Andrija Mandić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Андрија Мандић; born 19 January 1965) is a

Montenegrin Serb Serbs of Montenegro ( sr, / ) or Montenegrin Serbs ( sr, / ),, meaning "Montenegrin Serbs", and meaning "Serbs Montenegrins". Specifically, Their regional autonym is simply , literal meaning "Montenegrins",Charles Seignobos, Political Histo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He is the President of the major ethnic Serb

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

, the

New Serb Democracy New Serb Democracy (, NSD; officially abbreviated NOVA) is a Serbian nationalist right-wing political party in Montenegro, formed on 24 January 2009 as a merger between Serb People's Party and the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro. Since 2 ...

(NSD / NOVA). He was the head of the

Democratic Front Democratic Front is a name used by political parties and alliances in several countries, such as: *Democratic Front (Albania) * Democratic Front for the Liberation of Angola *Democratic Front (Bosnia and Herzegovina) * Democratic Front (Cyprus) * De ...

parliamentary club in the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

until 2020.

Private life

Andrija Mandic was born in 1965 in

Šavnik Šavnik ( cnr, Шавник, ) is a town in Montenegro and administrative center of the Šavnik Municipality. It is located at the confluence of three rivers - Bukovica, Bijela and Šavnik, at an altitude of 840 meters. It is the lowest lying ...

Socialist Republic of Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. He graduated at the Metallurgic-Technical Faculty at the

Veljko Vlahović University The University of Montenegro ( cnr, Универзитет Црнe Горe / Univerzitet Crne Gore) is a national public university of Montenegro. Its central administration and majority of constitutive faculties are located in the country's cap ...

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

Political life

Andrija Mandić started his political career by joining the People's Party, which claimed restoration of the old political party, the very first Montenegrin one, in the old Montenegrin monarchy. In 1997, he became one of the founders of the

Serb People's Party of Montenegro The Serb People's Party ( sr, Српска народна странка, СНС / ''Srpska narodna stranka, SNS'') was a political party in Montenegro. The SNS was led by Andrija Mandić. At the last legislative elections in Montenegro, on Sept ...

, when numerous members of the

People's Party of Montenegro The People's Party ( sr, Народна странка, Narodna Stranka, abbr. НС/NS) was a conservative political party in Montenegro. History The party was established in 1990, after a multi-party system was introduced in Montenegro, and was ...

defected from the political party, disagreeing with the party's

Novak Kilibarda Novak Kilibarda, PhD ( cyrl, Новак Килибарда; born 7 January 1934) is a Montenegrin former politician, professor, literary historian and writer. Early life and education Kilibarda was born on 7 January 1934 in the village of Tupan ...

leadership's decision to form a coalition with the ruling

Milo Đukanović Milo Đukanović ( cnr, Мило Ђукановић, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician serving as the President of Montenegro since 2018, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2003. He also served as the Prime Minister ...

's Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro. SNS CG considered that NS CG abandoned the national original aims of the party. Mandić fought in the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. During the

2006 Montenegrin independence referendum An independence referendum was held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1372 It was approved by 55.5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. By 23 May, preliminary refere ...

, Mandić called for minorities to be banned from voting. After the referendum ended in favor of independence, at first he refused to accept the referendum and declared that Albanians should never have been allowed to vote. In 2008, Andrija Mandic became the first president of Serb List transformed into party - ''

''. Mandić sought to transform the ''Serb List'' coalition into a more civic-oriented party, in order to boost the party's coalition potential, and even the dropping the "Serb" prefix from the newly formed party's name was considered. This idea was met with strong resistance during the merger talks. In 2009 parliamentary election NOVA ran independently and won 9,2% of the votes, and 8 seats. In the next

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held in 2012, the party ran within the

coalition which was second ranked electoral list with 22,8% of the votes and 20 seats, out of which NOVA won 8. Mandić led the Democratic Front coalition during the

held in 2016, which was again second ranked electoral list with 20,32% of the votes and 18 seats, out of which NOVA again won 8. Democratic Front MPs physically halted the process of adopting of the controversial "Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities" in the Montenegrin Parliament. Mandić and all other MPs were subsequently arrested, without their MP immunity being revoked. Andrija Mandić decided to be the last person on the electoral list For the Future of Montenegro in order to more easily bridge the gap between the various ethnic Serb and pro-Serb political parties in Montenegro. In the 2020 parliamentary election the list went on to win 32.55% of the votes and 27 seats, out of which 21 went to the Democratic Front alliance and 9 of those went to NOVA.

Involvement in alleged coup d'état

On 15 February 2017, Andrija Mandić was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in connection with an ongoing criminal prosecution against him. On 8 June 2017, the High Court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment of Andrija Mandić, along with thirteen other persons, including two Russian nationals and Milan Knežević, on charges that included "preparing a conspiracy against the constitutional order and the security of Montenegro" and an "attempted terrorist act."Montenegrin Court Confirms Charges Against Alleged Coup Plotters
Radio Liberty, 8 June 2017. In February 2021, the Montenegrin appellate court overturned the first-instance verdict against Mandić and the other defendants, and ordered a retrial.
Slobodna Evropa, 5 February 2021

Honours

Orders

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandić, Andrija 1965 births Living people People from Šavnik Serbs of Montenegro Serb People's Party (Montenegro) politicians New Serb Democracy politicians Members of the Parliament of Montenegro Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia politicians People's Party (Montenegro, 1990) politicians Serbian nationalists