Milka Marinković (; born 3 December 1955) is a Serbian lawyer and former politician. She was the mayor of Požega from 2000 to 2004 and served in the Serbian parliament from 2001 to 2004. Initially a member of the Democratic Party (DS), Marinković later joined the breakaway Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Early life and career Marinković was born in the village of Zeoke in the municipality of Lučani, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. She completed elementary and high school in Čačak, later graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, and moved to Požega in 1980.Milka Marinković, , Democratic Opposition of Serbia, 12 January 2003, accessed 23 May 2026.
Politician Democratic Party Marinković joined the DS in 1990.Milka Marinković, , Democratic Opposition of Serbia, 12 January 2003, accessed 23 May 2026. In the decade that followed, Serbian politics was dominated by the authoritarian rule of Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Slobodan Milošević.
The DS joined an opposition coalition called Zajedno (English: Together) in 1996. Zajedno won several Serbian cities in the 1996 Serbian local elections; in Požega, the coalition won a narrow majority with twenty-seven seats out of fifty-two.Izbori Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova u Republici Srbiji, 1996, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 76. When the assembly convened, Tihomir Marjanović of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) became mayor and Marinković became deputy mayor."KONSTITUISANE SKUPSTINE OPSTINA ARILJE, KOSJERIC I POZEGA", Užice na internetu, 17 December 1996, accessed 23 May 2026. She served in this role for the term that followed.
In 2000, the DS joined a new coalition called the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse collection of parties opposed to Milošević's continued rule. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, and Milošević fell from power on 5 October 2000. In the 2000 Serbian local elections, which took place concurrently with the Yugoslavian vote, the DOS won forty out of fifty-two seats in Požega, working locally in an alliance with the SPO (which had previously been part of Zajedno but was not part of the DOS).Izbori, 2000. Za Odbornike Skupština Opština i Gradova, Bureau of Statistics – Republic of Serbia, p. 63. After the election, Marinković was chosen as mayor of the municipality.Milka Marinković, , Democratic Opposition of Serbia, 12 January 2003, accessed 23 May 2026.
The Serbian government also fell after Milošević's defeat in the Yugoslavian vote, and a new Serbian parliamentary election was called for December 2000. Prior to the vote, Serbia's electoral laws were reformed such that the entire country became a single at-large district and all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful electoral 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. Marinković appeared in the 145th position on the DOS's list and was awarded a mandate after it won a landslide victory with 176 out of 250 seats.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), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 22 January 2001, accessed 16 May 2026. In the assembly, she served on the committee on constitutional affairs and the committee on the judiciary and administration.Детаљи о народном посланику: МАРИНКОВИЋ, МИЛКА, , Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 23 May 2026.
The DS contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election at the head of its own coalition list, which won thirty-seven mandates. Marinković appeared in the 165th position and was not given a mandate for a second term.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5. ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА – БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024."Podrška neoročenoj vladi", , Glas javnosti, 15 January 2004, accessed 13 March 2024. She stood down from parliament when the new assembly convened in January 2004.
Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors for the 2004 local elections. Marinković did not seek re-election as mayor of Požega, and her term ended that year.
Liberal Democratic Party Čedomir Jovanović was expelled from the Democratic Party in 2004 and founded the Liberal Democratic Party in November 2005. Marinković joined the new party and was elected to its inaugural presidency."Osnovan LDP", B92, 5 November 2005, accessed 23 May 2026.
She appeared on the LDP's electoral lists in the 2007 and 2008 Serbian parliamentary elections, although she did not receive a mandate on either occasion.
Recent years In 2019, Marinković started an independent party called Free Požega."Otvorena kancelarija GG 'Oslobodimo Požegu – Milka Marinković'", Danas, 1 April 2019, accessed 23 May 2026. The party did not contest the 2020 Serbian local elections, possibly due to a broader opposition boycott.Službeni List (Opštine Pożega), 2020 Number 5 (9 June 2020), pp. 1-7; Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija; Lokalni Izbori 2020; Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia; pp. 13, 47.
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