Dušan Bajatović (; born 29 November 1967) is a Serbian politician and entrepreneur. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia since 2007 as a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia and is a former member of both the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro and the Assembly of Vojvodina. Once an ally of Slobodan Milošević, he was later a prominent advocate of moving the Socialist Party away from Milošević's legacy. Since 2008, he has been the general manager of the powerful public utility Srbijagas.
Early life and private career Bajatović was born in Ravno Selo, Vrbas, Vojvodina, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He has a degree in electrical engineering with a major in systems management and a degree in economics with a major in agro-economics.
In 2003, Bajatović purchased TV Most in Novi Sad from the Socialist Party for three million dollars (which he acknowledged was on loan). He was awarded a regional broadcasting permit in 2007, even as many other stations with a similar ideological perspective were being shut down.A media report in 2015 listed the station as being owned by Bajatović's parents. See "Report details Serbian politicians' ownership of media," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 4 March 2015 (Source: text of report by Serbian newspaper Blic website on 27 February).
Sometimes criticised by rivals for his perceived level of wealth, Bajatović once remarked, "I am a Socialist, but I do not want to be a social case.""Agency profiles Serbian gas company boss," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 November 2008 (Source: text of report in English by Serbian weekly news agency Beta Week service). On another occasion, he said, "I have no doubt that I am one of the most strongly attacked and criticized figures in the country, who is believed to be immensely rich. Sometimes I am accused of being overbearing because I am opinionated and do not flinch from expressing my views. I have no problem with all the criticism nor the harsh accusations in some media against me. I have no problem with my big mouth either.""Serbian paper interviews Socialist party leader on coalition, Vojvodina autonomy," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 March 2013 (Source: text of report by Serbian Novi Sad-based daily Dnevnik, on 24 March).
Early political career A member of the Youth Council of Serbia before the break-up of Yugoslavia, Bajatović was a founding member of the Socialist Party of Serbia in 1990. During the period of Slobodan Milošević's rule, he was known for maintaining good relations with the independent, anti-Milošević media and for being able to express his party's views on difficult questions."Agency profiles Serbian gas company boss," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 November 2008 (Source: text of report in English by Serbian weekly news agency Beta Week service). In the late 1990s, he served on the executive of the Socialist Party's provincial committee in Vojvodina and was a spokesperson for the party's city council group in Novi Sad. In June 1999, in the midst of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he announced a humanitarian aid package organised by the party destined for Priština."Convoy with humanitarian aid from Vojvodina arrives in Kosovo capital," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 20 June 1999 (Source: excerpt from report by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug); "Serbian ruling party launches new 'TV Most' station in Vojvodina," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 28 August 2000 (Source: excerpts from report by Serbian news agency Beta).
Bajatović later became the chair of the Socialist Party in Vojvodina and a member of the party's executive committee in Serbia as a whole. He emerged as a high-profile spokesperson for the party in 2001, debriefing the media on such matters as Slobodan Milošević's state of mind in the buildup to his arrest,"Milosevic party official says Yugoslav president, army hold talks inside house," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 31 March 2001 (Source: text of report by Belgrade-based Radio B92 on 31 March 2001). the party's June 2001 rally and its demands for the government to release Milošević and end the extradition of Serbian citizens to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague,"Socialists threaten 'aggressive' action if rally demands not met," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 17 June 2001 (Source: excerpt of report by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug). and Milošević's decision to remain as Socialist Party leader in the aftermath of his eventual extradition."Milosevic to continue as leader of Serbian Socialists - senior party official," British Broadcasting Corporation European - Political, 4 August 2001 (Source: text of report by Serbian news agency Beta). Bajatović addressed several Socialist Party rallies in support of Milošević during this period."Milosevic's supporters hold protest rally in Belgrade over announced extradition," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 26 June 2001 (Source: excerpt of report by Serbian state news agency Beta); "Around 10,000 Serbian Socialists, Radicals start protest march in Belgrade," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 2 July 2001 (Source: excerpt of report by Serbian state news agency Beta); "Socialists, Radicals hold protest rally against government, Hague," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 8 July 2001 (Source: excerpt of report by Serbian state news agency Beta); "Serbian Socialists, Radicals hold protest rally to mark NATO strikes," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 24 March 2002 (Source: excerpt of report by Serbian state news agency Beta).
In August 2001, Bajatović was appointed to a new nine-member body in the leadership of the Socialist Party known as the secretariat, which was entrusted with deciding on "the most important strategic issues for the party.""Milosevic addresses party session by phone," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 4 August 2001 (Source: excerpt of report by Serbian state news agency Beta). The following May, he became a party vice-president."Socialists urge authorities to help Serbs to return to Kosovo," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 12 May 2002 (Source: text of report in English by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug). Bajatović informed the media in 2002 that Socialist Party politicians Nikola Šainović and Vlajko Stojiljković would not voluntarily surrender to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague;Aleksander Vasovic, "Yugoslav general vows not to surrender to the U.N. tribunal," Associated Press Newswires, 3 April 2002. he later indicated that he did not believe former Serbian president Milan Milutinović would surrender voluntarily either."SPS does not expect former Serbian president to go to ICTY voluntarily," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 4 January 2003 (Source: text of report by Serbian radio [Radio Belgrade] on 4 February).
Notwithstanding his general support for Milošević in this period, Bajatović ultimately became aligned with a reformist faction in the Socialist Party led by Ivica Dačić. He remarked in September 2002 that the party's relationship with Milošević would need to become more reciprocal, noting that some of Milošević's recent communications to the party could be perceived as dictates. He accused Milošević's wife Mirjana Marković of trying to take over and radicalise the party,"SPS official accuses Milosevic's wife of trying to take over party," ," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 3 September 2002 (Source: text of Report by Serbian news agency Beta). and he opposed Milošević's efforts to place Bogoljub Bjelica into a position of party leadership."Bjelica, supporters walk out of SPS congress," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 10 January 2003 (Source: excerpt of report by Serbian state news agency Beta).
Bajatović led a protest against the Basic Law of Vojvodina in Novi Sad in early 2003, describing it as a separatist document."Serbian Socialists stage protest, warn Vojvodina bill "separatist document"," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring - European (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1019 gmt 28 Feb 03).
Federal and provincial representative Bajatović received the fourth position on the Socialist Party's electoral list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, СОЦИЈАЛИСТИЧКА ПАРТИЈА СРБИЈЕ - СЛОБОДАН МИЛОШЕВИЋ , Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017. The party won twenty-two mandates. Notwithstanding his high position on the list, Bajatović chose not to serve in the Socialist Party's delegation to the parliament that followed. (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 mandates to be awarded out of numerical order.)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, accessed 28 February 2017. He was instead selected on 10 February 2004, as one of the party's representatives in the federal Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. He served as party whip, and in May 2004 he was appointed to the assembly's commission for the control of the state union's security services."Agency profiles Serbian gas company boss," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 November 2008 (Source: text of report in English by Serbian weekly news agency Beta Week service); "Serbia-Montenegro Assembly appoints commission for control of security services," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 5 May 2004 (Source: text of report by Serbian news agency Beta).