Radovan Radović (politician)

Radović was born in Kamenjača in the municipality of Trstenik, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He attended higher technical and mechanical school in Trstenik and was later a student at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, although he did not graduate. He returned to the Trstenik area after leaving university and worked for a time as director of waterworks maintenance at Prva Petoletka. In 1978, he left this position in order to focus on farming.[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/09/13/srpski/P00091113.shtm "Radovan Radović Raka"], Glas javnosti, 13 September 2000, accessed 13 August 2022. He now operates a fruit and vegetable canning company.[https://www.novosti.rs/c/drustvo/vesti/1058973/ostavio-politiku-sad-kiseli-krastavce-raka-radovic-70-vec-pet-godina-penziji-rodnoj-pocekovini-konzervira-voce-povrce "ОСТАВИО ПОЛИТИКУ ПА САД КИСЕЛИ КРАСТАВЦЕ: Рака Радовић (70) већ пет година у пензији у родној Почековини конзервира воће и поврће"], Novosti, 25 November 2021, accessed 14 August 2022.

Prior to 1990, Radović was a member of the League of Communists of Serbia.[https://www.istinomer.rs/akter/radovan-radovic-raka/ Radovan Radović Raka], istinomer.rs, accessed 14 August 2022.

Radović was first elected to the National Assembly of Serbia in the 1990 parliamentary election, winning in Trstenik's first division. At the time, he was known as a loyalist supporter of SPS leader Slobodan Milošević. The Socialists won a majority victory, and Radović served as a supporter of the administration.

In April 1992, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republics of Serbia and Montenegro created a new federation which they called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The new federal entity had a bicameral parliament, and the members of its upper house (the Chamber of Republics) were nominated by the republican parliaments. Radović was included in Serbia's first delegation to this body in May 1992.Službeni glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 48 Number 34 (27 May 1992), p. 2225. He also continued serving in the Serbian assembly.

Serbia introduced a system of proportional representation for republic-level elections in 1992. Radović was given the ninth position on the SPS's electoral list in Kragujevac for the December 1992 parliamentary election and was awarded a mandate when the list won eleven seats.[http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-1992.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Крагујевац)] and [http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-1992.php 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], Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 30 July 2021.Službeni Glasnik (Republike Srbije), 25 January 1993 (Volume 49 Number 7), p. 194. (From 1992 to 2000, Serbia's electoral law stipulated that one-third of parliamentary mandates would be assigned to candidates on successful lists in numerical order, while the remaining two-thirds would be distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of sponsoring parties or coalitions. Radović did not receive an automatic mandate, though he was included in the SPS's delegation all the same.)[http://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/el00002.pdf Guide to the Early Election] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116211426/https://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/el00002.pdf |date=2022-01-16 }}, Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia, December 1992, made available by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, accessed 14 July 2017. He was also selected for a second term in the Chamber of Republics when the new assembly convened in early 1993.[http://www.yuhistorija.com/doc/InstitutionsAbusedEng.pdf Dušan Bogdanović and Biljana Kovačević Vučo, Institutions Abused: Who Was Who in Serbia, 1987–2000], (Belgrade: Biljana Kovačević Vučo Fund), 2011, pp. 232-233. The Socialists won a minority victory in 1992 and initially governed in an informal alliance with the far-right Serbian Radical Party (Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS).

This SPS–SRS alliance broke down in mid-1993, and another parliamentary election was held in December of that year. Radović received the fifth position on the SPS's list in Kragujevac and was again granted a mandate when the list won twelve seats.[http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-1993.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Крагујевац)] and [http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-1993.php Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 19. и 26. децембра 1993. године и 5. јануара 1994. године], Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 30 July 2021.Službeni Glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 50 Number 11 (25 January 1994), p. 194. The Socialists increased their seat total in this election and afterward formed a new administration with New Democracy (Nova Demokratija, ND). Radović once again served as a government supporter, although he was not re-appointed to the federal parliament.

In parliament, Radović became a minor celebrity for his rustic mannerisms and his rough, often crude, manner of debating. His speeches soon became known as theatrical spectacles, and several of his comments were quoted in Serbian papers for their outrageous quality. In one particularly infamous instance, he invited a female assembly delegate to his farm to measure the length of his corncob. On another occasion, he said that monkeys failed to evolve because they ate bananas instead of more nutritious apples. Radical Party delegate Stevo Dragišić said of Radović, "This man does not fall into the category of human being, but rather of fauna"; it was reported that Radović afterward spat at Dragišić in the assembly hallway.[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/09/13/srpski/P00091113.shtm "Radovan Radović Raka"], Glas javnosti, 13 September 2000, accessed 13 August 2022.[https://serbiandigest.libraries.rutgers.edu/171/acting-director-radio-television-serbias-trstenik-studio "Acting Director of Radio-Television Serbia's Trstenik Studio"], Vreme, 9 January 1995, accessed 13 August 2022.

