Tamara Milenković Kerković (Serbian Cyrillic: Тамара Миленковић Керковић; born 28 January 1965) is a Serbian lawyer, academic, and politician. She served in the Serbian national assembly from 2022 to 2024 and is now a member of the Niš city assembly. Formerly a prominent member of Dveri, Milenković Kerković left the party in September 2024.
Tamara Milenković Kerković | |
|---|---|
Тамара Миленковић Керковић | |
 Milenković Kerković in 2023 | |
| Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia | |
| In office 1 August 2022 – 6 February 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 January 1965 Niš, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Political party | Dveri (until 2024) |
She has been described as a conservative environmentalist.[1]
Early life and career
editMilenković Kerković was born in Niš, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Niš Faculty of Law (1990) and a master's degree (1996) and Ph.D. (2003) from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. Milenković Kerković began working at the University of Niš Faculty of Economics in 1992 and became a full professor in the field of commercial law in 2014. She has published widely in her field.[2]
Politician
editMilenković Kerković joined the right-wing Dveri party in 2016. Before this time, she was not a member of any political party. She ultimately became one of Dveri's vice-presidents and the leader of its city board in Niš.[3]
Parliamentarian
editDveri contested the 2022 Serbian parliamentary election in an alliance with Žika Gojković's branch of the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia (POKS). Milenković Kerković was given the fifth position on the combined list of the parties and was elected when the list won ten mandates.[4] The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its allies won the election, and Dveri served in opposition.
During her parliamentary term, Milenković Kerković was a member of the labour committee[a] and the culture and information committee, a deputy member of Serbia's delegation to the South-East European Cooperation Process parliamentary assembly, the leader of Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with Sri Lanka, and a member of its friendship groups Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, and Qatar.[5]
In a March 2023 interview, Milenković Kerković said that the decision of western governments to recognize the Republic of Kosovo set a dangerous precedent that risked exacerbating national difficulties in Spain, Cyprus, and other European states with secessionist movements. In the same interview, she recounted Dveri's activities in opposing school textbooks that included what she described as "LGBT ideology" and "gender ideology."[6]
Dveri contested the 2023 Serbian parliamentary election in an alliance with the far-right Serbian Party Oathkeepers (SSZ). Milenković Kerković appeared in the eighth position on their combined list, which did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.[7] She resigned from all positions in Dveri after the election.[8] Her parliamentary term ended when the new assembly convened in February 2024.
2024 local elections
editMilenković Kerković called for all parties opposed to the governing SNS to unite on a single list for Niš in the 2024 Serbian local elections.[9] While this did not happen, several opposition parties came together to form the We Choose Niš alliance. Dveri was not officially part of the alliance, but Milenković Kerković received the second position on its list, and another Dveri representative named Andrej Mitić was given the tenth position.[10] Formally, both candidates were endorsed by the People's Movement of Serbia (NPS).[11]
The 2024 city assembly results in Niš were extremely contentious: the SNS alliance and the Russian Party won a combined one-seat majority, and the opposition parties charged electoral fraud.[12] This notwithstanding, the SNS's victory was ultimately certified by the city authorities, and the party continues to dominate political life in the city. The We Choose Niš alliance won ten seats, and both Milenković Kerković and Mitić were elected as opposition members.[13]
Milenković Kerković left Dveri in September 2024, as did Mitić.[8] They issued a joint statement announcing their decision, saying they disagreed with the direction of the incoming party leadership but would continue to promote principles of national democracy, direct democracy, and what they described as "green patriotism."[14]
Notes
edit- ^ Formally known as the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion, and Poverty Reduction.
References
edit- ^ Miladinović, Zorica (26 September 2024). "Konzervativna ekološkinja: Ko je Tamara Milenković Kerković, bivša narodna poslanica koja je napustila Dveri?". Danas (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ Curriculum Vitae (English) – Tamara Milenković Kerković, University of Niš Faculty of Economics, accessed 23 July 2023.
- ^ Проф. др Тамара Миленковић Керковић, Archived 2024-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, Dveri, accessed 23 July 2023.
- ^ Vojin Radovanović, "Ko su kandidati za poslanike na listi Patriotskog bloka za kraljevinu Srbiju?", Danas, 23 February 2022, accessed 20 July 2023.
- ^ TAMARA Prof. Dr MILENKOVIC KERKOVIC, Archived 2023-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, 29 September 2023, accessed 13 June 2024.
- ^ "'The recognition of Kosovo sets a catastrophic precedent in Europe': An Interview with Tamara Milenković Kerković", The European Conservative, 5 March 2023, accessed 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Proglašena izborna lista stranke Zavetnici i pokreta Dveri: Pogledajte ko su kandidati", Danas, 5 November 2023, accessed 22 April 2024.
- ^ a b Beograd, N1 (2024-09-26). "Radmila Vasić, Tamara Milenković Kerković i Andrej Mitić napustili Dveri". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-09-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Tamara Radovanović, "Izbori u Nišu: Ko hoće na zajedničku opozicionu listu, ko se premišlja, a ko izričito odbija", Južne vesti, 1 March 2024, accessed 13 June 2024.
- ^ Službeni List (Grada Niša), Volume 32 Number 51 (17 May 2024), p. 5.
- ^ ИЗБОРНА ЛИСТА КАНДИДАТА ЗА ОДБОРНИКЕ СКУПШТИНЕ ГРАДА НИША БИРАМО НИШ-ЂОРЂЕ СТАНКОВИЋ, Izbori 2024, Niš City Election Commission, accessed 13 June 2024.
- ^ "Čija pobeda u Nišu je nesporna: Još se čeka zvanično proglašenje pobednika", N1, 5 June 2024, accessed 7 June 2024.
- ^ РЕЗУЛТАТИ ГЛАСАЊА ЗА ОДБОРНИКЕ СКУПШТИНЕ ГРАДА НИША ПО БИРАЧКИМ МЕСТИМА, Niš City Election Commission, 1 July 2024, accessed 15 September 2024.
- ^ Ljubica Jocić, "Odbornici Skupštine Niša napustili pokret Dveri", Južne vesti, 26 September 2024, accessed 18 October 2024.