Who Is Bojan Pajtić

Bojan Pajtić (born 2 May 1970 in Senta) is a Serbian lawyer, university professor and former politician. As a member of the Democratic Party (DS), he led the provincial authorities in Vojvodina from 2004 to 2016. He first served as president of the Executive Council and, from 2009, as the first president of the Government of Vojvodina. From 2014 to 2016 he was also president of the DS.

Today he is a full professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Novi Sad. He often speaks out as a critic of Aleksandar Vučić’s government, mainly on social media.

Early Life and Childhood

He was born in Senta into a patriarchal family. His father, Lazar, is an Orthodox priest. He completed primary and secondary school in his hometown and then did his military service in Mostar.

In his youth he spent about fifteen years as an amateur actor, and many people expected him to become an actor. He gave up on the idea because he considered the profession financially insecure. Besides Serbian, he speaks Hungarian and English.

Education

Pajtić graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Novi Sad in March 1995. For a time he worked at the District Court in Novi Sad. He then moved to the faculty as an assistant in the law of obligations.

He earned his master’s degree at the same faculty in 2000, with a thesis on fiduciary agreements as a means of securing claims under the law of obligations. He received his doctorate in legal sciences in June 2008 with a dissertation on the marital property agreement. He also pursued further training at Heidelberg University.

Academic Career

He was appointed assistant at the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad in 1996. He became assistant professor in 2009, associate professor in 2014 and full professor in 2019. His main field is the law of obligations.

Under the Erasmus+ mobility programme, he was a visiting professor at Heidelberg University in 2018. In April of the same year, he was a visiting professor at Comenius University in Bratislava. He has published scientific papers on law in professional journals. According to Al Jazeera, his students included Aleksandar Martinović, later head of the Serbian Progressive Party’s parliamentary group.

Beginning of His Political Career

Sources differ on Pajtić’s political beginnings. According to the weekly Vreme, he entered politics in 1995 through Milan Paroški’s People’s Party. Pajtić himself denies this and says that his father was only briefly a member of the party’s presidency at its founding. He joined the Democratic Party in 1996 and served as spokesperson of its City Board in Novi Sad.

After the changes of 2000, he became a member of the National Assembly and the first chairman of the Assembly’s Legislative Committee after the democratic changes. According to the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), he was also elected vice-president of the Executive Board of the City of Novi Sad in 2001. From March to December 2003 he chaired the “DOS – Reforms of Serbia” parliamentary group. In 2004 he was elected head of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group.

President of the Executive Council of Vojvodina

At the end of October 2004, the Assembly of Vojvodina elected him president of the Executive Council, succeeding Đorđe Đukić. Sources differ on the exact date: Wikipedia gives 30 October, while FEPS gives 1 November 2004. He was re-elected to the post on 16 July 2008.

During this period he became one of the recognizable faces of the DS. In the list of the 300 most powerful people published by the daily Blic in 2007, he ranked 44th.

President of the Government of Vojvodina

After the adoption of the new statute of Vojvodina, the Executive Council was replaced by the Provincial Government. On 14 December 2009 Pajtić became its first president. In the 2012 elections, the governing coalition of the DS, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Socialist Party of Serbia and the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina kept its majority. The new Provincial Government was elected on 11 July 2012, and Pajtić was again chosen as its president.

After the 2014 national elections the political situation changed. Pressure on the Vojvodina authorities grew, and the question of early provincial elections led to a dispute with István Pástor, the speaker of the Vojvodina Assembly. In 2015 Pajtić argued that provincial and local elections should be held at the same time and not before spring 2016.

He remained at the head of the government until 20 June 2016, when he was succeeded by Igor Mirović of the Serbian Progressive Party after the 2016 provincial elections. In total, he headed the executive branch in Vojvodina for about twelve years.

Leading the Democratic Party

After the party’s electoral defeat in 2014, internal conflicts in the DS intensified. Pajtić was vice-president of the party and, in the conflict with Boris Tadić, openly supported party president Dragan Đilas. A month later he announced his own candidacy for party president. At an extraordinary congress on 31 May 2014 he defeated Đilas and took over the leadership of the DS.

In June 2016 he sent an open letter to Aleksandar Vučić about media reports of an alleged Russian military base near Zrenjanin, close to the Ečka airport. A few days later he also addressed the party membership with four questions for a party referendum. They concerned Serbia’s accession to NATO, the legal status of same-sex unions, the participation of trade unions in the party’s work, and talks on reunifying parties that had emerged from the DS.

