József Tóbiás (born 31 August 1971) is a Serbian politician from the country's Hungarian community. He served in the Assembly of Vojvodina from 2008 to 2016, has been the president (i.e., speaker) of the Ada municipal assembly since 2020, and has served in the National Assembly of Serbia since February 2024. Previously with the Democratic Party (DS), Tóbiás has been a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) since 2018.
Early life and private career Tóbiás was born in Senta, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He is an entrepreneur, working in a business that has been overseen by his family for three generations. He received a certificate in handball coaching in 2011 and has received awards from the Vojvodina Handball Association and the Hungarian Handball Association.A VMSZ TANÁCSELNÖKE, Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, accessed 6 May 2024.
Politician Democratic Party Tóbiás was elected to the Vojvodina assembly in the 2008 provincial election, winning the Ada constituency seat in the second round of voting. The Democratic Party and its allies won a majority government, and he served as a supporter of the provincial administration. He was re-elected in the 2012 provincial election, in which the DS and its allies fell narrowly below a majority and afterward formed a coalition government with other parties. In his second term, he was a member of agriculture committee and the committee for national equality.Jozef Tobias, , Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, 6 May 2024. He was not a candidate in the 2016 provincial election.
Tóbiás also appeared in the second position on the DS's electoral list for Ada in the 2008 Serbian local elections and was given a mandate when the party won a plurality victory with ten out of twenty-nine seats.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 41 Number 13 (29 April 2008), p. 7.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 41 Number 16 (15 May 2008), pp. 2-3.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 41 Number 21 (8 July 2008), p. 3.For the 2008 local elections, all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. See Law on Local Elections (2007), , Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 35/2000; made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 7 April 2024. Zoltán Bilicki of the Democratic Party served afterward as mayor in a coalition administration.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 41 Number 23 (6 August 2008), p. 4. Tóbiás later received the fourth position on the DS list in the 2012 local elections and was re-elected when the list won a majority victory with sixteen mandates.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 45 Number 15 (24 April 2012), p. 4. Bilicki continued to serve as mayor.
In early 2016, Bilicki left the Democratic Party and founded his own citizens' group in Ada, which won a majority victory in that year's local elections."Председник општине Золтан Билицки прешао у СНС", Dnevnik, 19 December 2016, accessed 27 November 2021.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 49 Number 18 (25 April 2016), p. 8. Tóbiás did not seek re-election to the assembly but was appointed to the municipal council (i.e., the executive branch of the local government) when Bilicki's third administration was established in June 2016.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 49 Number 27 (13 June 2016), p. 9.
Bilicki joined the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in late 2016."Председник општине Золтан Билицки прешао у СНС", Dnevnik, 19 December 2016, accessed 27 November 2021. Tóbiás did not follow him but instead joined the VMSZ two years later.
Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians Tóbiás joined the VMSZ in 2018 and became president of its municipal board in Ada. He continued serving on the municipal council for the next two years.A VMSZ TANÁCSELNÖKE, Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, accessed 6 May 2024.
In the 2020 local elections, Tóbiás led the VMSZ's list in Ada and was re-elected to the local assembly when the list won eleven seats.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 53 Number 18 (10 June 2020), p. 36.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 53 Number 21 (22 June 2020), pp. 4-5. Bilicki was confirmed for another term as mayor after the election, and Tóbiás was chosen as president of the assembly.Službeni List (Opštine Ada), Volume 53 Number 29 (22 August 2020), p. 4. He continues to serve in this role as of 2024.Председник СО: Тобиаш Јожеф, Municipality of Ada, accessed 6 May 2024.
He also appeared in the 189th position on the VMSZ's electoral list in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election.ИЗБОРИ ЗА НАРОДНЕ ПОСЛАНИКЕ НАРОДНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, 21. ЈУН 2020. ГОДИНЕ – Изборне листе (4 Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség-Pásztor István – Савез војвођанских Мађара – Иштван Пастор), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 27 October 2021. Election from this position was not a realistic prospect, and he was not elected when the list won nine seats.
In the 2023 parliamentary election, Tóbiás was given the fourth position on the VMSZ's list and was elected when the list won six seats."Ko je na listi SVM za parlamentarne izbore u Srbiji", N1, 8 November 2023, accessed 20 April 2024. He took his seat when the assembly convened in February 2024. He is now the deputy chair of the agriculture committee and a deputy member of the finance committee and the committee on human and minority rights and general equality.JÓZSEF TÓBIÁS, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 6 May 2024."TÓBIÁS JÓZSEF A MEZŐGAZDASÁGI BIZOTTSÁG ALELNÖKE", Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, 3 April 2024, accessed 6 April 2024.
Tóbiás was elected as chair of the VMSZ's council in March 2024."Lezárult a tisztújítás folyamata", Magyar Szó, 4 March 2024, accessed 4 May 2024. He is now leading the VMSZ's list for Ada in the 2024 Serbian local elections.Изборне Листе (Локални 2024) – Izborna lista br. 2. Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség- Dr. Pásztor Bálint, Ada Municipal Election Commission, accessed 6 May 2024.
Electoral record Provincial (Vojvodina)
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