Árpád Fremond
Árpád Fremond (Serbian Cyrillic: Арпад Фремонд; born December 4, 1981), is a politician in Serbia from the country's Hungarian community. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia since 2008 as a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség, VMSZ).
Early life and career
Fremond was born in Bačka Topola, Vojvodina, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was raised for a time in Pačir before returning to Bačka Topola to study as a veterinary technician, earning a degree in 2000. He subsequently graduated from the Subotica branch of the Sombor Teacher Training Faculty in 2004, and in 2010–11 he earned a master's degree from the same institution.[1] Fremond became a member of the VMSZ in 2000, was a founding member of its youth wing, and is currently a party vice-chair.[2]
Parliamentarian
Fremond first sought election to the National Assembly in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election, receiving the fifth position on the VMSZ's list.[3] The party won three seats, and he was not selected as part of its delegation. (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 mandates to be awarded out of numerical order. Fremond's position on the list did not automatically prevent him from receiving a mandate, though as events transpired he was not selected.)[4] For the 2008 election, the VMSZ led a multi-party Hungarian Coalition, which won four seats. Fremond appeared on the alliance's list and, this time, was selected to take one of its mandates.[5] For a European Serbia formed a coalition government after the election, and the VMSZ provided parliamentary support to the administration; Fremond served as part of its parliamentary majority.
Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that parliamentary mandates were awarded in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Fremond was given the fourth position on the VMSZ's list for the 2012 election and was re-elected when the list won five mandates.[6] He again received the fourth position in 2014 and was promoted to third in 2016; the party won six and four seats on these occasions, respectively, and Fremond was returned both times.[7] Although the VMSZ was in opposition from 2012 to 2014, it has provided support to Serbia's coalition government led by the Serbian Progressive Party since 2014, and Fremond has once again served with the government's parliamentary majority during this time.
He is currently the deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on agriculture, forestry, and water management; a deputy member of three other committees; and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Croatia and Hungary.[8] He has often focused on issues pertaining to Vojvodina's farming and dairy-producing communities.[9]
References
- ^ FREMOND ÁRPÁD – A VMSZ ALELNÖKE, Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ Arpad Fremond, istinomer.rs, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Савез војвођанских Мађара - Јожеф Каса), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ 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 28 February 2017.
- ^ Fremond appeared in the thirty-third position on the coalition list. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (МАЂАРСКА КОАЛИЦИЈА - ИШТВАН ПАСТОР), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (VAJDASАGI MAGYAR SZОVETSЕG - PАSZTOR ISTVАN - САВЕЗ ВОЈВОЂАНСКИХ МАЂАРА-ИШТВАН ПАСТОР), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Vajdasagi Magyar Szovetseg - Pasztor Istvan - Савез војвођанских Мађара - Иштван Пастор), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 April 2017; Избори за народне посланике 2016. године » Изборне листе (АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - СРБИЈА ПОБЕЂУЈЕ), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ ÁRPÁD FREMOND, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 27 April 2017.
- ^ See for instance Farmeri očajni, idu iz mlekarstva, B92, 26 May 2015, accessed 27 April 2017; and "Fremond: Važi li prinudna naplata samo u Vojvodini?", Radio Television of Serbia, 19 November 2013, accessed 27 April 2017.