Municipal politics

Borović served several terms in the Ruma municipal assembly as a DS member. He was elected to the assembly in the 2004 Serbian local elections, which initially produced a local government dominated by the far-right Serbian Radical Party (Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS). In 2007, three SRS assembly members left the party and aligned with the opposition, which allowed the DS to form a new coalition government. Borović was chosen as president (i.e., speaker) of the assembly. This prompted a crisis in the local government, as the former administration refused to turn over the seals of government or allow the new administration access to the official premises of the municipality.^[3][4] After six months of a stalemate, the Serbian government dissolved the assembly in March 2008 and appointed a provisional administration with Borović as its leader.^[5]

The 2008 Serbian local elections did not produce a clear winner in Ruma, and the political stalemate continued in the months that followed. The Serbian government again dissolved the municipal assembly in August 2008 pending new elections and appointed another provisional administration, once again with Borović as the leader.^[6] The DS and its allies won a narrow plurality of seats in the repeated elections in November and were eventually able to form a new administration, with Borović again in the role of assembly president.^[7][8]

In 2011, new rules took effect restricting the ability of elected officials to hold dual mandates. Borović, who was also a member of the provincial assembly by this time, was required by the constitutional court to give up one of his offices. He chose to remain in the provincial assembly and to resign as assembly president.^[9] (It was subsequently clarified that holding these two legislative offices at the same time was not restricted by the new legislation.)

The DS won a plurality victory with fourteen out of forty-three seats in Ruma in the 2012 Serbian local elections, and the party was again able to form a local coalition administration with Borović as assembly president. There was an attempt to remove Borović and the DS from office in September 2012, but this was unsuccessful.^[10] In 2013, however, there was a change in the local administration, and Borović was replaced by Aleksandar Martinović of the Progressive Party.^[11] The DS served in opposition at the local level after this time.

Borović appeared in the lead position on the DS's electoral list for Ruma in the 2016 local elections and was re-elected when the list won four mandates.^[12][13] The Progressives and their allies won a majority government, and the DS again served in opposition.

Assembly of Vojvodina

Borović was elected to the provincial assembly in the 2008 and 2012 elections, in each instance winning in the Ruma constituency seat. The DS and its allies won both elections, and Borović served as a government supporter for his first eight years in the provincial assembly.

Vojvodina switched to a system of full proportional representation prior to the 2016 provincial election. Borović was given the fourth position on the DS's list and was re-elected when the list won ten mandates.^[14] The Progressives and their allies won a majority, and the DS served in opposition.

Borović's relationship with the DS leadership broke down in 2019. He opposed the party's decision to participate in a boycott of Serbia's parliamentary institutions in protest against the leadership of Aleksandar Vučić and the SNS, and he was the only DS member to return to the assembly after the initial period of the boycott.^[15] During this period, he also accused the DS leadership of covering up financial embezzlement. The DS, for its part, charged Borović with publicly attacking its leadership and accusing party colleagues of non-existent crimes. In September 2019, he left the party to join the SNS.^[16][17]