Zoran Krasić

Zoran Krasić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Красић; 11 March 1956 – 12 April 2018) was a Serbian politician. He served several terms in the parliaments of both Yugoslavia and Serbia as a member of the nationalist far-right Serbian Radical Party and was Serbia's trade minister from 1998 to 2000.

Zoran Krasić
Krasić in 2012
Born(1956-03-11)11 March 1956
Died12 April 2018(2018-04-12) (aged 62)[1]
Belgrade, Serbia
OccupationPolitician
Political partySerbian Radical Party (1991–2018)

Early life and career

Krasić graduated from the law faculty in Niš and practised law in the city. Near the end of his life, he was based in Belgrade.[2]

Political career

Krasić sought election to the National Assembly of Serbia as a People's Radical Party candidate in Niš's second electoral division in the 1990 Serbian parliamentary election, the first to be held after the re-introduction of multi-party elections in the country.[3] He was not successful; the winning candidate was Mile Ilić of the Socialist Party.[4] The following year, the National Radical Party merged with Vojislav Šešelj's Serbian Chetnik Movement to form the Serbian Radical Party. Krasić led the Radical Party's local committee in Niš in the 1990s and was a vice-president in its national executive at the time of the Kosovo War.[5]

Member of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia

Krasić was elected to the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Chamber of Citizens in the 1992–93 Yugoslavian parliamentary election.[6] The election was won by the Socialist Party and its Montenegrin allies, and the Radical Party served in opposition. Krasić emerged as a notable spokesperson for his party in this period.[7] He was re-elected in the 1996 Yugoslavian election, which was again won by the Socialist Party and its allies.[8] Concurrent with the 1996 federal election, Krasić took part in a hunger strike called by various opposition parties in Niš to protest against what was described as the "flagrant irregularity" of conditions in local elections that benefited the Socialist Party.[9] Krasić subsequently protested the election results, charging unfair practices and "chaos in polling stations," and promised that the Radical Party would try to prevent the functioning of the local assembly.[10]

Serbian cabinet minister

The Radical Party joined a coalition government led by the Socialist Party on March 24, 1998, and Krasić was named as trade minister in the government of Serbian prime minister Mirko Marjanović.[11] The following month, he announced that charges would be pressed against directors of firms that had created "false shortages" in the market and raised their prices following a currency devaluation.[12] He later announced that the trade ministry's priority under his leadership would be to fight against monopolies that had created artificial shortages, introduced price pressures, and imported unneeded raw materials.[13]

Following the start of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, Krasić announced that earnings and pensions would be equalized due to wartime conditions, specifically saying that the gap between the highest and lowest salaries would be reduced to permit a more equal provision of basic necessities. He also said that the government would seek to avoid the use of food coupons.[14] In early May 1999, he announced that Serbia was facing a shortage of gasoline and oil derivatives due to NATO bombs having destroyed the country's oil-refining facilities; he added that the country was also facing a shortage of cigarettes due to the Niš Tobacco Industry only working a few hours a day, when the air-raid sirens were not in force.[15] This notwithstanding, he announced on May 19 that market supplies of agricultural foodstuffs and related products were generally satisfactory given the conditions of war.[16]

The Radical Party threatened to withdraw from government in June 1999, when NATO forces entered Kosovo in the aftermath of the bombing campaign. Krasić was quoted as saying at this time, "We have been deceived by our coalition partners. [...] Where there are no Yugoslav troops, and no Serb police [in Kosovo], there is no state sovereignty."[17] Ultimately, however, the party remained in government.

In late 1999, Krasić announced that Serbia would use "subsidies, bonuses, allowances, tax and contribution relief, and other means" to avoid a price increase of staple goods.[18] Bosnian Serb Television subsequently reported in February 2000 that his ministry had unexpectedly blocked food exports from Yugoslavia to the Republika Srpska.[19]

Krasić stood down from cabinet on October 24, 2000, following Slobodan Milošević's defeat in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, an event that precipitated a broad transformation of Serbian politics. He was defeated in his own bid for re-election to the Yugoslavian parliament in the concurrent parliamentary election.[20]

Member of the National Assembly of Serbia

Krasić received the twenty-fourth position on the Radical Party's electoral list for the 2000 Serbian parliamentary election, in which the entire country was counted as a single electoral constituency.[21] The party won twenty-three seats, and he was not initially included in its parliamentary delegation. (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 mandates to be awarded out of numerical order. Krasić could have been awarded a mandate notwithstanding his position on the list, although in fact he was not.)[22] He was, however, awarded a mandate on March 18, 2003, as a replacement for party leader Vojislav Šešelj, who had resigned to face war crimes charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.[23][24] Krasić was again included on the party's list for the 2003 election and was selected for its assembly delegation when the party won eighty-two seats.[25][26]