In the party’s direct elections on 24 September 2016, Dragan Šutanovac won. The next day Pajtić submitted his irrevocable resignation as head of the DS parliamentary group. On Facebook he said that he did not fully share the values and political reasoning of the new leadership.

Return to Teaching and Work at the Faculty

After withdrawing from active politics, he returned to teaching at the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad. He has remained in the public eye as a commentator on political developments and a critic of Aleksandar Vučić’s government. He also took part in the N1 documentary “Zoran Đinđić – the Story of Serbia”, about the circumstances before and after the 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić.

During the student protests, he was the first signatory of a letter from a group of professors and assistants to Tatjana Bugarski, the dean of the Faculty of Law. In it they refused to teach online. Explaining his support for the students, he said he could not live with himself if he turned his back on them.

Controversies

During the 2016 election campaign, Pajtić’s statement at a rally in Padina drew a strong reaction when he spoke about Slovaks joining the Serbian Radical Party. N1 reported that his statement was linked to people joining the party founded by Tomislav Nikolić. Pajtić explained this in a written statement but did not apologize, as some Slovak associations demanded.

In the same period, media reports claimed that an investigation was under way against him over the alleged endangering of the safety of Uglješa Grgur, owner of the Novi Sad detective agency “Gvozden”. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad denied that an investigation had been opened. Pajtić dismissed the claims as part of the election campaign and announced a lawsuit against the newspaper “Dnevnik”.

Private Life

Pajtić is married to Vesna, an anesthesiologist. They have two sons, Andrej and Stefan. In a 2008 interview with Vreme, he described his wife as someone who speaks several languages and cooks very well.

The family lives in Novi Sad, and Pajtić has remained attached to his hometown of Senta. Other private details are not publicly known.

Interesting Facts

• He was the first president of the Government of Vojvodina after the post was introduced in 2009.
• In his youth he was an amateur actor for about fifteen years.
• He speaks Hungarian and English.
• In Blic’s 2007 list of the 300 most powerful people, he ranked 44th.
• He taught the future politician Aleksandar Martinović.

Awards and Recognition

On the occasion of the 660th anniversary of the South Banat village of Seleuša, Bojan Pajtić was declared an honorary citizen of the village. No other confirmed awards appear in publicly available sources.

Legacy and Influence

Bojan Pajtić is remembered as the first president of the Government of Vojvodina and as the politician who led the province for almost twelve years. As president of the DS, he led the party through one of its most difficult periods after 2012.

In public life today he appears mainly as a university professor and a critic of the government. His political career is still discussed in debates about change on Serbia’s opposition scene.

Biography – Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Bojan Pajtić?

Bojan Pajtić is a Serbian lawyer, full professor at the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad and former politician. He led the Vojvodina government from 2004 to 2016 and the Democratic Party from 2014 to 2016.

When and where was Bojan Pajtić born?

He was born on 2 May 1970 in Senta, in Vojvodina.

Where did Bojan Pajtić study?

He studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Novi Sad, where he graduated in 1995, earned his master’s degree in 2000 and received his doctorate in 2008.

How long was Bojan Pajtić the head of the Vojvodina government?

He headed the provincial authorities from 30 October 2004 to 20 June 2016, first as president of the Executive Council and, from December 2009, as president of the Government of Vojvodina.

When was Bojan Pajtić president of the Democratic Party?

He became president of the DS on 31 May 2014 and lost the post on 24 September 2016, when Dragan Šutanovac defeated him in the party’s elections.

Who succeeded Bojan Pajtić as head of the Government of Vojvodina?

He was succeeded by Igor Mirović of the Serbian Progressive Party on 20 June 2016.

What does Bojan Pajtić do today?

He is a full professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Novi Sad and publicly comments on political developments in Serbia.

Who is Bojan Pajtić’s wife?

He is married to Vesna, an anesthesiologist. They have two sons, Andrej and Stefan.

Which languages does Bojan Pajtić speak?

Besides Serbian, he speaks Hungarian and English.

Conclusion

Bojan Pajtić is a lawyer, professor and politician whose career shaped Vojvodina and the Democratic Party. He rose from Senta to the head of the provincial government, which he led for almost twelve years. He then led the DS for a short time and, after 2016, returned to academic work while remaining publicly engaged and critical of the government.