Zoran Petrov (; 8 August 1965 – 8 April 2024) was a Serbian politician from the country's Bulgarian national minority community. He was a member of the Serbian parliament from 2007 to 2012, the leader of Serbia's Bulgarian National Council from 2010 to 2014, and the deputy mayor of Dimitrovgrad from 2012 to 2015. Petrov was a member of the Democratic Party (DS) from 1997 to 2013, when he joined the breakaway Together for Serbia (ZZS) party.
Early life and career Petrov was born in Dimitrovgrad, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was an economist and was at different times a customs officer and a technical manager at Radio-Television Caribrod.ЛОКАЛНА САМОУПРАВА, , Municipality of Dimitrovgrad, accessed 31 January 2025."IN MEMORIAM: Preminuo Zoran Petrov, predani borac za demokratiju", FAR, 8 April 2024, accessed 31 January 2025.
Politician Democratic Party Early years (1997–2007) Petrov joined the Democratic Party in 1997. In 2001, he became a member of the party's main board and president of its municipal board in Dimitrovgrad. He was elected to the Dimitrovgrad municipal assembly in the off-year 2001 Serbian local elections and afterward served as the leader of the party's assembly group.ZORAN PETROV, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 31 January 2025. (During this period, the DS was part of a broader alliance called the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). The DOS won ten seats in the Dimitrovgrad municipal assembly in 2001, finishing second against a local citizens' group called "Caribrod.")"U većini opština moguće koalicije", , Glas javnosti, 6 November 2001, accessed 31 January 2025.
Serbia adopted a system of proportional representation for local elections with the 2004 election cycle. The DS won seven out of twenty-nine seats in Dimitrovgrad in that year, winning a plurality victory, and afterward formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and other parties.Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija, Lokalni Izbori 2004, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, pp. 106. Petrov was re-elected to the assembly and served on the municipal council (i.e., the executive branch of the local government).Direktorijum lokalnih samouprava u Srbiji, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), September 2005, pp. 124-125.Skupštine opštine Dimitrovgrad, , Municipality of Dimitrovgrad, accessed 31 January 2025.Opštinsko Veće, , Municipality of Dimitrovgrad, accessed 31 January 2025.
Parliamentarian (2007–2012) Petrov appeared in the 187th position on the Democratic Party's electoral list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election and was awarded a mandate when the list won sixty-four seats.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."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024. (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 the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Petrov's low position on the list, which was in any event mostly alphabetical, did not prevent his 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 13 April 2024. The DS formed an unstable coalition government with the DSS and G17 Plus after the election; Petrov served as a government supporter and was a member of the committee on submissions and proposals.Детаљи о народном посланику: ПЕТРОВ, ЗОРАН, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 31 January 2025.
The DS–DSS alliance 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). Petrov received the 167th position on the ZES list and was given a mandate 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.R. Ognjanović, "U klupama novi poslanici", Novosti, 10 June 2008, accessed 29 June 2022. The overall results of the election were inconclusive, but ZES eventually formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and Petrov continued to serve as a government supporter. In his second term, he was a member of the economic reform committee and the committee on submissions and proposals, a deputy member of the local government committee, the leader of Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with Bulgaria, and a member of the friendship groups with Austria, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia.ЗОРАН ПЕТРОВ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 31 January 2025.
Petrov was also re-elected to the Dimitrovgrad municipal assembly in the 2008 Serbian local elections, which were held concurrently with the parliamentary vote, when the ZES alliance won twelve seats.Lokalni Izbori 2008, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, p. 76.Skupštine opštine Dimitrovgrad, , Municipality of Dimitrovgrad, accessed 31 January 2025.
Deputy Mayor of Dimitrovgrad (2012–13) Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order.Law on the Election of Members of the Parliament (2000, as amended 2011) (Articles 88 & 92) made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 6 June 2021. Petrov received the ninety-first position on the DS's Choice for a Better Life list in the 2012 parliamentary election and was not re-elected when the list won sixty-seven seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 ИЗБОР ЗА БОЉИ ЖИВОТ- БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.