Radović was appointed as acting director of Radio Television of Serbia's newly created Trstenik studio in 1995.[https://serbiandigest.libraries.rutgers.edu/171/acting-director-radio-television-serbias-trstenik-studio "Acting Director of Radio-Television Serbia's Trstenik Studio"], Vreme, 9 January 1995, accessed 13 August 2022. He was removed after the opposition's victory in the municipality in the 1996 Serbian local elections; after leaving office, he re-entered the studios surreptitiously and left with the station van, a high-range transmitter, and some equipment. He claimed he had personally signed for the materials in question; unsurprisingly, the station disagreed and demanded their return.George Jahn, "Independent television station challenges mighty Serbian TV," Associated Press Newswires, 22 January 1997.

When Slobodan Milošević was chosen as president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in July 1997, Radović and fellow Socialist parliamentarian Dobrivoje Budimirović sang a duet in praise of Milošević in the national assembly, with the words, "Slobodane, Slobodane ti si ko komunista, volimo te, volimo te ko Isusa Hrista." (English: "Slobodan, Slobodan, you are a communist. We love you, we love you like Jesus Christ.")[http://www.yurope.com/nasa-borba/arhiva/Jul97/1607/1607_4.HTM "Slavlje iza zatvorenih vrata u Skupstini Srbije"], Naša borba, 16 July 1997, accessed 26 August 2022.

He was excluded from the SPS's electoral list in the 1997 parliamentary election, apparently because he opposed the party's alliance with the Yugoslav Left (Jugoslovenska Levica, JUL) led by Milošević's wife Mirjana Marković.[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/09/13/srpski/P00091113.shtm "Radovan Radović Raka"], Glas javnosti, 13 September 2000, accessed 13 August 2022. His final term in parliament ended that year.

Radović was excluded from the SPS entirely by its Trstenik branch in 1999, a decision he did not accept as valid.[http://nin.co.rs/1999-12/23/10934.html Ode Raka], NIN, 23 December 1999, accessed 13 August 2022. He later became vice-president of a new party called the Workers' Movement; in the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election, he was the party's list bearer and ran as its lead candidate in Kraljevo.[https://www.nin.co.rs/2000-09/14/14462.html Srboljub Bogdanović, "Idu laste, ostaju svrake"], NIN, 14 September 2000, accessed 13 August 2022.[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/09/13/srpski/P00091113.shtm "Radovan Radović Raka"], Glas javnosti, 13 September 2000, accessed 13 August 2022. The party did not win any seats.ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), p. 57.

The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (Demokratska opozicija Srbije, DOS) defeated the SPS in the 2000 Yugoslavian election, an event that brought about large-scale changes in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics. A new Serbian parliamentary election was held later in the year; prior to the vote, Serbia's electoral system was reformed such that the entire country became a single electoral division and all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions, irrespective of numerical order. Radović joined the newly formed Democratic Socialist Party (Demokratska Socijalistička Partija, DSP) and appeared in the eighth position on its list.[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/12/03/srpski/P00120206.shtm "Radović kod Vučelića"], Glas javnosti, 3 December 2000, accessed 13 August 2000.[http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-2000.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6 Демократска социјалистичка партија – Милорад Вучелић)], Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021. The party did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.

Radović later started a new party called Our Home Serbia.[https://www.danas.rs/vesti/politika/petsto-stranaka-otislo-u-istoriju/ "Petsto stranaka otišlo u istoriju"], Danas, 20 May 2010, accessed 14 August 2020. He was announced as the party's candidate in the September–October 2002 Serbian presidential election, although he withdrew prior to the vote.[https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2002&mm=08&dd=18&nav_category=11&nav_id=63051 "Branko Kitanovic predsednicki kandidat NKPJ"], B92, 18 August 2002, accessed 14 August 2022. Our Home Serbia contested the 2003 parliamentary election as part of the For National Unity alliance, and Radović appeared in the fifth position on its list."Agency details new alliances on Serbian political scene ahead of 28 December election," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 November 2003.[http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-2003.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (8. "ЗА НАРОДНО ЈЕДИНСТВО" проф. БОРИСЛАВ ПЕЛЕВИЋ И МАРИЈАН РИСТИЧЕВИЋ (Странка српског јединства, Народна сељачка странка, Народна странка, Наш дом Србија и Српска странка)], Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 14 August 2022. The list did not cross the electoral threshold.

He last sought election to the national assembly in the 2007 parliamentary election, when he was granted a position on a coalition list of the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (Partija ujedinjenih penzionera Srbije, PUPS) and the Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska partija, SDP).Radović appeared in the 175th position. See [http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-2007.php Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (9 Партија уједињених пензионера Србије (ПУПС) - Др Јован Кркобабић и Социјалдемократска партија (СДП) - Др Небојша Човић)], Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021. This list, too, did not cross the threshold.

