Snežana Paunović

Snežana Paunović (Serbian Cyrillic: Снежана Пауновић; born 20 March 1975) is a Serbian politician. She has served several terms in the National Assembly of Serbia and is currently a vice-president (i.e., deputy speaker) of the assembly. Paunović is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).

Snežana Paunović
Снежана Пауновић
Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 August 2022
President	Vladimir Orlić
Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 June 2016
In office 29 October 2013 – 16 April 2014
Coordinator for Dečani (as recognized by Serbia)
In office 28 June 2010 – 2013
Preceded by	Zoran Barović (mayor as recognized by Serbia)
Succeeded by	Vuko Vuković
Coordinator for Đakovica (as recognized by Serbia)
In office 12 January 2006 – 24 July 2008
Preceded by	Momčilo Stanojević (mayor during the Kosovo War)
Succeeded by	Đokica Stanojević (mayor as recognized by Serbia)
Personal details
Born	(1975-03-20) 20 March 1975 (age 49) Peć, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Political party	SPS

Early life and private career

Paunović was born to a Kosovo Serb family in Peć, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Almost all of Peć's Serb community was displaced at the end of the 1998–99 Kosovo War,^[1] and Paunović relocated to Belgrade at this time. She continues to identify Peć as her home community in her parliamentary profile.^[2][3]

Paunović is a graduated economist. She has been the acting director of Peć Pharmacy since 2014 and was at one time a board member of Serbia's Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises.^[4] She was president of the supervisory board of the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport before standing down from the board in early 2015.^[5][6]

Politician

Paunović joined the Socialist Party of Serbia in 1992.^[7]

Kosovo Serb representative (2006–13)

In January 2006, the Serbian government appointed coordinators for most municipalities in the disputed province of Kosovo. The position was roughly equivalent to mayor, although actual responsibilities varied significantly between the different jurisdictions. In some cases, the coordinators were primarily responsible overseeing Serb communities in exile. Paunović was appointed as coordinator for Đakovica, where, as in Peć, virtually the entire Serb community had been displaced in 1999.^[8][9][10]

Following the Republic of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, the Serbian government held its own municipal elections within the territory and among the Kosovo Serb refugee community. Paunović was elected as a SPS delegate for Peć, where a coalition of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS) won a narrow and contentious victory.^[11] A new administration was constituted for Đakovica at around the same time, and Paunović stood down as coordinator.^[12]

The Peć municipal government proved unstable, and the assembly was dissolved for a new election in August 2009. This election was won by the Socialist Party. Online sources do not indicate if Paunović was re-elected to the assembly.^[13]

In June 2010, the Serbian government dissolved the assemblies for seven Kosovo municipalities, charging they had become dysfunctional and inefficient.^[14][15] Paunović was appointed as coordinator for Dečani, one of the municipalities in question (and where, as in Peć and Đakovica, almost the entire Serb community had been forced into exile in 1999).^[16][17] In November 2010, she reported that graves in a local Serbian Orthodox cemetery had been desecrated.^[18] In 2012, she and other Kosovo Serb officials took part in negotiations with Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić on the future of the disputed territory and the status of its Serb community.^[19] She served as coordinator for Dečani until 2013.

Parliamentarian (2013–14, 2016–present)

Paunović appeared in the 180th position on the Socialist Party's electoral list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election. The list won sixteen seats, and she was not given a mandate.^[20] (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 the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Paunović could have been given a seat despite her low position on the list, but this did not occur.)^[21]

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all parliamentary mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Paunović was given the fifty-seventh position on the Socialist Party's list in the 2012 parliamentary election. The list won forty-four mandates, and she was not immediately elected.^[22] She received a mandate on 29 October 2013 as the replacement for Neđo Jovanović, who had resigned to take a state secretary position.^[23] The SPS served in a coalition government with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) during this time, and Paunović supported the administration in the assembly. She was not a candidate in the 2014 parliamentary election.

Paunović appeared in the twenty-first position on the Socialist Party's list in the 2016 parliamentary election and was elected when the list won twenty-nine mandates.^[24] The SPS remained a part of Serbia's SNS-led government after the election. In her second term, Paunović was a member of the culture and information committee, a deputy member of the committee on Kosovo and Metohija, the committee on the diaspora and Serbs in the region, and the committee on the economy, regional development, trade, tourism and energy, and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.^[25]

In the 2020 parliamentary election, she received the twentieth position on the SPS's list and was re-elected when the list won thirty-two seats.^[26] In this term, she was promoted to deputy leader of the SPS assembly group and deputy chair of the culture and information committee. She was also a member of the economy committee, a deputy member of the committee on Kosovo and Metohija and the agriculture, forestry, and water management committee, a member of Serbia's delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly (where Serbia has observer status), the leader of Serbia's friendship groups with Jamaica and Japan, and a member of twenty-seven other friendship groups.^[27][28]

Paunović was promoted to the eighth position on the SPS's list in the 2022 parliamentary election and was elected to a fourth term when the list won thirty-one seats.^[29] She was chosen as a deputy speaker of the assembly in August 2022 and as leader of the SPS assembly group in October 2022.^[30][31] For this term, Paunović was also a member of the committee on Kosovo and Metohija, the economy committee, and the committee on the rights of the child; a deputy member of the committee on finance, state budget, and control of public spending, and the committee on administrative, budgetary, mandate, and immunity issues; a member of Serbia's delegation to the assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the leader of Serbia's friendship group with Japan, and a member of thirty-six other friendship groups.^[32][33]

