Saša Maksimović (politician)

Saša Maksimović (Serbian Cyrillic: Саша Максимовић; born 17 December 1976) is a politician in Serbia. He served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2008 to 2016 and has been the mayor of Novi Bečej since 2016. Formerly with the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), he has been a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since its founding in 2008.

Early life and career

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Maksimović was born in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was raised in Novi Bečej and trained as a food technology engineer.[1]

Politician

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Serbian Radical Party

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Maksimović ran for the Novi Bečej municipal assembly in the 2000 Serbian local elections as the Radical Party's candidate in the fourth division.[2] Online sources do not indicate if he was elected. The SRS won only one seat in the municipality in this cycle.[3]

Serbia switched to a system of proportional representation for local elections after 2000, and for the 2004 election cycle the country introduced the direct election of mayors. Maksimović appeared in the third position on the Radical Party's electoral list for Novi Bečej in the 2004 local elections and was elected when the list won eight mandates.[4][5][6] Novi Bečej's sitting mayor was defeated in a recall election in 2006, and Maksimović was the Radical Party's candidate in the mayoral by-election that followed. He received the most votes in the first round but was narrowly defeated in the run-off by Milivoj Vrebalov of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned in 2008.

Maksimović received the 127th position on the Radical Party's list in the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election and was awarded a mandate in the national assembly after the list won seventy-eight seats.[7][8] (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 assigned out of numerical order. Maksimović's list position had no formal bearing on his chances of election.)[9] While the election results were inconclusive, the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance eventually formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and the Radicals served in opposition.

He also appeared in the first position on the SRS's list for Novi Bečej in the 2008 local elections, which were held concurrently with the parliamentary vote, and received a new mandate after the list won nine seats.[10][11][12][13] He resigned from the local assembly on 24 July 2008.[14]

Serbian Progressive Party

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The Radical Party experienced a serious split in late 2008, with several members joining the more moderate Serbian Progressive Party under the leadership of Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić. Maksimović sided with the Progressives.[15]

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all mandates were awarded in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Maksimović received the sixty-second position on the Progressive Party's Let's Get Serbia Moving list in the 2012 parliamentary election and was re-elected when the list won seventy-three mandates.[16] The SNS formed a new government with the SPS after the election, and Maksimović served as a government supporter. He also appeared in the lead position on the SNS's list in Novi Bečej for the concurrent the 2012 Serbian local elections and was re-elected when the list won eight mandates, narrowly losing to a coalition list led by the LDP.[17][18] On this occasion, he served in both the republican and local parliaments. The Progressives joined the local government of Novi Bečej in May 2013, and Maksimović became president (i.e., speaker) of the assembly, serving in this role until October 2014.[19]

He was given the 133rd position on the SNS's list in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election and was elected to a third term when the list won a majority victory with 158 mandates.[20] He did not seek re-election at the republic level in 2016.

Maksimović again led the SNS's list in Novi Bečej for the 2016 Serbian local elections and, on this occasion, led the party to a plurality victory with fourteen out of thirty-one seats.[21][22] The SNS formed a coalition government after the vote, and Maksimović was chosen as mayor.[23] He led the list to a majority victory in the 2020 local elections and was confirmed afterward for another term in office.[24][25][26]

In September 2021, he signed a deal with the neighbouring municipality of Kikinda for shared services in the field of animal hygiene.[27]

Electoral record

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Municipal (Novi Bečej)

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2006 Novi Bečej municipal by-election
Mayor of Novi Bečej - First and Second Round Results
[28][29]
Candidate Party or Coalition Votes % Votes %
Milivoj Vrebalov Miša Liberal Democratic Party 1,696 20.76 4,136 50.89
Saša Maksimović Serbian Radical Party 2,013 24.64 3,992 49.11
Radoslav Čokić Democratic Party of Serbia 1,203 14.72
Aca T. Ðukičin Democratic Party 1,021 12.50
Zoran Trifunac Citizens' Group: Zoran Trifunac and Citizens 793 9.71
Branimir Lisičin Socialist Party of Serbia 598 7.32
Petar Kerkez Citizens' Group: Da Pobedimo Prošlost 558 6.83
Momir Mandić Moma Party of United Pensioners of Serbia 288 3.53
Total valid votes 8,170 100 8,128 100

