Wikipedia

Radivoje Lazarević

Radivoje Lazarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Радивоје Лазаревић; born 18 January 1962) is a Serbian former politician and diplomat. He was briefly a member of the Serbian parliament in 2001, served as ambassador to Brazil from 2001 to 2005, and led Liberals of Serbia (LS; previously known as New Democracy) from 2005 to 2007.

Early life and career

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Lazarević was born in the village of Oglađenovac in Valjevo, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He became active as an amateur radio operator in high school and has won several awards in the field, including at an international level.[1][2][3][4] In May 1981, while serving as a cadet-corporal, he won first place in a Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) radio-telegraph competition for soldiers.[5]

He is a graduate of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and later earned a master's degree in the same discipline.[6][7]

Politician

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Early years

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Lazarević was a delegate to the republican conference of the Socialist Youth Union of Serbia in the late 1980s.[8] In July 1990, he became a member of the inaugural presidential board of the successor Social Democratic Youth Alliance of Serbia — New Democracy. In a speech to assembled delegates at the new party's formation, he said that the "youth party" would fight for parliamentary government, civil liberal democracy, and a society based on social and political justice.[9] A month after its formation, the party changed its name to New Democracy – Movement for Serbia.

During the 1990s, Serbian political life was dominated by the authoritarian rule of Slobodan Milošević, leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Lazarević ran as a New Democracy candidate for New Belgrade's second division in the 1990 Serbian parliamentary election and was defeated in the first round of voting; the winning candidate was high-profile Socialist Bogdan Trifunović. New Democracy subsequently joined the Democratic Movement of Serbia (DEPOS) opposition coalition, which was led by the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO).

Prior to the 1992 parliamentary election, Serbia adopted a system of proportional representation in which one-third of the national assembly mandates were assigned to candidates on successful electoral lists in numerical order, with the remaining two-thirds assigned to other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions.[10] Lazarević, who was by this time a vice president of New Democracy,[11] appeared in the twenty-sixth position on the DEPOS list for Belgrade.[12] The list won fifteen seats, and he did not receive a mandate.[13][14] In January 1993, he represented New Democracy in all-party talks with Federal Republic of Yugoslavia president Dobrica Ćosić on the formation of a new federal government.[15]

Alliance with the Socialist Party

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The Socialist Party won 123 out of 250 seats in the 1993 Serbian parliamentary election and achieved a parliamentary majority in February 1994 through a coalition government with New Democracy, which had six seats. New Democracy leader Dušan Mihajlović justified the alliance on the grounds that the party could more effectively influence Serbian politics in government than in opposition.[16]

Lazarević became president of New Democracy's executive board in March 1994.[17] He supported resolution of the ongoing wars in Croatia and Bosnia by peaceful, diplomatic means, including direct negotiations between the warring parties.[18][19] In May 1995, he argued that the international community should change its view that Serbs alone were responsible for the conflicts and lift ongoing sanctions against Yugoslavia.[20] Just before the start of Croatia's Operation Storm in August 1995, he called on the international community to stop Croatian president Franjo Tuđman's "aggressive policy," which he described as "currently the biggest obstacle to peace in those areas."[21]

When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began bombing the Republika Srpska (RS) later in August 1995, Lazarević said, "Although the international community used a problematic occasion for this attack, we still believe that a large part of the blame lies with the RS leadership."[22] He subsequently welcomed the Dayton Agreement to end the Bosnian conflict.[23]

Lazarević was again chosen as a New Democracy vice president in March 1997.[24] In June of the same year, he took part in multi-party discussions organized by the Serbian government on the financing of political parties.[25][26] During the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election (in which he was not a candidate), he called for the normalization of relations with all surrounding countries and for Yugoslavia to join the Partnership for Peace.[27][28]

Dušan Mihajlović submitted his resignation as New Democracy leader in late October 1997, and Lazarević briefly served as the party's acting president; on 8 November 1997, the party presidency reaffirmed its confidence in Mihajlović.[29] In February 1998, Lazarević represented New Democracy in talks with incoming Serbian prime minister Mirko Marjanović on the formation of a new republican government.[30] New Democracy was not included in the new government and later ended its alliance with the Socialists.

DOS representative and diplomat

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In 2000, New Democracy joined the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties opposed to Slobodan Milošević's continued rule. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, and Milošević fell from power on 5 October 2000, a watershed moment in Serbian politics. Serbia's government also fell after Milošević's defeat, and a new republican parliamentary election was called for December 2000.

Prior to the December 2000 vote, Serbia's electoral laws were changed so that the entire country became a single "at-large" electoral division and all parliamentary mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions, irrespective of numerical order.[31] Lazarević was New Democracy's lead candidate in the election, appearing in the fifth position on the DOS list.[32] The DOS won a landslide victory with 176 and 250 seats, and he was awarded an assembly mandate, taking his seat when the new parliament convened in January 2001.[33]

Lazarević's term in the national assembly was ultimately brief. He officially resigned his seat on 10 May 2001,[34] having been appointed as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's ambassador to Brazil. On 13 June 2001, he presented his credentials to Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso.[35] He continued to serve as ambassador when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was restructured as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003; his term ended in April 2005.[36] Lazarević later said that he needed to learn tennis, golf, and bridge to be accepted as a member of the diplomatic corps.[37]

New Democracy changed its name to Liberals of Serbia in 2003 and contested that year's Serbian parliamentary election on its own. Lazarević appeared in the symbolic next-to-last position (i.e., 248th) on the party's electoral list.[38] The list did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.