In June 2006, Ivana Dulić-Marković, an ethnic Croat from the G17 Plus party, was appointed as a deputy prime minister in Vojislav Koštunica's government. When the appointment was announced in parliament, Krasić responded by accusing Dulić-Marković's family of having been Ustaše during World War II and by making the disparaging comment, "Take your deputy prime minister Dulić-Marković and let her bring her Ustaše to be her advisers [...] That is the same woman who has said that [Milošević's] government slaughtered and transported people in bloody containers, etc..."[27] Krasić's comments were widely condemned;[28] Serbian president Boris Tadić and others described them as hate speech, targeting the minister because of her ethnic origins, while G17 Plus sought to ban the Radical Party over the incident.[29] Aleksandar Vučić, at the time the secretary-general of the Radical Party, responded that Krasić had referred to Ustaše in an ideological rather than an ethnic sense, and dismissed calls for an apology.[30][31] Shortly after the incident, the Radical Party nominated Krasić as one of its choices for Serbia's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a decision that was strongly opposed by the governing parties.[32] The National Assembly ultimately determined that Krasić's remarks did not violate its rule of procedure.[33]

Krasić was again returned to parliament following the 2007 and 2008 elections, in both instances after receiving high positions on the Radical Party's electoral list.[34] He served as part of Šešelj's legal team during this time.[35] In 2008, he spoke at a rally opposing the extradition of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić to The Hague.[36]

The Radical Party experienced a serious split in late 2008, with several members joining the more moderate Serbian Progressive Party under Tomislav Nikolić's leadership. Krasić remained with the Radicals and was a prominent member of its hardline, pro-Šešelj faction.[37] He was selected as chair of the parliamentary finance committee in January 2009, amidst the backdrop of a purging of former-Radicals-turned-Progressives from positions of committee leadership.[38] At around the same time, he was chosen to be the leader of Šešelj's legal defence team.[39] When Šešelj experienced serious health issues in custody in early 2012, Krasić said that the tribunal should end what he described as its "torture" of the Radical Party leader and permit him to return to Serbia.[40]

In 2010, the Radical Party introduced a draft resolution to parliament recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire. At a press conference to announce the legislation, Krasić said, "Under pressure by the international community, some parties are trying to push through the Serbian parliament a resolution on Srebrenica, which would include the term genocide, although what happened in Srebrenica cannot be compared to the plight of Armenians or of over one million people in Rwanda."[41]

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that parliamentary mandates were awarded in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Krasić received the fourth position on the Radical Party's list in the 2012 parliamentary election,[42] but the party failed to cross the electoral threshold to win representation in the assembly. He was again included on the Radical list for the 2014 election, in which the party once again failed to win representation.[43] During the buildup to the latter election, some had suggested the possibility of an alliance between the Radical Party and other right-wing, nationalist parties such as the Democratic Party of Serbia and Dveri. Krasić dismissed this view, arguing that the other parties were compromised by their willingness to co-operate with the European Union and NATO.[44]

The Radicals returned to parliament with the 2016 election, winning twenty-two mandates. Krasić, who received the fifth position on the party's list, was accordingly re-elected.[45] At the time of his death, he was a member of the parliamentary committee on constitutional and legislative issues; a member of the committee on finance, state budget, and control of public spending; and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Iran and Israel.[46] The Radical Party served in opposition throughout all of Krasić's terms in the assembly.

Death

Krasić died on April 12, 2018, after a short illness.[47]

