Branislav Kovačević (; 1 May 1953 – 14 December 2010), also known as Cole, was a playwright, politician, and activist in Serbia. A prominent opponent of Slobodan Milošević's government in the late 1990s, Kovačević was the leader of the League for Šumadija (Liga za Šumadiju, LZŠ) and served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2001 to 2004.
Early life and private career Kovačević was born in Valjevo, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He moved to Kragujevac as a child and lived there for the rest of his life. He was a graduate of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at the University of Belgrade.Milan Milošević, "Branislav Cole Kovačević", Vreme, 16 December 2010, accessed 26 October 2022.
During the 1980s, he was the organizer, program editor, and artistic director of the Kragujevac Student Cultural Center. Following the reintroduction of multi-party politics to Serbia in 1990, he was among the first to organize public forums with representatives of opposition parties. In August 1991, following the start of the Croatian War, he organized the only peace concert in Serbia, with singers and actors from throughout the fragmenting country of Yugoslavia. He lost his job in the early 1990s due to his opposition activities.Z.R., "Preminuo Branislav Kovačević Cole, jedan od lidera DOS-a", Danas, 14 December 2010, accessed 26 March 2022.
Kovačević was hired as artistic director of Scena in 1994 and later became the company's director. After the victory of the opposition Zajedno coalition in Kragujevac in the 1996 Serbian local elections, he was chosen as deputy general-director of Radio-Television Kragujevac. He wrote and directed several plays, at one time staging his own work Balkan boj at the Princely Serbian Theatre."Preminuo Branislav Kovačević Cole", Radio Television of Serbia, 14 December 2010, accessed 26 March 2022.
Politics Early years Kovačević joined with Ivan Đurić (then living in exile in Paris) to create the Movement for Democratic Freedoms (Pokret za demokratske slobode, PDS) in the 1990s. He later founded the League for Šumadija–Šumadjia Coalition in 1997 and appeared in the first position on its electoral list for the Kragujevac division in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (16 Крагујевац), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021. The list attracted few votes and did not win any seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године (Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997.) године, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021.
In 1998, the League for Šumadija joined with Nenad Čanak's League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (Liga socijaldemokrata Vojvodine, LSV) and other parties to form the Alliance of Democratic Parties (Savez demokratskih partija, SDP). Kovačević served as the alliance's coordinator."Preminuo Branislav Kovačević Cole", Radio Television of Serbia, 14 December 2010, accessed 26 March 2022. He organized a petition drive in Kragujevac for the dismissal of Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević from office in June 1999, after the conclusion of the Kosovo War."'Hundreds' sign petition for Milosevic dismissal in central Serbian town," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 18 June 1999 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1418 gmt 18 Jun 99). He later announced the petition drive's extension to other communities in Serbia."Serbian alliance to launch Milosevic resignation petition," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Newsfile, 25 June 1999 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 25 Jun 99). The SDP participated in a broader opposition movement called the Alliance for Change during this time, and Kovačević organized a number of public rallies in Kragujevac against Milošević."Mass opposition rally to send Milosevic a 'ticket to The Hague'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 20 July 1999 (Source: Text of report by Montenegrin TV on 19th July).
The League for Šumadija joined the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (Demokratska opozicija Srbije, DOS), a diverse coalition of parties opposed to the Milošević administration, in 2000. Kovačević appeared in the third position on the DOS's electoral list for the Kragujevac division in the Yugoslavian Chamber of Citizens in the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election."Jovanović u Jagodini, Beko u Kragujevcu", Glas javnosti, 30 August 2000, accessed 4 April 2022. The list won two seats in the division, and he was not elected.ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), p. 78. For this election, one half of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order, and the other half were distributed at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. Kovačević could have been awarded a federal mandate despite his list position, but he was not.
