Tihomir Đuričić

Tihomir Đuričić (; born 21 April 1959) is a politician in Serbia. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia (2004–07) and the Assembly of Vojvodina (2004–08), and as mayor of Kula (2004–06). Đuričić is a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS).

Early life and private career Đuričić was born in Odžaci, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He was raised in the village of Lipar in the neighbouring municipality of Kula. After service in the Yugoslav People's Army, he started working for "Bačka put" Novi Sad in 1979. Đuričić became a private entrepreneur in 1984 and was employed with Rodić MB from 1992 to 2000.

Politician Đuričić became the president of the SRS board in Kula in 1999. He appeared in the second position on the party's electoral list for the Sombor division in the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election; the party did not win any seats in the division. He was also a candidate for the Kula–Bačka Topola division in the concurrent 2000 Vojvodina provincial election and was defeated.

Slobodan Milošević was defeated as Yugoslavia's president in the 2000 election, a watershed moment in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics. A new Serbian parliamentary election was called after his defeat for December 2000; prior to the vote, Serbia's electoral laws were changed such that the entire country was counted as a single electoral district and all parliamentary mandates were awarded to candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties and coalitions, irrespective of their numerical order on the electoral lists. Đuričić was given the eighty-second position on the Radical Party's list; the list won twenty-three seats, and he was not given a mandate.

Parliamentarian, provincial representative, and mayor Đuričić received the 106th position on the Radical Party's list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election. The list won eighty-two seats, and he was not initially included in his party's assembly delegation. He was, however, given a mandate on 17 February 2004 as the replacement for another party member. Although the Radicals won more seats than any other party in the 2003 parliamentary election, they fell well short of a majority and ultimately served in opposition. In parliament, Đuričić served as a member of the committee on transport and communications.

Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors in the 2004 Serbian local elections, and Đuričić was elected as the mayor of Kula, defeating Slaviša Božović of the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS) in the second round. He was also elected to the Vojvodina assembly in the concurrent 2004 provincial election, winning the redistributed Kula constituency seat. The DS and its allies won the provincial election, and the Radicals served in opposition.

Kula's municipal government proved to be unstable after the 2004 election, and in May 2006 Đuričić was defeated in a recall election. He subsequently lost a by-election to choose a new mayor, falling to DS candidate Svetozar Bukvić in the second round. During the by-election campaign, Đuričić was convicted of stealing electricity at his family home and given a three-month jail sentence, suspended for one year.

Đuričić was included in the Radical Party's electoral lists for the 2007 and 2008 parliamentary elections, although he was not given a mandate on either occasion. He was also defeated in his bid for re-election in the Kula constituency seat in the 2008 Vojvodina provincial election, once again losing to Bukvić in the second round of voting.

The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment; with the 2008 local elections, Serbia returned to a system of having mayors chosen by the elected members of city and municipal assemblies. The DS narrowly defeated the SRS in the 2008 local election in Kula; Đuričić was re-elected to the assembly and served in opposition.

The Radical Party experienced a serious split later in 2008, with several members joining the more moderate Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) under the leadership of Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić. Đuričić remained with the Radicals.

Svetozar Bukvić resigned as Kula's mayor in late 2011, and the Serbian government appointed a provisional administration with representatives from different parties pending new elections. Đuričić served as the SRS's representative.

Since 2011 Serbia's electoral laws were reformed in 2011, such that mandates were assigned in numerical order in all elections held under proportional representation. Đuričić was given the 161st position on the Radical Party's list for the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election; this was too low a position for election to be a realistic prospect, and in any event the party fell below the electoral threshold for representation in the assembly. He also ran for the Kula constituency seat again the 2012 provincial election and finished in sixth place against Jovan Janić of the DS. He was re-elected to the Kula municipal assembly in the 2012 local elections as the Radicals fell to only two seats out of thirty-seven.

Vojvodina switched to a system of full proportional representation for the 2016 provincial election. Đuričić received the twenty-eighth position on the Radical Party's list and was not elected when the list won ten mandates. He also led the SRS list in the concurrent 2016 local elections and was re-elected when the party again won two seats in the Kula municipal assembly. The SNS won a narrow majority victory in the Kula election; following the vote, Đuričić was appointed as an assistant to new mayor Perica Videkanjić on the economy, agriculture, and infrastructure. By virtue of holding his position, he was required to resign his assembly seat.

The local SNS organization in Kula became divided into factions after 2016, and Videkanjić resigned as mayor in May 2018. A new local election was held later that year, and Đuričić again led the SRS list. The party fell below the threshold for assembly representation.

Đuričić appeared in the nineteenth position on the SRS's list in the 2020 Vojvodina provincial election. The list won four mandates and he was again not elected.