He called for creating a club for former parliamentarians in 2018.[https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/politika/aktuelno.289.html:727400-%D0%91%D0%B8%D1%9F%D0%B0-%D0%B8-%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0-%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5-%D0%BA%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B1-%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0 "Bidža i Raka traže klub veterana"], Novosti, 15 May 2018, accessed 14 August 2022.

Serbia briefly introduced the direct election of mayors in the 2004 Serbian local elections, and Radović was elected as mayor of Trstenik in the second round of voting. He served in office for a single term. Following the 2008 local elections, he became an advisor to his successor, Stevan Đaković of the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS). He was removed from this position in 2010 after representing the municipality in the media without authorization.[https://www.istinomer.rs/akter/radovan-radovic-raka/ Radovan Radović Raka], istinomer.rs, accessed 14 August 2022.

Serbia's electoral laws were again reformed in 2011, such that mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Radović contested the 2012 local elections at the head of his own Movement for the Municipality of Trstenik list, which narrowly missed crossing the electoral threshold.[http://www.cesid.org/lt/articles/rezultati-izbora-2012/ REZULTATI IZBORA 2012 (Trstenik - Rezultati izbora 2012.)], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728181036/http://www.cesid.org/lt/articles/rezultati-izbora-2012/ |date=2012-07-28}}, Center for Free Elections and Democracy, accessed 20 December 2021; [https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2012/Pdf/G20126016.pdf ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012.], Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 13, 71.

In 2013, Radović joined the Serbian Progressive Party.[https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/politika/aktuelno.289.html:465204-Radovan-Raka-Radovic-usao-u-SNS "Radovan Raka Radović ušao u SNS"], Novosti, 23 November 2013, accessed 14 August 2022. He appeared in the forty-first position (out of forty-nine) on the party's list in Trstenik in the 2016 local elections.Službeni List (Opštine Trstenik), 2016 Volume 3 (13 April 2016), p. 4. This appears to have been a largely nominal candidacy; election from this position was unlikely, and he was not elected when the list won nineteen seats.Službeni List (Opštine Trstenik), 2016 Number 5, pp. 1-2.

{{Election results

| caption = 2004 Municipality of Trstenik local election
Mayor of Trstenik (second round results)

| cand1 = Radovan Radović

| party1 = Citizens' Group: Our Home Serbia

| votes1 = 9053

| cand2 = Goran Miodragović

| party2 = Democratic Party

| votes2 = 4791

| valid = 13844

| invalid =

| electorate =

| source = ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ: Председници општина и градова, изабрани на локалним изборима, 2004., {{Cite web |url=http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/Izbori/spisakpn.php?ind=1 |title=REPUBLICKI ZAVOD ZA STATISTIKU - Republike Srbije |access-date=2022-05-25 |archive-date=2010-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003173307/http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/Izbori/spisakpn.php?ind=1 |url-status=bot: unknown }}, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 3 October 2010, accessed 12 July 2021; Lokalni Izbori u Srbiji 2004, {{Cite web |url=http://www.cesid.org/lokalni2004/rezultati.jsp?opstina=80080 |title=Rezultati izbora po opstinama |access-date=2021-07-25 |archive-date=2007-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020650/http://www.cesid.org/lokalni2004/rezultati.jsp?opstina=80080 |url-status=bot: unknown }}, Center for Free Elections and Democracy, 29 July 2007, accessed 25 July 2021.[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2004/10/05/srpski/RG04100401.shtml "Povratak već otpisanih u predsedničke fotelje"], Glas javnosti, 5 October 2004, accessed 14 August 2022.

}}

{{Election results

| caption = 1990 Serbian parliamentary election: Trstenik I

| cand1 = Miroslav Č. Binić

| party1 = Citizens' Group

| cand2 = Dušan Glišić

| party2 = Citizens' Group

| cand3 = Nikola Jovanović

| party3 = Serbian Renewal Movement

| cand4 = Petar Marinković

| party4 = People's Radical Party

| cand5 = Ljubodrag Matić

| party5 = Party of the Union of Serbian Peasants

| cand6 = Momčilo Milićević

| party6 = Citizens' Group

| cand7 = Sonja J. Mirić

| party7 = Democratic Party

| cand8 = Ljubodrag Obradović

| party8 = Citizens' Group

| cand9 = Radovan Radović (***WINNER***)

| party9 = Socialist Party of Serbia

| cand10 = Saša Rašković

| party10 = Citizens' Group

| source = [http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-1990.php 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)], Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 9 April 2022; [http://arhiva.rik.parlament.gov.rs/arhiva-izbori-za-narodne-poslanike-1990.php 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)], Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 April 2022.

}}

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radovic, Radovan}}

Category:1951 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Trstenik, Serbia

Category:Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)

Category:Members of the Chamber of Republics (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Category:Mayors of places in Serbia

Category:Socialist Party of Serbia politicians

Category:Workers' Movement (Serbia) politicians

Category:Democratic Socialist Party (Serbia) politicians

Category:Our Home Serbia politicians

Category:Serbian Progressive Party politicians