Arandjelovac: Student Groups Demand 14 Officials Resign

Two councillor groups filed written resignation demands on Friday, October 30, at the Arandjelovac municipal registry office, targeting 14 officials in local government, public companies and institutions. They also asked that conditions be created for snap local elections. The officials have seven days from the filing to resign. Whether any of them will respond was not known at the time of writing.

The demands were submitted by the group “Students for Arandjelovac - Mladost pobedjuje” and the group “Students Arandjelovac”, as part of a joint action. The first filed 13 demands, the second one. Both say they acted on the strength of the councillor mandates citizens gave them.

Who are the groups targeting?

In a statement, the group “Students for Arandjelovac - Mladost pobedjuje” said:

Today we filed, at the Arandjelovac municipal registry office, on behalf of the citizens’ group “Students for Arandjelovac - Mladost pobedjuje”, demands for the resignation of Arandjelovac municipality president Goran Orlic, as well as of all officials whom the ruling majority led by the SNS has placed in leadership positions in local government, public companies and institutions.

Besides municipality president Goran Orlic, the demands name deputy president Ognjen Zecevic and seven members of the Municipal Council:

• Dr. Ivko Nikolic, education
• Nemanja Gavrilovic, sport and youth
• Milos Pesic, social affairs
• Slobodan Cirovic, tourism
• Nikola Anic, agriculture and rural development
• Vladimir Nikolic, utilities, infrastructure and transport
• Predrag Vjestica, social dialogue, religious communities, human and minority rights

The list also includes the acting director of the public utility company Bukulja, Milan Jacimovic, the acting director of the public utility company Zelenilo, Vahid Ibrulj, the director of the National Museum, Darko Pavlovic, and the director of the Tourism Organization, Djordje Prokic.

The fourteenth demand concerns the president of the Municipal Assembly, Nikola Obradovic. It was filed by the group “Students Arandjelovac”, which wants him to resign within seven days and take political responsibility for the work of the assembly he chairs.

What do they want from the Municipal Assembly president?

Obradovic is therefore the addressee of two demands. The first group also asks him to convene a session on the other officials’ resignations:

We demand that the president of the Municipal Assembly issue a call, within five days, for a session to be held immediately after the resignation deadline expires, at which the submitted demands will be acted on in accordance with the law. We filed these demands as representatives of the citizens who entrusted us with councillor mandates. Our job is to represent their interests and demand accountability from those who manage the municipality and public money.

The same group also calls for snap local elections: “We also demand that, in accordance with the law, conditions be created for holding snap local elections. We see the political solution for Arandjelovac in citizens deciding anew whom they entrust with running the municipality.”

A call for documentation on abuses

The group “Students Arandjelovac” issued a call to current and former employees of local public companies, institutions and the municipal administration, as well as to their business partners. They can send documents and correspondence to the address given in the statement, with a short explanation of what they relate to.

We call on everyone who works or has worked in local public companies, institutions and the municipal administration, as well as those who have done business with them, to send us documentation and information about possible abuses. Among other things, this concerns spending of public money, public procurement, hiring, party pressure and the use of public resources for party purposes.

The Arandjelovac students concluded: “Those with direct knowledge can help establish the facts and ensure accountability for any abuses.”

How were seats split in the Municipal Assembly?

At the local elections in March, turnout in Arandjelovac was 70.57 percent, or 25,999 of 36,841 voters. The list “Aleksandar Vucic - Arandjelovac, Our Family!” won 13,030 votes (50.12 percent) and 21 of the 41 councillor seats. The list “Students for Arandjelovac - Mladost pobedjuje” received 11,979 votes (46.08 percent) and the remaining 20 seats.

At the parliamentary elections on October 25, turnout in the municipality of Arandjelovac was around 75 percent, according to data from the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) cited by N1. The student list received 51.99 percent of the vote and the SNS 42.49 percent, also according to RIK data.

What does the law say about snap local elections?

The resignation of a municipality president does not automatically trigger snap local elections, Danas reports, citing the Law on Local Self-Government and the Law on Local Elections. Elections follow if the assembly fails to elect a new municipality president within 30 days of the resignation or dismissal. The government then decides to dissolve the assembly and appoints a temporary body, and the president of the National Assembly calls the snap local elections.

The caretaker government, headed by Djuro Macut, can handle only routine business and cannot decide to dissolve local assemblies, Danas writes. Under that reading, snap local elections could be called only after a new National Assembly is constituted and a new government is elected.

The seven-day resignation deadline runs from the filing of the demands. Until it expires, it is not known whether any of the named officials will respond, since neither municipality president Goran Orlic, nor the Serbian Progressive Party, nor the municipal administration has commented so far.