Who Is Čedomir Jovanović

Čedomir Jovanović (born in Belgrade on 13 April 1971), also known as Čeda Jovanović, is a Serbian politician and the founder and longtime president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He first came to public attention as one of the student leaders of the protests against the regime of Slobodan Milošević during the winter of 1996–1997.

After the political changes of 2000, he became a member of parliament and, at just 29, the youngest parliamentary caucus leader in Serbian history. He took part in negotiations with Milošević during the former president’s arrest in 2001, and in March 2003 he became Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia. After a conflict with the leadership of the Democratic Party, he founded the LDP and led it in parliamentary and presidential elections.

He is known for his open support for Kosovo’s independence, his pro-European orientation and his call to face the wartime past. Because of these positions he received threats on several occasions, and his public statements and disputes often kept him at the center of media attention.

Early Life and Childhood

Jovanović was born into a middle-class Belgrade family. His parents, Jovica and Milena (née Mršić), were both economists by profession. He grew up in New Belgrade, where he completed the “Ivan Gundulić” primary school with average grades.

In 1992 he served his military service in the Yugoslav People’s Army, in Gradiška, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čedomir Antić, his later ally, wrote that Jovanović was once proud of that experience, but that over the years he changed his view of the war.

Education

He first enrolled at the Ninth Belgrade Gymnasium but soon transferred to the Third Economics High School, from which he graduated. He then enrolled at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade, but dropped out after only a week of classes.

He later enrolled at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, majoring in dramaturgy, and graduated in 1998 at the age of 27. According to available sources, he also worked as a journalist while still a student. He never worked professionally as a dramaturge and wrote only a few plays that were neither staged nor published.

Student Protests of 1996–1997

The winter protests of 1996–1997 were the first major political stage on which Čedomir Jovanović appeared. He was one of the student leaders and, together with Čedomir Antić, belonged to the core of the Student Political Club (SPK), which organized the protests and later successfully called for a boycott of the 1997 republic elections.

The demonstrations lasted about three months and were accompanied by clashes with the police. As one of five representatives of the protest movement, Jovanović met with General Momčilo Perišić and Interior Minister Zoran Sokolović. During the protests Predrag Starčević was killed on 24 December 1996, a matter Jovanović raised in his conversation with Minister Sokolović.

According to later published accounts, SPK members were at that time being tracked by the State Security Service without their knowledge.

Early Career

When the protests died down in early 1997, Jovanović intended to withdraw from politics entirely. However, in several discussions about the future of the SPK, he argued that the club should join the Democratic Party. Antić eventually agreed, but the SPK practically ceased to exist, as many members dropped out at that point.

In February 1998, most SPK members, together with Jovanović, joined the Democratic Party (DS). Three members of the club joined the Democratic Party of Serbia. Within the DS, Jovanović grew close to party leader Zoran Đinđić, whose friend and associate he would remain until Đinđić’s assassination.

Rise to Prominence

After the fall of Slobodan Milošević, Jovanović was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia in the elections of 23 December 2000, on the list of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). Until 2003 he served as head of the DOS parliamentary group, and at 29 he became the youngest politician in Serbia to hold such a position.

During that period he became one of the most visible figures of the new government. He was close to Prime Minister Đinđić and often appeared in public as an advocate of reform and cooperation with the West.

Assassination Attempt and the Surrender of Slobodan Milošević

On the morning of 6 February 2001, Jovanović took part in a conversation at a Belgrade restaurant with Franko Simatović, then an official of the State Security Service, Interior Minister Dušan Mihajlović and Milorad Ulemek. They discussed unsolved crimes, including the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija and the disappearance of Ivan Stambolić.

Some time later, not far from where he had parked, his car, a Mitsubishi Pajero, exploded and damaged several nearby vehicles. According to the sources, an expert examination found it to be a time bomb. Jovanović was not injured. Former State Security chief Jovica Stanišić later said that someone from the service had done it. In July 2002, Minister Mihajlović stated that Jovanović was on all the hit lists.

On 31 March 2001, when special units surrounded Milošević’s villa, Jovanović was one of the negotiators who helped persuade the former president to surrender peacefully. In later interviews he said that Milošević’s daughter Marija fired in the direction of the vehicle he was in after security removed him, but that out of understanding for her situation he refused to testify against her.

Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia

After the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in March 2003, Jovanović became Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia in the government of the new prime minister, Zoran Živković. He held that office from 18 March 2003 to 3 March 2004.

At that time his influence within the Democratic Party began to wane. Ahead of the parliamentary elections in December 2003, his name did not appear on the party’s electoral list, and at the February 2004 congress he failed to win enough delegate support for a seat on the main board.

Break with the Democratic Party and the Founding of the LDP

Jovanović publicly criticized the party’s new president, Boris Tadić, mainly over his policy of cohabitation with the government of Vojislav Koštunica. In the autumn of 2004 he published an open letter to Tadić, who responded that he had not even read it and regarded it as a political bid. After a failed attempt to take over the DS leadership, he formed a “Liberal Democratic faction” within the party, in breach of its statute, and was expelled on 3 December 2004.

In the meantime he founded a non-governmental organization, the Center for Modern Politics, whose activities were limited. In July 2005 he published the book “Moj sukob sa prošlošću” (“My Confrontation with the Past”). He founded the Liberal Democratic Party on 5 November 2005, together with associates that included Nenad Prokić and Branislav Lečić. At the founding assembly in the Youth Center (Dom omladine), he was elected the party’s first president at the age of 34.

Presidential and Parliamentary Elections

In the parliamentary elections of January 2007, the coalition led by the LDP, together with the Civic Alliance of Serbia, the Social Democratic Union and Nenad Čanak’s League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, won slightly more than five percent of the vote and narrowly cleared the threshold. He ran the campaign under the slogan “Od nas zavisi” (“It Depends on Us”).

In January 2008, Jovanović was a candidate for President of Serbia under the slogan “Život je zakon!” (“Life Is the Law!”). He won 5.34 percent of the vote and finished fifth, far behind Boris Tadić and Tomislav Nikolić, who advanced to the runoff. Before the second round he decided to remain neutral. In the presidential elections of May 2012 he ran again and won 5.03 percent of the vote, finishing sixth. During that campaign he took part in a televised debate with Milorad Dodik.

The LDP achieved its best result in May 2012, when the “Preokret – Čedomir Jovanović” coalition, with the Serbian Renewal Movement, the Social Democratic Union, Rich Serbia and other parties, won 6.53 percent of the vote and 19 parliamentary seats. In the snap elections of 16 March 2014, the LDP won 3.35 percent and did not cross the threshold, and Jovanović said at the time that he would not resign. In 2016 he ran in the Alliance for a Better Serbia coalition with Tadić’s Social Democratic Party and the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, which, according to the coalition’s leaders, crossed the threshold. In the 2022 parliamentary elections he led the “Čedomir Jovanović – Coalition for Peace” list. In February 2017 he left the LDP parliamentary group and joined the LSV–Green Party group so that the group could remain in the Assembly.

Views on Kosovo and the Region

Jovanović is among the few Serbian politicians who openly supported Kosovo’s independence, which earned him the sympathy of part of the Albanian public but also considerable criticism in Serbia. He argues that the Kosovo issue should not be left for last and that cooperation with the whole region is crucial for Serbia’s future.

In March 2019 he was appointed, without pay, as an advisor to Željko Komšić, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has also met with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. In his 2022 campaign he stressed the need to speak about war crimes from the recent past and about Đinđić, as well as to preserve peace in the region.

During his 2012 debate with Milorad Dodik, he defended his earlier position on the origins of Republika Srpska, which provoked strong reactions in the public.

Greatest Achievements

• One of the leaders of the 1996–1997 student protests and a co-founder of the Student Political Club.
• The youngest parliamentary caucus leader in Serbian history (at 29).
• A negotiator during the arrest of Slobodan Milošević on 31 March 2001.
• Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia from 18 March 2003 to 3 March 2004.
• Founder and first president of the Liberal Democratic Party (2005).
• Candidate for President of Serbia in 2008 and 2012.
• The LDP’s best election result in 2012: 6.53 percent of the vote and 19 MPs.

Personal Life

Jovanović was married to Jelena (née Savić), who comes from Nevesinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have four children. In December 2024, Jovanović confirmed to the media that he was divorcing after 25 years of marriage. Because of the threats he has received since 2001, he and his family have lived under police protection for years.

