Whatever you think of him, Marijan Risticevic seems to be a man you can play it safe with. Every statement he makes these days is - without exception - scandalous, and every explanation for that scandalousness (again without exception) is more than unintelligent. There are no mistakes.
Although MP Risticevic was previously known as a man who is no stranger to primitivism and aggressiveness, this time he responded to the growing demands of the times and customs, successfully surpassing even himself.
The series of devastating last week's episodes, in which he had a leading role, will surely go down in the annals of dishonor, absurdity and moral misery, which are not lacking either in the government in which he actively participates, or in himself.
WHAT LIMIT?: At the moment when tens of thousands of citizens of Serbia were collecting money in the SMS humanitarian campaign to save the seriously ill one-year-old girl Sofia, Marijan Risticevic wrote on his Twitter account: "DS are a miracle. In 2015, the RFZO paid EUR 460.000 for an operation abroad to the daughter of one of them. This year they turned down the RFZO themselves in order to pay for the campaign."
Thanks to the timing, the identity of this child was completely obvious, and the information was presented more than selectively - with the clear aim, through the sick girl and her family, to discredit the party to which her father belongs.
Days after that November 17, Risticevic explained how his statement was taken out of context, but the recordings from his Twitter account speak for themselves. Although he probably expected a reaction of outrage at DS, all the comments on what he wrote were directed at him. After a follower told him: "You are writing about a sick child. Where is the border?", Risticevic coldly, without a hint of reflection on what has already been done, says: "Which border? I am writing that the DS is lying, because the parents refused to treat the child abroad this year at the expense of the RFZO."
In translation, all this meant that the parents of a child who has been sick since birth and whose tracheal anomaly is life-threatening, parents who have already survived a dozen serious surgical procedures with their child - refuse the help that the Republic Institute for Health Insurance gives them hand and fist, thus prolonging going abroad and thus risking the life of that same child. All this in order to smear the Institute (about which it is difficult to say a single nice word), and therefore the government in which Risticevic actively participates (and which, judging by the example of the socially vulnerable, sick, pregnant and infirm, has no sense of man, individual and human creature as such). If there is one's own child on one side, and one's own party on the other side - the average DS member, therefore, chooses a party?!
Everything that happened after this boils down to the many-times-repeated folk wisdom that Muju's mother didn't scold him for playing cards, but for going out. Risticevic could have remained silent, withdrawn, even apologized, but that did not happen. His further actions and statements showed even more clearly what kind of man and politician he is, and at the same time, how deep is the moral, intellectual and political bottom towards which the ruling group is rapidly rushing.
DISEASE, LIES AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: After seeing that his tweet raised the temperature, Risticevic announced that "misinterpretations" led parents and the public to a misconception about the treatment and approval of treatment of children abroad at the expense of the RFZO. "My intention was not to hurt anyone, but to point out, as a member of the Board of Directors of the RFZO, the fact that the Fund approved the treatment of 449 children abroad in nine months of this year, and that the treatment was approved in that case as well." To anyone who thinks that's not true, I'm ready to apologize."
Risticevic has not yet apologized to anyone, although here, let's be clear, nothing is true: neither that anyone misinterpreted anything (the tweet was clear to him, just like what he wrote afterwards), nor that there was no intention that someone gets hurt (because, if you accuse a parent of putting his party before the life of his child - it is difficult to interpret that in any way, except as an intention to hurt himself), nor that Risticevic wanted to point out the systemic successes of the current government (because those 449 children were discussed only after the story about the manipulations of the Democrats).
Finally, the lie on top of lies is the repeatedly repeated thesis that the child was approved for treatment abroad - as her father would later explain, the child was sent at the last minute, instead of to a French hospital adequate for her treatment, to an Italian institution specializing in completely different type of anomaly, which was not recommended by any domestic or foreign expert. It would be like referring a person waiting for an emergency heart transplant to the best ophthalmology clinic and publicly announcing how shameful it can be for him to refuse "treatment at the expense of the state"?!
In the continuation of his shameful announcement, Risticevic goes a step further: "As far as politics is concerned, I have not made statements of that nature about this, nor will I make them in the future, and what I said is, in my opinion, a fact that can be verified in the RFZO." I am especially sorry that, against my will, the identity of the parents and the sick child was revealed."