References

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  1. ^ ПРЕДСЕДНИК ОПШТИНЕ, Municipality of Novi Bečej, accessed 4 November 2021.
  2. ^ Velika Srbija [Radical Party publication], Volume 11 Number 1201 (September 2000), p. 18.
  3. ^ Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 37.
  4. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 40 Number 6 (6 September 2004), p. 137.
  5. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 40 Number 10 (20 September 2004), p. 2.
  6. ^ In the 2004 local elections, the first one-third of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Maksimović received the SRS's third and final automatic mandate. See Law on Local Elections Archived 2021-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 33/2002; made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021.
  7. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године (ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ – 4 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - Др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.
  8. ^ 11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 4 November 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. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 44 Number 3 (29 April 2008), p. 54.
  11. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 44 Number 4 (12 May 2008), p. 62.
  12. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 44 Number 5 (30 May 2008), p. 78.
  13. ^ For the 2008 local elections, all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. See Law on Local Elections (2007) Archived 2022-03-17 at the Wayback Machine, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 129/2007); made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021. Maksimović did not automatically receive a mandate by virtue of leading the list.
  14. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 44 Number 9 (24 July 2008), pp. 171-172.
  15. ^ "Novi Bečej: Smenjen predsednik radikala", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 10 September 2008, accessed 4 November 2008.
  16. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. маj 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 ПОКРЕНИМО СРБИЈУ - ТОМИСЛАВ НИКОЛИЋ (Српска напредна странка, Нова Србија, Асоцијација малих и средњих предузећа и предузетника Србије, Коалиција удружења избјеглица у Републици Србији, Покрет снага Србије - БК, Народна сељачка странка, Бошњачка народна странка, Демократска партија Македонаца, Ромска партија, Покрет влашког уједињења, Покрет социјалиста, Покрет привредни препород Србије)), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 4 November 2021 2021.
  17. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 47 Number 9 (21 April 2012), p. 345.
  18. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 47 Number 10 (7 May 2012), p. 354.
  19. ^ ПРЕДСЕДНИК ОПШТИНЕ, Municipality of Novi Bečej, accessed 4 November 2021.
  20. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - БУДУЋНОСТ У КОЈУ ВЕРУЈЕМО (Српска напредна странка, Социјалдемократска партија Србије, Нова Србија, Српски покрет обнове, Покрет социјалиста)), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 3 November 2021.
  21. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 50 Number 10 (13 April 2016), p. 2.
  22. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 50 Number 12 (25 April 2016), pp. 1-2.
  23. ^ "Saša Maksimović novi predsednik opštine Novi Bečej", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 25 May 2016, accessed 3 November 2021.
  24. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 54 Number 13 (10 June 2020), p. 11.
  25. ^ Službeni List (Opština Novi Bečej), Volume 44 Number 17 (22 June 2020), p. 1.
  26. ^ "Izabrani predsednici opština u Sečnju, Novom Bečeju, Žitištu i Novoj Crnji", Zrenjaninski, 21 August 2020, accessed 30 April 2021.
  27. ^ "POTPISAN SPORAZUM: Kikinda i Novi Bečej će ubuduće sarađivati u oblasti zoohigijene", Novosti, 3 September 2021, accessed 4 November 2021.
  28. ^ Službeni List (Opštine Novi Bečej), Volume 42 Number 15 (5 June 2006), pp. 191-192.
  29. ^ "Izbori u Novom Bečeju", B92, 18 June 2006, accessed 30 October 2021.