In the 2023 Kosovan local elections, candidates representing Albanian parties won the mayoralties of four predominantly Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo due to a Serb boycott. Paunović described the elections as lacking any legitimacy and criticized Pristina officials for allowing the results to stand. She was quoted as saying, "The arrogance and insolence of [Republic of Kosovo prime minister] Albin Kurti hits the upper limit. It is Kurti's ugly, hellish plan to put pressure, first of all, on the north of Kosovo and Metohija and empty it of Serbs."^[34]

Paunović was again promoted to the fourth position on the SPS's list in the 2023 parliamentary election and was re-elected even as the list fell to eighteen seats.^[35] She was again chosen as a deputy speaker after the election and is now deputy leader of the SPS assembly group. Paunović is also chair of the economy committee and a member of the administrative committee, the committee on Kosovo–Metohija, and the committee on the rights of the child, a deputy member of the finance committee, and a member of Serbia's delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly.^[36]

References

1. Municipal Profile: Pejë/Peć, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, February 2005, accessed 24 March 2024.
2. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 March 2024.
3. Мирјана Чекеревац, "За Харадинаја је сваки Србин роба", Politika, 16 March 2019, accessed 12 September 2023.
4. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia], accessed 28 March 2024.
5. "BG Aerodrom menja članove uprave", B92, 22 January 2015, accessed 12 September 2023.
6. "Serbia: Nikola Tesla Airport announces new appointments", Esmerk Eastern European News, 13 February 2015.
7. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia], accessed 28 March 2024.
8. "Postignut sporazum o imenovanju novih koordinatora opština na Kosovu i Metohiji", Radio KiM, 13 September 2005, accessed 12 September 2023.
9. 112. sednica Vlade Republike Srbije, 12. januar 2006. godine, Otvorena Vlada, accessed 12 March 2024.
10. "Displaced Serbs marked the Feast of the Assumption in Djakovica: Our hearts and souls remained here", Kosovo Online, 28 August 2023, accessed 25 March 2024.
11. "Peć: Zbog neslaganja odborničkih grupa blokiran rad Skupštine opštine", 2008-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, radiokim.net, 29 August 2008, accessed 5 February 2024.
12. "Kadrovska rešenja", otvorenavlada.rs, 24 July 2008, accessed 28 March 2024.
13. Информације о одржаним седницама 2009. године (page 2), 2008-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 March 2024.
14. "Minister says inefficient Kosovo municipalities relocated to Serbia dissolved," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 June 2010 (Source: TV Pink, Belgrade, in Serbian, 1730 gmt 17 Jun 10).
15. "Kosovo Serb body slams Serbia over dissolution of municipal assemblies," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 22 June 2010 (Source: Danas website, Belgrade, in Serbian, 18 Jun 10).
16. "Serbian [sic] appoints coordinators for relocated Kosovo municipal administrations", British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 June 2010 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0909gmt 28 Jun 10).
17. Deçan/Dečane, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, January 2013, accessed 24 March 2024.
18. "Cemetery in Kosovo desecrated", B92, 6 November 2010, accessed 12 September 2023.
19. "Kosovo Serb representatives said satisfied after meeting with Serbian president", British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 23 December 2018 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 0000 gmt 21 Dec 12).
20. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (11 Социјалистичка партија Србије), 2020-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 March 2024.
21. 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, 2021-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 28 March 2024.
22. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 ИВИЦА ДАЧИЋ - "СОЦИЈАЛИСТИЧКА ПАРТИЈА СРБИЈЕ (СПС), ПАРТИЈА УЈЕДИЊЕНИХ ПЕНЗИОНЕРА СРБИЈЕ (ПУПС), ЈЕДИНСТВЕНА СРБИЈА (ЈС)"), 2020-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 24 March 2024.
23. "Нова посланица СПС Снежана Пауновић', Socialist Party of Serbia, 29 October 2013, accessed 12 September 2023.
24. Избори за народне посланике 2016. године – Изборне листе (3 ИВИЦА ДАЧИЋ – „Социјалистичка партија Србије (СПС), Јединствена Србија (ЈС) – Драган Марковић Палма“), 2020-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 October 2021.
25. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, . Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2023., National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 12 September 2023.
26. "Ko je sve na listi SPS-JS za republičke poslanike?", Danas, 7 March 2020, accessed 30 April 2021.
27. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, . Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2023., National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 12 September 2023.
28. She was a member of the friendship groups with Albania, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Sierra Leone, the Sovereign Order of Malta, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
29. "Ko su kandidati liste SPS-JS-ZS „Ivica Dačić – Premijer Srbije“ za poslanike", Danas, 17 February 2022, accessed 28 April 2022.
30. Multi-party National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (1991-2022), 2023-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 12 September 2023.
31. "Snežana Paunović nova šefica poslaničke grupe SPS u Skupštini Srbije". N1 (in Serbian). 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
32. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, 2023-01-31 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 12 September 2023.
33. She was a member of the friendship groups with Albania, Argentina, Belgium, Cuba, the Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lithuania, the Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand and the Pacific Ocean Countries (Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu), North Macedonia, Portugal, Russia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
34. "Šta posle izbora: Albanci sa 13 glasova Srba na čelu severnih opština - ruganje demokratiji", Kosovo Online, 24 April 2023, accessed 12 September 2023.
35. "Lista SPS-JS-Zeleni Srbije bez iznenađenja- osim Marka Miloševića sve provereni kadrovi", Danas, 4 November 2023, accessed 28 March 2024.
36. SNEZANA PAUNOVIC, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 3 April 2024.