It is difficult to make any comment here - Risticevic ignores his open political name-calling, repeats a lie that he knows is a lie (and which he calls a "verifiable fact"), and finally hypocritically announces that he is sorry for revealing someone's identity .
Reacting to everything that was said, Rodoljub Šabić, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, initiated the procedure of monitoring the implementation of the Law on Protection of Personal Data in RFZO. Recalling the fact that an official who abuses personal data is subject to a prison sentence of up to three years, Šabić asked a logical question: "Do the members of the Fund's Management Board have access to the personal data of insured persons and under which law?"
An equally logical answer, based on what we witnessed, is: of course they do. And of course, Marijan Risticevic will abuse them whenever he wants, for whatever purpose. He doesn't like what you say/stand for/write? And, oops, here you are in the Assembly - with an overview of all psychiatric, gynecological, urological and internal medicine problems that were solved for you at the famous "cost of the state" (as if not all of us pay for it), that is, thanks to the wise and humane actions of the RFZO.
WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?: But even after that, Risticevic did not calm down, showing that he still has the strength for anthological sentences and unforgettable nonsense. "It was never my intention to reveal the girl's personal information." The information I presented was given by me as a member of the RFZO Board of Directors, I regret that I presented it, even though it is correct, as it was misused. And I didn't give any information to the media," he revealed to N1, after Sabić's decision was announced.
In this case, it cannot be otherwise than numerically:
1. Personal data does not include only first and last name, but everything that points to a person's identity - and that is what Risticevic discovered.
2. The data should not be presented primarily by the members of the Board of Directors of the RFZO. The fact that someone is a member of the Board of Directors of the RFZO does not mean that they have personal data and information from the health record. RFZO is nobody's back.
3. If a man says that he is sorry for saying something, even though it is "true" - it is clear that he is not sorry for saying it at all, but because it caused him problems.
4. If something is published on Twitter - it is the same as if it was published in the media. If something is said in the Parliament, it is the same as if it was published in the media. A statement to the media is not just a statement that a person makes at the request of the media - a statement to the media is everything that is said in a public space.
Finally, bearing in mind that Marijan Risticevic does not know all this, the question arises as to how someone like him became a member of the Supervisory Board in the first place. According to the Institute's website, Risticevic is a representative of "farmers' insurance, at the proposal of the farmers' association organized at the level of the Republic, which has more than 50.000 registered members", which is in accordance with the rules for the formation of the Board of Directors.
However, it is still unclear where someone got the idea to appoint a man to such an important body who, during his twenty-year career, did not make literally a single move that did not cause "transfer blama" to the (at least literate and balanced) observer. Where did the idea come from that a man whose biggest political reach was his participation in one of the series "Farm" is speaking about important long-term decisions?
There is hardly any other explanation here except the one whose effects we had the opportunity to witness: that, if necessary, health records and treatment data are taken out of the pocket, that the last rampart of privacy in the deranged state apparatus is demolished, that the disease put at the service of government, power and pressure.
If a more respectable, sensitive and moral man had taken Risticevic's place in the Supervisory Board, the story about the treatment of little Sofia would hardly have reached the parliamentary benches. Such and such a member of the Board of Directors would most likely not blindly listen to orders "from above". And if there was no order, it is even less likely that so-and-so would publish information about the sick girl on his own initiative in order to discredit her father and his party. This way, with Risticevic, the SNS has an ace up its sleeve: if necessary, it will obey; and if it is not necessary - he will do it himself, at his personal discretion and in accordance with the current inspiration.
By the way, for those interested: Risticevic allegedly receives more than 40 thousand dinars for his membership in the Board of Directors of RFZO, for a few hours of work per month. Among other things, his and his colleagues' competence includes the decision on how to spend more than 200 billion dinars intended for the Institute, the selection of experts who decide on sending children for treatment abroad (?!), as well as the decision on new medicines.
According to the official biography, Risticevic was born in Novi Karlovci, graduated from the Higher School for Labor Organization, from 1979 to 1985 he worked in the Motor and Tractor Industry (IMT), and in 1986 he became an independent farmer. From 1996 to 1999, he was the secretary of the Coalition of Vojvodina, and after its collapse, he moved to the People's Peasant Party of Dragan Veselinov. He entered the parliament for the first time in 2000. Since 2002, he has been the president of the People's Peasant Party, and two years later he was elected president of the Indjija Municipal Assembly. He was dismissed from that position in 2007 due to a violation of the Rules of Procedure (in the translation of boasting aimed at deputies who were not to his liking).
