Srđo Komazec (; born 17 October 1958) is a Serbian politician. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia and the Assembly of Vojvodina and was the mayor of Stara Pazova from 2004 to 2008. Komazec is a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS).
Early life and career Komazec was born in Zemun in the city of Belgrade, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He is a graduated civil engineer and has worked as an urban planner and construction inspector in Stara Pazova. He has also worked in private business.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 15 Number 1838 (Belgrade, September 2004), p. 17.
A 2007 profile described Komazec as having a quiet and withdrawn personality. Some journalists visiting Stara Pazova were surprised that he paid for a business lunch with them on his own, rather than billing the municipality in his capacity as mayor."Predsednik neće poklon", Danas, 25 October 2007, accessed 27 August 2023.
Politician Early terms in the provincial assembly (1992–2000) Komazec was elected for Stara Pazova's second division in the May 1992 Vojvodina provincial election, the first to be held after the re-introduction of multi-party democracy to Serbia. He was one of three SRS delegates elected to the assembly; the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) won a majority victory, and he served in opposition.
The Radical Party increased its representation to six seats in the December 1992 provincial election. Re-elected in Stara Pazova, Komazec served as a deputy president of the assembly in the term that followed. In 1993, he and fellow deputy president Savo Stupar wrote a letter to the Yugoslavian federal government warning that the price of wheat as determined by Serbia and Yugoslavia could not "cover the minimum production costs" of Vojvodina farmers and that the sale of wheat was therefore "being conducted with difficulty and delays."Dimitrije Boarov, "To Sow but not to Reap", Vreme, 12 July 1993, accessed 27 August 2023.
He was re-elected to a third term in the 1996 Vojvodina provincial election, in which the Radical Party won seven seats. The Socialist Party continued to govern the province throughout this period.
SPS leader Slobodan Milošević was defeated by Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) candidate Vojislav Koštunica in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, a watershed moment in the political life of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Komazec appeared in the fourth position on the Radical Party's electoral list for Sremska Mitrovica in the concurrent Yugoslavian parliamentary vote; the party won a single seat in the division, which went to lead candidate Srđan Nikolić.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 11 Number 1201 (Belgrade, September 2000), p. 5.ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), p. 47. The Radicals were badly defeated in this election overall, falling to only five seats in the Chamber of Citizens.
Komazec was defeated by a DOS candidate in the 2000 Vojvodina provincial election and ran unsuccessfully for the Stara Pazova assembly in the 2000 Serbian local elections, both of which were held at the same time as the Yugoslavian vote.
Out of office (2000–04) Serbia held a new parliamentary election in December 2000, after the fall of Milošević. Prior to the vote, Serbia's electoral laws were reformed such that the entire country became a single electoral division and all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions, irrespective 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. Komazec received the 237th position (out of 250) on the Radical Party's list; the party won twenty-three seats, and he was not given a mandate.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Српска радикална странка – др Војислав Шешељ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021.
Komazec ran for Stara Pazova's sixteenth division in a 2003 local by-election.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 12 Number 1771 (Stara Pazova, June 2003). The outcome of the election is not available online, although Komazec does not appear in a list of local assembly members made available on the Stara Pazova website in 2004.ORGANI SKUPŠTINE OPŠTINE STARA PAZOVA, , Municipality of Stara Pazova, accessed 27 August 2023.
Parliamentarian, provincial representative, mayor (2004–08) Komazec received the fifty-first position on the Radical Party's list in the 2003 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2. СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - др ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021. The party won eighty-two seats, and he was awarded a mandate when the assembly convened in January 2004."Skupština čeka demokrate", Glas javnosti, 13 January 2004, accessed 27 August 2023. Although the Radicals won more seats than any other party, they fell short of a majority and ultimately served in opposition. Komazec was a member of the committee for finance and the committee for urbanism and construction.СПИСАК НАРОДНИХ ПОСЛАНИКА: КОМАЗЕЦ, СРЂО , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 August 2023.
Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors in the 2004 Serbian local elections, and Komazec was elected as the mayor of Stara Pazova in the second round of voting. He was also re-elected to the Vojvodina assembly for the redistributed Stara Pazova division in the concurrent 2004 provincial election. The Democratic Party (DS) and its allies won the provincial vote, and the Radicals once again served in opposition in the Vojvodina assembly.
The Radicals formed a coalition government with the Socialists and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) in Stara Pazova. As mayor, Komazec attracted controversy (including from members of his own coalition) by refusing an Austrian company's request to convert agricultural land to an industrial zone for investment in the municipality. The Strength of Serbia Movement (PSS) joined the governing coalition in 2007, after the DSS withdrew."Rat DSS i SRS oko fotelja", Glas javnosti, 24 May 2007, accessed 27 August 2023."Inđija i Stara Pazova: Blizu, a daleko", Radio Television of Vojvodina, 29 September 2007, accessed 27 August 2023.
Komazec appeared in the 126th position on the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election and was not given a new mandate when the list won eighty-one seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Српска радикална странка - др Војислав Шешељ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021.14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 5 March 2017.
The direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned after a single term. Since 2008, Serbian mayors have been chosen by members of the local assemblies, who are elected by proportional representation. Komazec led the Radical Party's list for Stara Pazova in the 2008 local elections; the party narrowly won the popular vote, but the second-place Democratic Party formed a new coalition government, and Komazec served in opposition for the term that followed.Velika Srbija [Serbian Radical Party publication], Volume 19 Number 3193 (Stara Pazova, May 2008), p. 7.Lokalni Izbori 2008; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 12, 49."Goran Jović novi predsednik Opštine", Danas, 14 July 2008, accessed 21 August 2023.SKUPŠTINA OPŠTINE, , Municipality of Stara Pazova, accessed 27 August 2023.For the 2008 local elections, all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. Komazec did not automatically receive a mandate by virtue of his position on the list. See Law on Local Elections (2007) , Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 129/2007); made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021. He was defeated in Stara Pazova in the 2008 provincial election.
The Radical Party experienced a serious split in late 2008, with several members joining the more moderate Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) under the leadership of Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić. Komazec remained with the Radicals.
After 2008 Serbia's electoral system was again reformed in 2011, such that all mandates in elections held under proportional representation were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. Komazec received the 172nd position on the Radical Party's list in the 2012 parliamentary election and the eighty-eighth position in the 2014 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (2 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - ДР ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 September 2021.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6 СРПСКА РАДИКАЛНА СТРАНКА - ДР ВОЈИСЛАВ ШЕШЕЉ), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 4 June 2022. The party fell below the electoral threshold for assembly representation on both occasions.
Komazec led the SRS's list for Stara Pazova in the 2012 Serbian local elections and was re-elected. Weakened by the split four years earlier, the Radicals won only four out of forty-eight seats in the municipality.Одборници СО Стара Пазова, , Municipality of Stara Pazova, accessed 27 August 2023. He ran for the Stara Pazova constituency seat in the concurrent 2012 provincial election and finished fifth.
The SRS again won four seats in Stara Pazova in the 2016 local elections, finishing a distant second against the coalition led by the Progressive Party.Službeni List (Grada Sremska Mitrovica), Volume 8 Number 8 (25 April 2016), pp. 1-3. Komazec was re-elected at the head of the Radical list and served another four-year term in opposition.Službeni List (Opština Srem), Volume 46 Number 13 (13 April 2016), p. 509. He led the list once more in the 2020 local elections and was not re-elected when the list fell below the electoral threshold.Službeni List (Opština Srem), Volume 50 Number 16 (10 June 2020), p. 395.Službeni List (Opština Srem), Volume 50 Number 19 (22 June 2020), pp. 464-465.