Petar Kuntić () is a Serbian community leader and former politician from the country's Croat community. He led the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV) from 2003 to 2015 and was a member of the Serbian parliament from 2007 to 2014. He also served three terms on Serbia's Croatian National Council and was the deputy mayor of Subotica from 2005 to 2007.
Kuntić sought election to the Croatian parliament in the 2015 election as a candidate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) but was not successful.
Early life and private career Kuntić was born in Subotica, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Agriculture in 1985 and took postgraduate studies at the same institution in 1986–87, although he left before completing his exams. He worked in Subotica from 1986 to 1992, was employed with Agroseme Panonija from 1992 to 1997, and oversaw a private farm from 1997 to 2000. He later worked for Fermopromet in Novi Bezdan, Croatia, from 2000 to 2002 and was the acting director of DP Palić from 2002 to 2005.Zamenik Predsednika Opštine Subotica: Petar Kuntić, , Municipality of Subotica, accessed 3 November 2024.Vijećnici: Petar Kuntić, , Croatian National Council, accessed 3 November 2024.
Politician Early years (1993–2003) Kuntić joined the DSHV in 1993. He was elected to its presidency in 1994 and was its vice-president from 1996 to 2003.Vijećnici: Petar Kuntić, , Croatian National Council, accessed 3 November 2024.
He was the DSHV's candidate for Subotica's fourth electoral district in the 1996 Vojvodina provincial election.Glas ravnice, Number 71 (October 1996), p. 9. He was not successful; the winning candidate was Ivan Vojnić Tunić of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). He also ran for Ker's second division in the concurrent election for Subotica's municipal assembly in the 1996 Serbian local elections and lost to Blaško Gabrić, the candidate of Mirko Bajić's Subotica Civic Alliance.Glas ravnice, Number 71 (October 1996), p. 12.Žig, Volume II Number 58 (31 October 1996), p. 6.Žig, Volume 3 Number 59 (14 November 1996), p. 1. Kuntić later appeared in the second position on the DSHV's electoral list for the Subotica division in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election; the list did not win any mandates.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Суботица), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.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, , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.
Serbia's electoral laws were reformed after the fall of Slobodan Milošević in October 2000. For parliamentary elections, the entire country became a single electoral district and all mandates were distributed 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 6 June 2021. The DSHV did not participate in the 2000 Serbian parliamentary election.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia oversaw the first elections for the Croatian National Council in 2002. Kuntić appeared in the sixth position on the DSHV's electoral list and was elected when the list won fifteen mandates. A rival list, known as the Forum of Croatian Institutions and Organizations of Vojvodina, won twenty seats.2003 - 2010, Croatian National Council, accessed 3 November 2024.
Party leader and deputy mayor (2003–07) After a period of internal turmoil, the DSHV removed Bela Tonković as party leader on 6 July 2003 and appointed Kuntić as his successor on an interim basis."Borba za svoj dom", Hrvatska Riječ, 21 November 2003, accessed 3 November 2024."Intervju prvog predsjednika DSHV-a mr. sc. Bele Tonkovića za tjednik Hrvatska riječ", Hrvatska Riječ, 24 July 2020, accessed 3 November 2024.
The DSHV contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election as part of the Together for Tolerance (ZZT) alliance. Kuntić appeared in the 103rd position on its electoral list, which did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (12. ЗАЈЕДНО ЗА ТОЛЕРАНЦИЈУ - ЧАНАК, КАСА, ЉАЈИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
In early 2004, Kuntić led the DSHV in merger discussions with the Croatian National Alliance (HNS), which had split off from the DSHV in 1998. The talks were successful, and the HNS merged back into the DSHV at a party conference held on 29 February 2004."Ponovno zajedno", Hrvatska Rijeć, 13 February 2024, accessed 3 November 2024. Kuntić was formally elected as DSHV president on the same occasion, defeating Blaško Temunović."VII REDOVITA I IZBORNA SKUPŠTINA DEMOKRATSKOG SAVEZA HRVATA U VOJVODINI", , Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, 15 March 2004, accessed 3 November 2024. Temunović, in turn, left the DSHV later in the year to launch his own breakaway party, the Croatian Bunjevac-Šokac Party (HBŠS).
