Seven opposition parties demand Vasiljevic's dismissal and a defence committee session

Seven parliamentary opposition parties on 25 May submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, a joint demand for an emergency session of the Defence and Interior Affairs Committee, with a request for the dismissal of police director Dragan Vasiljevic. The demand was signed by the Party of Freedom and Justice, the People’s Movement of Serbia, the Green-Left Front, the Free Citizens’ Movement, Serbia Centre, the New Face of Serbia and the Ecological Uprising. It was filed at 1:40 p.m. at the National Assembly registry, pursuant to Article 73 of the Rules of Procedure.

The explanatory memorandum, read out to journalists by Party of Freedom and Justice deputy leader Marinika Tepic, states that on 18 November 2020 director Vasiljevic signed the decision returning Veselin Milic to the head of the Belgrade Police Directorate, after a two-year period in which Milic had served as adviser to the President of the Republic. In the opposition’s view, Vasiljevic “bears formal responsibility for the selection and the continuing oversight of Milic’s work”. Under the Rules of Procedure, the Speaker has seven days to decide on convening a Committee session.

What is each party asking for specifically?

The Party of Freedom and Justice, alongside its demand for Vasiljevic’s dismissal, is also demanding the resignation of Minister Ivica Dacic. In its rationale, the minister “bore political responsibility for all decisions within the ministry” even when he was not the formal signatory of the appointment. From the People’s Movement of Serbia, leader Miroslav Aleksic backed the demand and added that the government should agree to a parliamentary inquiry committee into the links between the police and organised crime.

The Green-Left Front, through coordinator Radomir Lazovic, asked the Interior Ministry to provide the public with a list of all private security details run by Milic and his teams over the last five years. Lazovic argued that such a list exists in the registers of the Public Order and Peace Department and could be published without compromising the investigation. The Free Citizens’ Movement, through its president Pavle Grbovic, emphasised that Vasiljevic’s dismissal would be “the first step towards dismantling the entrenched system of loyalty inside the Interior Ministry”.

How has the ruling coalition responded?

From the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, executive committee president Darko Glisic said the opposition demand was “a political escalation without procedural grounds”. Glisic added that director Vasiljevic “carried out his job by procedure” and there are no grounds for dismissal. From the Socialist Party of Serbia, led by Ivica Dacic, the spokeswoman said in a short statement the party “fully supports Minister Dacic and Director Vasiljevic”.

Speaker Ana Brnabic has not publicly commented on the fate of the request. A source close to the Assembly leadership says the Defence Committee session is being planned for 30 May or 2 June, but without an item on Vasiljevic’s dismissal. By convention, a request to dismiss the police director, although permitted under the Rules of Procedure, requires a written initiative from the government, which had not been submitted at the time this piece went to press.

From the Democratic Party, which is not among the seven signatories, leader Zoran Lutovac said the party “supports the substance of the demand”, but had decided not to sign the joint document because of “differences in interpretation of procedural strategy”. Lutovac stressed that the Democratic Party continues to insist on the question of general elections as its primary political goal.

Serbia Centre leader Zdravko Ponos, a former colonel in the Serbian Armed Forces, said the chain-of-command structure in the Interior Ministry is “unclear” and that the written appointment procedure should be put on the Committee’s agenda. In his view, Vasiljevic “makes no moves of his own” and “carries out the cabinet’s decisions”.

At a press conference after submitting the request, Marinika Tepic said that if the Committee session is not convened by 1 June, the opposition will move to an emergency initiative to convene the National Assembly. Under the Rules of Procedure, such an initiative requires the signatures of at least one-third of MPs.

From the Belgrade Stays coalition, which groups part of the opposition at the capital city level, leader Borko Stefanovic announced a parallel initiative for a session of the Belgrade City Assembly with an item on the work of the Secretariat for Public Order and Peace during the events of 12 and 23 May. In his view, both events, the Senjak case and the Slavija protest, raise wider questions about the work of Belgrade interior-affairs bodies, beyond the individual cases.

Will Speaker Brnabic convene a Defence Committee session with the item on Vasiljevic’s dismissal by 1 June?