Besides politics, he is also involved in business; according to media reports, he was listed as a manager of the company “Fidelinka” from Subotica. In July 2020 he suffered from COVID-19 and was hospitalized, and he later said that illness kept him away from political life for several years before he returned.

Controversies and Disputed Issues

In 2003, when he was a member of parliament and Deputy Prime Minister, some media outlets and political opponents accused him of contacts with people from criminal circles. Jovanović admitted attending certain meetings but denied any unlawful conduct, explaining that the contacts were intended to curb the mafia and preserve political stability.

In November 2007 he publicly accused businessman Miroslav Mišković of trying, through an intermediary, to influence the government’s position on Kosovo in exchange for removal from a US visa blacklist. Mišković rejected the accusations and countered with his own. The US Embassy in Belgrade denied the claims and the authenticity of the document Jovanović released, and a cable leaked in 2011 stated that the document was forged.

In March 2011, during a parliamentary debate on Libya, he criticized Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić over his visits to African countries; his remark prompted a protest from the Algerian ambassador to Serbia, who called it racist. On 2 June 2021 he took part in an incident in Belgrade in which the window of a fast-food outlet was broken, after which prosecutors ordered an investigation. Earlier, the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office filed criminal charges against him over breaking the window of a kiosk after a clash with football fans, and Jovanović claimed he acted in self-defense.

Interesting Facts

• At 34 he became the first president of the LDP, and at 29 the youngest parliamentary caucus leader in Serbian history.
• According to a party official, the LDP was the first party in Serbia whose president was chosen by a direct vote of the members.
• The American weekly Newsweek published an extensive piece on Jovanović in December 2005, in which he presented his views on Kosovo and on the ties between Republika Srpska and Belgrade.
• After graduating in dramaturgy, he wrote a few plays that were never staged.
• His 2008 campaign was run under the slogan “Život je zakon!” (“Life Is the Law!”).

Legacy and Influence

Čedomir Jovanović is one of the best-known and most divisive figures in Serbian politics since 2000. Supporters see him as a consistently pro-European politician who raised the issues of Kosovo, war crimes and regional reconciliation, topics that others avoided. Critics point to his style of public appearance, his disputes and the fact that the LDP failed to retain its parliamentary influence.

Jovanović himself has repeatedly argued that the LDP’s mission was to advocate certain ideas rather than to win power, and that those ideas were later partly taken up by others. According to Wikipedia, the LDP currently has no members in the National Assembly. Sources differ on his current status in the party: Wikipedia lists him as the current LDP president, while some media describe him as a former leader.

Biography – Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Čedomir Jovanović?

Čedomir Jovanović is a Serbian politician, founder of the Liberal Democratic Party, former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and one of the leaders of the student protests against Slobodan Milošević in 1996–1997.

When and where was Čedomir Jovanović born?

He was born on 13 April 1971 in Belgrade, to economists Jovica and Milena Jovanović.

Which faculty did Čedomir Jovanović graduate from?

He graduated in dramaturgy from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in 1998. Earlier he had abandoned his studies at the Faculty of Economics after one week.

What office did he hold in the Government of Serbia?

He was Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia from 18 March 2003 to 3 March 2004, in the government of Prime Minister Zoran Živković.

When was the LDP founded?

The Liberal Democratic Party was founded on 5 November 2005, and Jovanović was elected its first president.

What role did he play in the surrender of Slobodan Milošević?

During the arrest on 31 March 2001, he took part in negotiations with Milošević so that the former president would surrender peacefully to the authorities.

How many times was Čedomir Jovanović a candidate for President of Serbia?

Twice: in 2008 he won 5.34 percent of the vote (fifth place), and in 2012 he won 5.03 percent (sixth place).

Is Čedomir Jovanović still the head of the LDP?

Sources differ. Wikipedia still lists him as the LDP leader, while some media call him a former leader. The LDP currently has no members in the National Assembly.

Conclusion

The life path of Čedomir Jovanović links several key chapters of recent Serbian history: the student protest of 1996–1997, the fall of Milošević’s regime, the era of Zoran Đinđić and the political divisions that followed. From the youngest caucus leader to the founder of the LDP and a two-time presidential candidate, he remains a figure about whom opinions still differ, but whose themes, from the European path to relations with Kosovo and the past, remain part of public debate in Serbia.