He participated in the presidential elections twice - the first time in the unsuccessful 2003 (when he took fourth place with 72.105 or 2,86 percent of the votes), and the second time in 2004 (when he won much less - 10.198 or 0,33 percent of the votes ). His main argument at the time was his thesis that he could lift "a 50-kilogram bag, and my opponents not even two kilos."
He became a member of parliament again in 2012, remaining in that position after the elections in 2014 and 2016. He is a representative of the coalition "Aleksandar Vučić - Serbia wins", and a member of the parliamentary group Socialist Movement - People's Peasant Party - United Peasant Party. In the current convocation of the parliament, he is the chairman of the Committee for Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and a deputy member of the Committee for Justice. He is a member of more so-called friendship group (with China, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Croatia and Slovenia), and chairs the friendship group with the Vatican, i.e. Holy See. It is difficult to determine what these groups actually do, but there is reason to hope that their presidents are not in charge of any diplomacy after all. Otherwise, it could happen that it is Risticevic who bursts into the Vatican in order to adequately present us all together.
UNOFFICIAL VERSION: The unofficial biography of MP Risticevic is far more interesting. First of all, his company and his wife's company were linked to the disappearance of thousands of tons of corn from the Commodity Reserve. He denied all the media reports, but the story was never fully clarified.
In addition, MP Risticevic is known for his parliamentary appearances: he exchanged a series of threats and insults with Nenad Čanka at the end of last year, and only a day before his last Twitter appearance he caused a real breakdown of the system in the parliament. Using the debate on the Law against Violence against Women, on November 16, he showed photographs of naked women, which he linked to prominent members of the DS. When MP Tatjana Matsura from the movement "Enough is Enough" reacted to that, a fight and an argument started, after which she (neither guilty nor liable) was accused of spitting on Risticevic.
As a sign of protest against the government's policy towards farmers, he once drove a tractor in front of the Assembly. A little later, in 2005, in front of the Government of Serbia, his donkey Mlađa was taken from him, which he brought to protest about the experts from the then G17 Plus (and Mlađan Dinkić, after whom he named the donkey).
Finally, he became famous by participating in the third series of the reality show "Farm", where he took a high second place - although he later claimed that the vote was rigged, and complained that Željko Mitrović did not pay him as promised. Of course, Risticevic is not the only politician who agreed to participate in reality shows - Nenad Čanak did that too - but he is certainly the only one who did it from start to finish, participating equally with other contestants. Likewise, it goes without saying that Risticevic did not stand out from the other participants in other fields either: on the contrary, he excelled in arguments, exchanging insults and curses, and to this day his homophobic speech against the Boki 13 participants is mentioned on social networks, as well as a series of " of direct matches" with the singer Vesna Vukelić - Wendy.
Such and such Risticevic, it will be shown, is still capable of shaking the political scene of Serbia quite a bit (directed or on his own initiative, anyway). At the parliament session on November 18, he was the reason for the performance that ended with verbal and physical clashes, the total collapse of the system and finally the tears of the chairman, Maja Gojković. Risticevic also indirectly marked the day on which this text was written, Tuesday, November 22, when the deputies were prevented from entering the Assembly hall, and the discussion was mainly focused on arguments regarding the qualifications that recommended Risticevic for a position in the Board of the RFZO and various parliamentary committees.
Although all of this is a circus that the citizens of Serbia have already googled a lot, that circus is very important for this story. Because, if that circus didn't exist, there wouldn't be Marijan Risticevic as we know him. If this were a normal country, with a normal political scene and social environment, he would calmly plow his fields and entertain the neighborhood. In this way, he managed to build a political career without any known political program, without any known political idea - only on rudeness, primitivism and the entertainment element - and provide himself with a more than decent monthly allowance. Thanks to political keys, unscrupulous trampling of all laws and rules, as well as blindness to any empathy and decency, Marijan Risticevic managed to get into the position of deciding not only on the lives of sick children, but also on their privacy and dignity.
It will be that we did not deserve better than him.