Electoral record Provincial (Vojvodina) + 2012 Vojvodina assembly electionKula (constituency seat) - First and Second Rounds Candidate Party or Coalition Votes % Votes % Jovan Janić Choice for a Better Vojvodina (Affiliation: Democratic Party) 4,688 21.38 10,017 56.28 Pero Ergarac Let's Get Vojvodina Moving (Serbian Progressive Party, New Serbia, Movement of Socialists, Strength of Serbia Movement) 3,358 15.31 7,780 43.72 Aleksandar Zrakić Socialist Party of Serbia–Party of United Pensioners of Serbia–United Serbia–Social Democratic Party of Serbia 3,024 13.79 Radoslav Smiljanić Democratic Party of Serbia 2,300 10.49 Aleksandar Arvaji United Regions of Serbia 2,049 9.34 Tihomir Đuričić Tiho Serbian Radical Party 1,653 7.54 Olena Papuga League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina–Nenad Čanak 1,619 7.38 Vladimir Nikolić Citizens' Group: Dveri 1,251 5.70 Károly Valka Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians 1,178 5.37 Mirjana Obradov U-Turn 809 3.69 Total valid votes 21,929 100 17,797 100

+ 2008 Vojvodina assembly electionKula (constituency seat) - First and Second Rounds Candidate Party or Coalition Votes % Votes % Svetozar Bukvić For a European Vojvodina: Democratic Party–G17 Plus, Boris Tadić (Affiliation: Democratic Party) 9,774 42.44 8,033 64.02 Tihomir Đuričić Tiho (incumbent) Serbian Radical Party 6,298 27.35 4,515 35.98 Dobrila Kalezić-Pindović Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS)–Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) 2,591 11.25 Olena Papuga "Together for Vojvodina–Nenad Čanak" 1,378 5.98 Károly Valka Hungarian Coalition–István Pásztor 1,138 4.94 Tihomir Nićetin Liberal Democratic Party 1,003 4.36 József Solda Democratic Party of Serbia–New Serbia–Vojislav Koštunica 848 3.68 Total valid votes 23,030 100 12,548 100 Invalid ballots 958 244 Total votes casts 23,988 62.75 12,792 33.46

+ 2004 Vojvodina assembly electionKula (constituency seat) - First and Second Rounds Candidate Party or Coalition Votes % Votes % Tihomir Đuričić Tiho Serbian Radical Party–Tomislav Nikolić 2,931 24.41 5,799 57.92 Momir Tihomirović Democratic Party–Boris Tadić 1,560 12.99 4,213 42.08 Željko Tatalović Democratic Party of Serbia–Dr. Vojislav Koštunica 1,422 11.84 Željko Dvožak Coalition: For Vojvodina 1,316 10.96 Smiljana Vukelić Socialist Party of Serbia 1,178 9.81 Jovan Bozdokov Serbian Renewal Movement–Otpor Kula 911 7.59 Melanija Dudaš G17 Plus 847 7.05 Milorad Mišović Citizens' Group: All for Sivac 773 6.44 Slobodanka Ćovin Vojvodina Green Party–Radonjić Hercen Keka 594 4.95 István Nagy New Serbia 474 3.95 Total valid votes 12,006 100 10,012 100 Invalid ballots 657 434 Total votes casts 12,663 33.89 10,446 27.95

+ 2000 Vojvodina assembly electionKula–Bačka Topola (constituency seat) Candidate Party or Coalition Result Petar Pejin Democratic Opposition of Serbia elected Tihomir Đuričić Serbian Radical Party other candidates

Local (Kula) + 2006 Kula municipal by-electionMayor of Kula - First and Second Round Results Candidate Party or Coalition Votes % Votes % Svetozar Bukvić Democratic Party not listed 38.46 not listed 53.55 Tihomir Đuričić Serbian Radical Party not listed 32.78 not listed 46.45 Smiljana Vukelić Socialist Party of Serbia not listed not listed not listed Hercen Radonjić Green Party (Stranka Zelenih) not listed not listed not listed Stanko Studen Citizens' Group: Patriotic Alliance of Kula not listed not listed not listed Total valid votes not listed 100 not listed 100

+ 2004 Kula municipal electionMayor of Kula - First and Second Round Results Candidate Party or Coalition Votes % Tihomir Đuričić - Tiho Serbian Radical Party–Tomislav Nikolić 5,613 55.10 Slaviša Božović Democratic Party–Boris Tadić 4,574 44.90 Svetozar Bukvić Citizens' Group eliminated in the first round Ratko Miletić Socialist Party of Serbia–Yugoslav Communists eliminated in the first round Željko Tatalović Democratic Party of Serbia–Dr. Vojislav Koštunica eliminated in the first round Stanko Zrakić Citizens' Group: Stanko Zrakić eliminated in the first round Saša Maksimović Serbian Renewal Movement–Otpor Kula eliminated in the first round Hercen Radonjić - Keka Vojvodina Green Party–Hercen Radonjić Keka eliminated in the first round Zoran Prekajac G17 Plus–Miroljub Labus eliminated in the first round Branislav Vlahović Strength of Serbia Movement–Bogoljub Karić eliminated in the first round Dr. Marija Popin Liberals of Serbia eliminated in the first round Milan Egić Citizens' Group: Milan Egić eliminated in the first round Total valid votes 10,187 100