНЕ (2008), Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2018.
7. "Vojvodina will Autonomie zurückgewinnen," Deutsche Welle, 16 October 2008.
8. "Serbian daily says statute, NIS sale shaking Vojvodina ruling coalition," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 December 2008 (Source: Glas javnosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 25 Dec 08).
9. "Serbian party to withdraw support for bills unless Vojvodina statute on agenda," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 12 December 2009 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1534 gmt 11 Sep 09).
10. Изборне листе за изборе за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине (Изборна листа 2 - ЛИГА СОЦИЈАЛДЕМОКРАТА ВОЈВОДИНЕ-НЕНАД ЧАНАК - кандидати за посланике) (2012), Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2018.
11. О УКУПНИМ РЕЗУЛТАТИМА ИЗБОРА ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ У СКУПШТИНУ АУТОНОМНЕ ПОКРАЈИНЕ ВОЈВОДИНЕ РАСПИСАНИХ ЗА 06. МАЈ 2012. ГОДИНЕ, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2018.
12. "Bogaroški, Jovanović i Stošić potpredsednici LSV", Blic (Source: Tanjug), 8 December 2012, accessed 23 October 2018.
13. "Serbia's Vojvodina Assembly passes controversial declaration on rights," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 23 May 2013 (Source: Dnevnik, Novi Sad, in Serbian 21 May 13).
14. "Branislav Bogaroški pokrajinski sekretar za poljoprivredu", League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, 3 November 2014, accessed 23 October 2018.
15. By virtue of holding a government, he resigned his seat in the Vojvodina assembly. See Saziv 2012-2016, Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, accessed 23 October 2018.
16. See for instance "Ko pravi socijalne slučajeve od uspešnih seljaka", Vreme, 19 November 2015, accessed 23 October 2018.
17. "Banca Intesa ad Beograd - Daily Report, Aug 21, 2015," Emerging Markets Broker Reports Central Eastern Europe, 21 August 2015.
18. "Vojvodina traži povlačenje izmena Zakona o poljoprivrednom zemljištu", Blic (Source: Beta), 19 August 2015, accessed 23 October 2018.
19. "Bogaroški: Subvencije smanjene tri puta, vojvođanskoj poljoprivredi preti propast", Blic (Source: Beta), 2 February 2016, accessed 23 October 2018.
20. "Somborski poljoprivrednici optužili državu da je legalizovala uzurpaciju zemlje", Blic (Source: Beta), 16 March 2016, accessed 23 October 2018.
21. Изборне листе за изборе за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне покрајине Војводине (Изборна листа 4 - Ненад Чанак – Лига социјалдемократа Војводине – Дигни главу!) (2016), Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2018.
22. О УКУПНИМ РЕЗУЛТАТИМА ИЗБОРА ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ У СКУПШТИНУ АУТОНОМНЕ ПОКРАЈИНЕ ВОЈВОДИНЕ ОДРЖАНИХ 24. АПРИЛА 2016. ГОДИНЕ, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2018.
23. Избори за народне посланике 2016. године » Изборне листе (БОРИС ТАДИЋ, ЧЕДОМИР ЈОВАНОВИЋ - САВЕЗ ЗА БОЉУ СРБИЈУ – Либерално демократска партија, Лига социјалдемократа Војводине, Социјалдемократска странка) Archived 2018-04-27 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 26 January 2017.