Tomislav Nikolić
Tomislav Nikolić | |
|---|---|
| File:TomaNikolic.jpg | |
| Speaker of Parliament of Serbia | |
| In office May 8, 2007 – May 13, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Predrag Markovic |
| Succeeded by | Oliver Dulić |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 15, 1952 Kragujevac, Serbia |
| Nationality | Serb |
| Political party | Serbian Radical Party |
| Spouse | Dragica Nikolić |
| Children | Radomir, Branislav |
| Residence(s) | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Profession | Construction Technician |
Tomislav "Toma" Nikolić (Serbian: Томислав "Тома" Николић, ) (born February 15 1952) is the deputy leader of the Serbian Radical Party. He is temporarily serving as the leader of the SRS because Vojislav Šešelj, the current leader, is on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He served as Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia between May 8, and May 13, 2007 and was Minister in the ill-famed Red-Black coalition government of Slobodan Milošević from 1998 to 2000.
Nikolić has published thirteen books as of 2005, mostly about politics. He and his wife Dragica have two sons, Radomir and Branislav. [citation needed]
Biography
Nikolić was born in Kragujevac. He trained as a construction technician, and worked at the construction company "Žegrap". He led the construction of the Belgrade - Bar railway, as well as conducting other works in Majdanpek, Priboj, Prijepolje, Trebinje, Belgrade and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. He headed the investments department of the company "22. decembar" for twelve years. For two years he was the technical director of the communal works in Kragujevac.
In the 1990s, he became a member of the People's Radical Party, which merged with the Serbian Chetnik Movement to form the Serbian Radical Party. Nikolić became a member of the new party on January 23 1991. He was soon elected the party's vice-president, and at the last three Congresses of Serbian Radicals he was elected deputy president.
Nikolić has been a deputy in the National Assembly of Serbia since 1991, the only one to be elected continuously since that year. During the rule of Slobodan Milošević and the Socialist Party of Serbia, he and Šešelj were sentenced to three months in prison which he served in Gnjilane.
However, in March 1998 the SRS went into coalition with the SPS and Nikolić became the vice-president of Serbia and by the end of 1999 the vice-president of the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Nikolić ran in the Serbian presidential election of 2000, finishing in third place behind Vojislav Koštunica and Slobodan Milošević.
Nikolić was also a presidential candidate in the Serbian presidential elections, 2004. In the first round he received 30.1% of the vote and Boris Tadić received 27.3%. In the second round held on June 27 Tadić won the election with 53.7% of the vote[1] compared to Nikolić's 45.4%.
Nikolić is running for a president once again in 2008 election. His slogan is With All Heart (Serbian: Свим срцем, Svim srcem).
Political statements
Nikolić has a significant following in Serbia, but has many critics, who regard him as a member of the far right, incapable of any compromise either with the West or with centrist parties. He is well known for his robustness, sometimes extending to open insult and swearing at political opponents, including from the dispatch box in parliament.[citation needed] On one occasion, when Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was having to use a walking stick due to an injury he sustained to his leg while playing football, Nikolić warned during a speech to his supporters that Tito, the communist leader of Yugoslavia, also had a problem with his leg shortly before his death. This statement achieved retrospective significance due to the assassination of Đinđić a few days later. To many that speech was more than just a coincidence. Nikolić said he was profoundly sorry and that he would not have spoken as he did if he had known what was about to happen. However, he refused to withdraw his statement that he wasn't sorry for the death of Slavko Ćuruvija, an opposition journalist shot by an unknown gunman during the Milošević regime.
War crime allegations
In 2005 Humanitarian Law Center has asked War Crimes Prosecution Office to start an investigation regarding war crimes committed in village of Antin in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia in August 1991. Survivors of the massacre claimed that it was committed by the members of volunteer units “Šešelj’s followers”, among whom they mentioned Tomislav Nikolić. Inspiration for initiating such a claim were previous statements of Nikolić regarding his involvement in Yugoslav wars. He was awarded a title of chetnik voivode by Vojislav Šešelj for “showing by a personal example how one should fight for the Serb idea in the battles in Slavonia”.[2]
The suspicion that Tomislav Nikolić had taken part in the killing of civilians in Antin was first raised by Žarko Korać, a member of the National Assembly of Serbia, who first revealed that data about Antin massacre has surfaces in an interview to RFE in June 2005. The same month, Vladimir Popović, the former chief of the Government Communications Bureau, has revealed more details in the interview to B92 Insajder saying that he found out about this case from Jovica Stanišić, former head of State Security. [3] Nataša Kandić, human rights activist, wrote in a public letter that she was in possession of evidence that indicates Tomislav Nikolić had personally participated in the killing of the old people in Antin.[4]
Tomislav Nikolić did not deny claims that he was stationed in Antin village at the time but has stated that there were no civilian deaths in Antin and that he himself never fired a bullet. [5]
Speaker of Parliament
Parliamentarians elected Nikolić the Speaker of Parliament on May 8, 2007. Nikolić defeated Milena Milošević the Democratic Party 142 to 99 out of 244 members of Parliament. The Democratic Party of Serbia endorsed him.[6] Hajredin Kuci of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Ylli Hoxha of the Reformist Party ORA, and Prime Minister of Kosovo Agim Çeku condemned the election of Nikolić as "counterproductive and dangerous for Kosovo".[7] On May 9 Nikolić met with Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Alekseyev and gave a speech to Parliament in which he advocated making Serbia part of a Belarus-Russia superstate, saying that together they would "stand up against the hegemony of America and the European Union."[8]
He resigned from his position as speaker on May 13 after the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia formed a preliminary alliance in preparation for a coalition government. He was the Speaker with the shortest mandate in the history of parliamentarism on the Balkans.[6][9] Nikolić told the Democratic parties that if they "peacefully accept" the independence of Kosovo the Radical Party "will not sit calmly and wait."[9]
2008 election campaign
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On January 20, 2008, Nikolić and current Serbian President Boris Tadić won the first round of the Serbian presidential electon with 40% and 35% of the vote, respectively. Since no candidate gained a majority of the vote in the first round, Nikolić and Tadić faced each other in a runoff on February 3. Tadić won the runoff with 52% (to Nikolić's 48%) and gained another 5-year term as President of Serbia.
References
- ^ Sabrina Petra Ramet and Vjeran Pavlaković. Serbia Since 1989: politics and society under Milošević and after. Page 117.
- ^ The Humanitarian Law Center demands investigation of the war crimes in Antin Greek Helsinki Monitor
- ^ Jovica Stanisic: Tomislav Nikolic je pobio desetak baba B92
- ^ Proofs of the Crimes in Antin in 1991 and of the responsibility of Tomislav Nikolić and the Yugoslav National Army Greek Helsinki Monitor
- ^ Intervju: Tomislav Nikolić 15.6.2005. Kurir
- ^ a b Nikolic elected as Serbian parliament speaker People's Daily Online
- ^ Kosovo Condemns Nikolic Appointment Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
- ^ Serbian Parliament Speaker Calls For Closer Russia Ties Radio Free Europe
- ^ a b Serb radical quits as speaker Al Jazeera
