Goran Ješić

Goran Ješić (; born 3 August 1974) is a Serbian politician. A former vice president of the Democratic Party (DS), he served as the vice president of the Government of Vojvodina from 2012 to 2014 and as the mayor of Inđija from 2000 to 2012. He also served as a member of the National Assembly from 2016 to 2020.

Early life and education Ješić was born on 3 August 1974 in Sremska Mitrovica. He graduated from a high school in Inđija and later from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad. He completed a specialist course on public policy at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade.

Political career

Civic Alliance of Serbia Ješić started his political career in 1996 when he founded the Inđija branch of the liberal Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS). In 2000, Ješić was appointed the head of GSS's Vojvodina branch. He was one of the founders of Otpor. As part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, Ješić was its coordinator for Inđija, Pećinci, Stara Pazova and Irig for the 2000 elections.

In the 2000 local election, Ješić was elected to the Municipal Assembly of Inđija and shortly after was elected mayor by the Municipal Assembly. He became the youngest mayor in Serbia, at the age of 26.

Democratic Party On 31 October 2006, Ješić announced that he is joining the Democratic Party (DS), stating that DS is the "only serious democratic party that can continue reforms in Serbia". Ješić was praised by DS's vice president Bojan Pajtić. Ješić revealed that he voted against the new constitution in the 2006 constitutional referendum. He resigned from both positions in June 2014.

Ješić was in charge of DS's branch for agriculture, water management and forestry, as well as its Srem branch. From 2014 to 2016, he served as the vice president of DS. Ješić left DS in 2023.

Independent politician On 5 November 2024, during the protests following the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse, Ješić was detained by the police after attempting to prevent an arrest of a protester. He was released on 7 November. He turned himself over to the police the next day after an announcement that he will be detained once again. Lawyer Sead Spahović called Ješić a political prisoner. Ješić was released again on 22 November. Following his release, Ješić announced that he is returning to active politics and added that this is the "beginning of the end of the Vučić regime".

On 27 November, in an interview to Vreme, Ješić announced that he will be forming a new political party.

Solidarity On 21 December 2024, Ješić founded and presented the Solidarity, Self-Defence, Liberation (Solidarnost) political organization.

Political positions Ješić is a self-declared left-wing politician. He opposes the rule of the Serbian Progressive Party and called its regime a "mafia pyramid".

Foreign policies Ješić is in favor of Serbia joining the European Union and supports sanctioning Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Kosovo question Ješić believes that the current status of Kosovo is the result of the "absolutely wrong policy of the Republic of Serbia in the past few decades, which culminated in ethnic cleansing and civil war, and in the end, the loss of the war by the Serbian Army and capitulation by the Kumanovo Agreement." He called the proposed Community of Serb Municipalities a "quasi-institution" and added that the human rights of Kosovo Serbs are best protected through OSCE and the Council of Europe.

Personal life Ješić resides in Novi Sad. His brother Vladimir is a journalist.