Parliamentarian The 2000 Yugoslavian elections resulted in the downfall of Milošević's regime, and a new republican election was held in Serbia in December 2000. For this election, the entire country was counted as a single electoral division. The League for Šumadija continued its membership in the DOS, and Kovačević appeared on the alliance's list, in the eighteenth position, as the sole representative of his party.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Демократска опозиција Србије – др Војислав Коштуница (Демократска странка, Демократска странка Србије, Социјалдемократија, Грађански савез Србије, Демохришћанска странка Србије, Нова Србија, Покрет за демократску Србију, Лига социјалдемократа Војводине, Реформска демократска странка Војводине, Коалиција Војводина, Савез војвођанских Мађара, Демократска алтернатива, Демократски центар, Нова демократија, Социјалдемократска унија, Санxачка демократска партија, Лига за Шумадију, Српски покрет отпора – Демократски покрет)), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021. The DOS won a landslide majority victory with 176 out of 250 seats; Kovačević was granted a mandate and took his seat when the new assembly convened in January 2001.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 26 March 2022. (From 2000 to 2011, mandates in Serbian parliamentary elections were awarded to successful parties or coalitions rather than individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Kovačević's list position had no formal bearing on his chances of election.)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. During his time as a parliamentarian, he served on the DOS presidency and frequently represented the alliance in the media.See for instance "DOS endorses 'new version' of Serbian-Montenegrin constitutional charter," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 20 August 2002 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1856 gmt 20 Aug 02); "Serbian governing coalition official denies coalition has been dissolved," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 September 2002 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1214 gmt 26 Sep 02). He was a member of the culture and information committee.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: КОВАЧЕВИЋ, БРАНИСЛАВ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 31 March 2022.
The DOS was an alliance of several different parties that had opposed the Milošević administration, and there were many divisions among its constituent members. Kovačević was a frequent critic of the Democratic Party of Serbia (Demokratska stranka Srbije, DSS), one of the leading parties in the coalition. Shortly after the 2000 election, he criticized DSS leader (and new Yugoslavian president) Vojislav Koštunica for meeting with Slobodan Milošević."Kostunica ally slams meeting with Milosevic," Reuters News, 14 January 2001. In May 2002, he joined with some other DOS party leaders to demand the DSS's expulsion from the coalition for what he described as "flagrant and continuous breaching of the coalition agreement.""Serbian ruling coalition members demand expulsion of Yugoslav president's party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 21 May 2002 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1116 gmt 21 May 02)."Ljuti, pa vade crveni karton", Glas javnosti, 22 May 2002, accessed 26 March 2022. The DSS left the coalition not long afterward. In late 2002, Kovačević said that the DOS would move forward with new legislation despite a DSS boycott of the assembly."Head of central Serbian coalition says DOS has to do without Kostunica's party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 4 November 2002 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1143 gmt 4 Nov 02).
Kovačević was a prominent ally of Nenad Čanak and, like him, was a supporter of increased decentralization in Serbia."Debeogradizacija Srbije", Glas javnosti, 2 December 1999, accessed 26 March 2022. In October 2001, he organized a declaration on the future of the Šumadija region that was endorsed by the League for Šumadija and other parties, including G17 Plus and Social Democracy."Political parties sign declaration on Sumadija region in central Serbia," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 18 October 2001 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1224 gmt 18 Oct 01). He later proposed dividing Serbia into provinces."Party leader Batic endorses idea of dividing Serbia in provinces," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 January 2003 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1110 gmt 14 Jan 03). In 2003, Kovačević rejected claims from New Serbia (Nova Srbija, NS) leader Velimir Ilić that he was promoting separatism."Ilić je čovek prošlosti", Glas javnosti, 10 June 2003, accessed 26 March 2022.
For the 2003 parliamentary election, the League of Šumadija participated in the Together for Tolerance (Zajedno za toleranciju, ZZT) coalition with the LSV and other parties. Kovačević appeared in the lead position on the ZZT list, which narrowly missed the electoral threshold to win representation in the assembly.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (12. ЗАЈЕДНО ЗА ТОЛЕРАНЦИЈУ - ЧАНАК, КАСА, ЉАЈИЋ) Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 2 July 2021. His parliamentary term ended in January 2004.
After 2003 Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors for the 2004 Serbian local elections. Kovačević ran in Kragujevac and finished last in a field of eleven candidates. His electoral list also missed the threshold in the concurrent city assembly election."Gradska izborna komisija saopštila konačne rezultate lokalnih izbora u Kragujevcu", , Glas Kragujevca, 20 September 2004, accessed 11 March 2022.