Liberals of Serbia leader

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Lazarević succeeded Dušan Mihajlović as LS leader in early October 2005. Mihajlović said that he had been planning to resign in favour of Lazarević for some time but could not do so while the latter was still serving as ambassador to Brazil. By the time Lazarević became party leader, Liberals of Serbia had become a fairly marginal force within Serbian politics.[39]

Lazarević led Liberals of Serbia into an alliance with the Serbian Renewal Movement for the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election and appeared in the ninety-seventh position on the SPO's electoral list, which was mostly alphabetical.[40] This list, too, failed to cross the electoral threshold. He resigned as party leader in May 2007 and was succeeded by Miroslav Stefanović.[41][42]

Electoral record

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National Assembly of Serbia

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1990 Serbian parliamentary election: New Belgrade II
CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Dr. Bogdan TrifunovićSocialist Party of Serbia48.59elected
Branislav Crnčević (incumbent)Serb Democratic Party24.98defeated
Radivoje LazarevićNew Democracy – Movement for Serbiadefeated
Božidar NikolićDemocratic Partydefeated
Dr. Nedeljka PavlovićSerbian Renewal Movementdefeated
Dragana PetrićSerbian National Renewaldefeated
Rade RadovanovićAssociation for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative–
Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia in Serbia
(Affiliation: Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative)		defeated
Dr. Mila VidinGreen Partydefeated
Total
Source: [43][44][45] All candidates except Trifunović and Crnčević are listed alphabetically.

References

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  1. ↑ Borba, 21 December 1978, p. 8.
  2. ↑ Borba, 12 January 1979, p. 9.
  3. ↑ Borba, 30 June 1986, p. 16.
  4. ↑ Borba, 9 December 1989, p. 19.
  5. ↑ Borba, 26 May 1981, p. 12.
  6. ↑ Руководство Либерала Србије, Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, Liberals of Serbia, 18 January 1962, accessed 20 June 2026.
  7. ↑ "Promena spremana 15 godina," Archived 2018-11-01 at the Wayback Machine, 4 October 2005, accessed 22 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Borba, 21 October 1988, p. 6.
  9. ↑ Borba, 11 July 1990, p. 5.
  10. ↑ Guide to the Early Election Archived 2022-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia, December 1992, made available by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, accessed 14 July 2017.
  11. ↑ Borba, 7 December 1992, p. 27.
  12. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Београд), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.
  13. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.
  14. ↑ Službeni Glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 49 Number 7 (25 January 1993), pp. 193–194.
  15. ↑ Borba, 9 January 1993, p. 3.
  16. ↑ Robert Thomas, Serbia Under Miloševic: Politics in the 1990s, (London: Hurst & Company), 1999, pp. 191-192.
  17. ↑ Borba, 14 March 2004, p. 5.
  18. ↑ Borba, 17 June 1994, p. 4.
  19. ↑ Borba, 10 March 1995, p. 6.
  20. ↑ Borba, 19 May 1995, p. 6.
  21. ↑ Borba, 4 August 1995, p. 7.
  22. ↑ Borba, 1 September 1995, p. 6.
  23. ↑ Borba, 22 November 1995, p. 7.
  24. ↑ Borba, 11 March 1997, p. 2.
  25. ↑ Borba, 25 June 1997, p. 3.
  26. ↑ Borba, 26 June 1997, p. 10.
  27. ↑ Borba, 27 August 1997, p. 2.
  28. ↑ Borba, 17 September 1997, p. 3.
  29. ↑ Borba, 27 October 1997, pp. 1–2.
  30. ↑ Borba, 27 February 1998, p. 7.
  31. ↑ 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, Archived 2021-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 6 June 2021.
  32. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 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), Archived 2023-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
  33. ↑ PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 22 January 2001, accessed 16 May 2026.
  34. ↑ DRUGA SEDNICA, PRVOG REDOVNOG ZASEDANjA, 10.05.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 10 May 2001, accessed 22 June 2026.
  35. ↑ Borba, 14 June 2001, p. 3.
  36. ↑ Borba, 20 April 2005, p. 1.
  37. ↑ "'Ovde sam kao svoja na svome! Sebe za dvadeset godina vidim kao ministra za rad i socijalna pitanja'," Vreme, 14 December 2005, accessed 22 June 2026. The quotation in the article title is not from Lazarević.
  38. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (13. ЛИБЕРАЛИ СРБИЈЕ - ДУШАН МИХАЈЛОВИЋ), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
  39. ↑ "Promena spremana 15 godina," Archived 2018-11-01 at the Wayback Machine, 4 October 2005, accessed 22 June 2026.
  40. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 Српски покрет обнове - Вук Драшковић), Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
  41. ↑ "Uticajni drugi ljudi", Politika (reprinted at vesti.rs), 23 September 2007, accessed 2 May 2026.
  42. ↑ "18. 11. 2007 ОДРЖАНА XII ВАНРЕДНА СКУПШТИНА ЛИБЕРАЛА СРБИЈЕ," Archived 2009-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, Liberals of Serbia, 18 November 2007, accessed 2 May 2026.
  43. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 9. и 23. децембра 1990. године (Листе кандидата за народне посланике Народне скупштине Републике Србије, по изборним јединицама), Archived 2020-08-09 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 July 2025.
  44. ↑ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 9. и 23. децембра 1990. године (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије 9. и 23. децембра 1990. године), Archived 2020-08-09 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 July 2025.
  45. ↑ Magyar Szó, 13 December 1990, p. 4.
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