Kuntić ran for Subotica's second division in the 2004 Vojvodina provincial election and was defeated by Mirko Bajić in the second round of voting. He also appeared in the second position on the DSHV's list for Subotica in the concurrent 2004 local elections and was elected when the list won five seats.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 40 Number 39 (8 September 2004), p. 1.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 40 Number 43 (20 September 2004), pp. 1-3.In the 2004 local elections, the first one-third of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order, and the other two-thirds were distributed to candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions. See Law on Local Elections , Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 33/2002; made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021. He was chosen as deputy mayor of the municipality on 26 January 2005, with his term formally beginning the following day.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 41 Number 3 (26 January 2005). Kuntić was required to resign from the assembly by virtue of holding this executive role, which he did on 1 February.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 41 Number 5 (17 March 2005), p. 2.
Relations between Subotica's Croat and Bunjevac communities were extremely fraught in this period, as many Croat community leaders contend that Bunjevci are a sub-group of Croats and not a separate ethnicity. In 2006, Kuntić remarked that Bunjevci would "soon be a thing of the past" and cease to exist as a distinct community. This statement was condemned by Mirko Bajić, Subotica's most prominent Bunjevac politician."Prete im da će 'biti prošlost'", , Glas javnosti, 29 August 2006, accessed 4 November 2024.
At the time Kuntić became deputy mayor, the DSHV had been aligned with the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SMV) in Subotica for over a decade. The alliance broke down in 2007, and the DSHV formed a new partnership with the Democratic Party (DS), a frequent rival to the SMV at the local level. A group of DSHV members who opposed this decision formed another breakaway party called the Democratic Union of Croats (DZH)."Imamo li alternativu?", Hrvatska Rijeć, 29 November 2013, accessed 3 November 2024.
Parliamentarian Kuntić appeared in the 110th position on the Democratic Party's electoral list in the 2007 parliamentary election.See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Демократска странка – Борис Тадић), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The list won sixty-four seats, and Kuntić was awarded a mandate when the new parliament convened."НОВИ ПАРЛАМЕНТ ОД СРЕДЕ", Novosti, 10 February 2007, accessed 10 September 2022. The election did not produce a clear winner, and the Democratic Party ultimately formed an unstable coalition government with the rival Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and G17 Plus. Kuntić supported the ministry and was a member of the committee for agriculture and the committee for international relations.Детаљи о народном посланику: КУНТИЋ, ПЕТАР, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 3 November 2024.
He resigned as deputy mayor of Subotica in late 2007, after the Republic Agency for the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest ruled that he could not hold a dual mandate as a parliamentarian and an executive member of the local government."Petar Kuntić se povlači", Danas, 4 October 2007, accessed 3 November 2024.
The DS–DSS coalition broke down in early 2008, and a new parliamentary election was held in May of that year. The DS contested the election at the head of an alliance called For a European Serbia (ZES), which also included the DSHV. Kuntić received the ninety-eighth position on the ZES list and was given a mandate for a second term when the list won 102 seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 ЗА ЕВРОПСКУ СРБИЈУ – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. As in 2007, the election did not produce a clear winner. After extended negotiations, ZES formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia, and Kuntić again supported the ministry. He was a member of the committee for international relations and the committee for science and technological development, a deputy member of the agriculture committee, and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. He also served on an interstate commission for monitoring an agreement between Serbia and Croatia on the rights of Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia.ПЕТАР КУНТИЋ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 4 November 2024.
Serbia held the second election for the Croatian National Council in 2010. The DSHV won eighteen seats, while a separate list affiliated with For a European Serbia won eleven. Kuntić was elected to a second term, seemingly after appearing in the seventh position on the DSHV list.2010. – 2014., Croatian National Council, accessed 4 November 2024.