References

  1. "Preminuo potpredsednik SRS Zoran Krasić", N1, 12 April 2018, accessed 13 April 2018.
  2. ZORAN KRASIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 15 October 2017.
  3. 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 17 February 2017.
  4. 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), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017.
  5. "Radicals accuse Yugoslav president of betraying Serbian interest in Kosovo," British Broadcasting Corporation: Central Europe & Balkans, 30 January 1998 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1454 gmt 28 Jan 98).
  6. ИЗБОРИ '92: ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (1993), p. 15. It may be reasonably assumed that Krasić was returned for the Niš electoral division, where the Radical Party won two mandates (p. 35).
  7. "RADICALS WALK OUT OF FEDERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 27 October 1994 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1817 gmt 25 Oct 94).
  8. Krasić's candidacy is mentioned in ЗА НИШ,, ЗА НИШЛИЈЕ, ЗА СРВИЈУ, Velika Srbija [Radical Party publication], October 1996. The Radical Party won one mandate Is Niš in 1996; see ИЗБОРИ '96: ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (1996), p. 57.
  9. "OPPOSITION PARTIES IN NIS, SOUTHERN SERBIA, ON HUNGER STRIKE OVER ELECTION CONDITIONS," British Broadcasting Corporation: Central Europe & Balkans, 29 October 1996 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1342 gmt 27 Oct 96).
  10. "SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY SAYS ELECTIONS IN NIS "ABSOLUTELY IRREGULAR"," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 5 November 1996 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1632 gmt 3 Nov 96).
  11. "Serbia government list," Reuters News, 24 March 1998.
  12. "PRESS DIGEST - Yugoslavia - April 20," Reuters News, 20 April 1998.
  13. Beti Bilandzic, "Serbia blames monopolies for market disruptions," Reuters News, 24 June 1998.
  14. "Daily says government to announce wartime social security programme," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 23 April 1999 (Source: `Blic' web site, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 21 Apr 99).
  15. "L'Otan a détruit des raffineries serbes - ministre du Commerce," Reuters - Les actualités en français, 8 May 1999.
  16. "Trade minister says market supply satisfactory," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 21 May 1999 (Source: Tanjug news agency web site in Serbo-Croat 19 May 99).
  17. Julijana Mojsilovic, "Right-wing radicals pull out of Serbian govt.," Reuters News, 14 June 1999.
  18. "Serbian minister promises no increase in price of food," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 2 December 1999 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 0754 gmt 2 Dec 99).
  19. "Serbian ban on food exports to Bosnian Serbs seen as political," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 10 February 2000 (Source: Bosnian Serb Television, Banja Luka, in Serbo-Croat 1830 gmt 9 Feb 00).
  20. Krasić did not seek re-election in Niš but instead received the Radical Party's second position in the Čukarica division. See "КАНДИДАТИ СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА ЗА ИЗБОР САВЕЗНИХ ПОСЛАНИІКА У ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Velika Srbija [Radical Party publication], September 2000, p. 3. The matter of which electoral division he contested was ultimately somewhat moot; the Radical Party did not win any seats in either division. See ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), pp. 40, 59.
  21. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Српска радикална странка – др Војислав Шешељ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017.
  22. 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.
  23. PRVA SEDNICA, PRVOG REDOVNOG ZASEDANJA, 18.03.2003, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 16 October 2017.
  24. "Serbian party leader Seselj confirms receiving Hague tribunal indictment," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Newsfile, 20 February 2003.
  25. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017.
  26. 27 January 2004 legislature, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 3 August 2017. Krasić received the thirty-eighth position on the party's list.
  27. "Serbian party walks out of parliament after Radicals insult minister," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 6 June 2006 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1444 gmt 6 Jun 06).
  28. See for instance "Daily condemns latest "chauvinistic venom" from Radicals in Serbian Assembly," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 8 June 2006 (Source: Danas, Belgrade, in Serbian 8 Jun 06).
  29. "Serbian party files submission to ban Radical Party with Belgrade court," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 June 2016 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1344 gmt 28 Jun 06). Serbia's state prosecutor rejected the request. See Ben Wetherall, "State Prosecutor Rejects Motion to Ban Serbian Ultra-Nationalist Opposition Party," Global Insight Daily Analysis, 11 August 2006.
  30. "President slams deputies for insulting minister," HINA, 6 June 2006.
  31. "Serbian Radicals say Ustasha remarks have ideological, not ethnic meaning," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 June 2006 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1223 gmt 7 Jun 06).
  32. "Serbia appoints delegations to European bodies," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 21 June 2006 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1513 gmt 21 Jun 06); Norbert Mappes-Niediek, "Parteienstreit in Serbien über Amt des Außenministers Nach der Trennung von Montenegro sind Neuwahlen denkbar," Weser Kurier, 24 June 2006.
  33. "Ethnic Croat party condemns Serbian Assembly decision," HINA, 15 July 2006.
  34. Krasić received the tenth position in 2007 and the eleventh in 2008. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Српска радикална странка - др Војислав Шешељ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017; and Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - Др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017. For his continued membership in the assembly, see 14 February 2007 legislature and 11 June 2008 legislature, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 5 March 2017.
  35. "Serbian Radicals: Hague 'not to recover' from Seselj's hunger strike 'victory'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 11 December 2006 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1250 gmt 10 Dec 06).
  36. "'Some 100' people at pro-Karadzic rally in Serbian capital - agency," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 30 July 2008 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1610gmt 30 Jul 08).
  37. "Analysts see three factions locked in power struggle in Serbian Radical Party," British Broadcasting Corporation, 11 August 2008 (Source: Blic website, Belgrade, in Serbian 8 Aug 08); "Serbian Radicals' leader reportedly losing control of assembly deputies," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 5 September 2008 (Source: Blic website, Belgrade, in Serbian 5 Sep 08).
  38. "Serbia: Finance committee sacks chairwoman," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 19 January 2009 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1056 gmt 19 Jan 09).
  39. "Serbian lawyer says Hague court's ruling on Seselj is 'legal fundamentalism'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 24 July 2009 (Source: B92 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400 gmt 24 Jul 09).
  40. "20,000 in Serbia demand release of war crimes suspect," Agence France Presse, 25 February 2012.
  41. "Serbian opposition party SRS submits draft Armenian genocide resolution," ARMINFO News, 27 March 2010.
  42. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - ДР ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 11 April 2017.
  43. Krasić received the fifth position. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - ДР ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 11 April 2017.
  44. "Serbian report views possible unification of rightists opposed to deal on Kosovo," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 24 May 2013 (Source: Vecernje novosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 18 May 13).
  45. Избори за народне посланике 2016. године » Изборне листе (Др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ - СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 March 2017.
  46. ZORAN KRASIC, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 16 October 2017.
  47. "Preminuo potpredsednik SRS Zoran Krasić", N1, 12 April 2018, accessed 13 April 2018.
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