He was re-elected to the Dimitrovgrad municipal assembly in the 2012 Serbian local elections, which were again held concurrently with the parliamentary vote, when the Democratic Party won thirteen seats.ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012., Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; p. 90. Vladica Dimitrov, also of the Democratic Party, was chosen as mayor after the election, and Petrov became deputy mayor.Vladimir Veljković, "Dimitrov opet na čelu Dimitrovgrada", Južne vesti, 15 June 2012, accessed 31 January 2025.
Together for Serbia/Together! (2013–2024) Deputy Mayor of Dimitrovgrad (2013–2015) The Democratic Party split in early 2013, with Dušan Petrović forming a breakaway group called Together for Serbia. Petrov joined the new party in March 2013, bringing eight of the thirteen DS members of the local assembly with him."Funkcioneri i odbornici DS prešli kod Dušana Petrovića", Jugmedia, 6 March 2013, accessed 31 January 2025. Dimitrovgrad's local government was restructured in April 2013, with Nebojša Ivanov of the Democratic Party of Bulgarians succeeding Dimitrov as mayor. Together for Serbia was part of the new governing coalition, and Petrov continued to serve as deputy mayor."Dimitrovgrad dobio novog predsednika", Južne vesti, 25 April 2013, accessed 31 January 2025.
Together for Serbia contested the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election on a coalition list led by former Serbian president Boris Tadić, who was at the time the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDS). Petrov appeared in the 115th position on the coalition's list.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (11 БОРИС ТАДИЋ - Нова демократска странка - Зелени, ЛСВ - Ненад Чанак, Заједно за Србију, VMDK, Заједно за Војводину, Демократска левица Рома), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 3 April 2024. Election from this position was not a realistic possibility, and he was not elected when the list won eighteen seats.
Dimitrovgrad's municipal government was restructured again in January 2015, and Zoran Đurov of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) succeeded Ivanov as mayor. Petrov was dismissed as deputy mayor at this time."Zoran Đurov – novi predsednik opštine Dimitrovgrad", Jugmedia, 28 January 2015, accessed 31 January 2025.
Later years (2015–2024) Together for Serbia contested the 2016 Serbian parliamentary election on a coalition list led by the Democratic Party. Petrov appeared on the fifty-fifth position and was not elected when the coalition won sixteen seats.Избори за народне посланике 2016. године – Изборне листе (2 ЗА ПРАВЕДНУ СРБИЈУ – ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА (НОВА, ДСХВ, ЗЗС)), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The DS and ZSS also fielded a coalition list in Dimitrovgrad in the concurrent local elections; Petrov led the list and was re-elected when the list won four seats.Izborna Lista ("Zoran Petrov–Zajedno za Naš Grad"), Izbori 2016, Municipality of Dimitrovgrad, accessed 31 January 2025. The Serbian Progressive Party won the election, and Petrov served in opposition for the term that followed.Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija, Lokalni Izbori 2016, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, pp. 14, 79.Z. Panić, "Vladica Dimitrov novi predsednik opštine Dimitrovgrad", Blic, 23 May 2016, accessed 30 January 2025.
The ZZS party boycotted the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election and the concurrent 2020 Serbian local election in Dimitrovgrad, charging unfair electoral conditions under the Progressive Party's leadership. Petrov's term in the local assembly came to an end.
The election boycott ended in 2022, and Together for Serbia contested that year's parliamentary election as part of the We Must (Moramo) coalition. Petrov appeared in the sixtieth position of the coalition's list and was not elected when the list won thirteen seats."Ko su kandidati koalicije 'Moramo' za narodne poslanike?", Danas, 22 February 2022, accessed 17 October 2022.
Together for Serbia was restructured as the Together! party in June 2022, and Petrov served as the new party's secretary-general."IN MEMORIAM: Preminuo Zoran Petrov, predani borac za demokratiju", FAR, 8 April 2024, accessed 31 January 2025.