Here is a piece of advice to the Prime Minister, non-malicious and non-cynical. If he is perhaps still thinking about whether he should be a candidate for the president of Serbia, let him look in the mirror, as his health minister Zlatibor Lončar likes to say, and admit: It's time! Yes, it's time to put on paper all the scandals and affairs of his last barely six-month-old government and draw a nice line: Velimir Ilić, Zlatibor Lončar and the "Zemunci", Marko Đurić and Miša Vacić, Aleksandar Vulin and the Jablanović brothers, the train "Kosovo is Serbia" , an attempt to introduce the so-called Auxiliary police, Velimir Ilić and the report on corridors, electricity bills, Savamala... Is that all? Everything or not, it is enough for a smart man to admit that his personnel policy is not working, and it has not been working since he took over all the power in Serbia. And that is why, there is every chance, it is time for him to move to the presidency while he is still enjoying total power and having ratings that encourage him.
From there, he could continue to manage the government as before, of course, it would not be according to the constitutional powers, but he would not be the first to staff and decide on everything as before. In addition, he would not have to answer unpleasant questions about the incriminating photos of the Minister of Health, the drug dealer in the government's official vehicle, the "advisor" Miša Vacić in the government's Office for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc.
ARE SCANDALS GETTING OUT OF CONTROL: D. Spasojević and Z. Lončar;...
It has been shown, namely, that Vučić can reconstruct the government to his heart's content and take the voters to extraordinary parliamentary elections for the hundredth time, and wins those elections again and again, for nothing. He will again find a certain Marko Đurić to employ a certain Miša Vacić, or a certain Aleksandar Vulin to employ a certain Aleksandar Jablanović, whose brother Marko will be arrested in the official car of the Ministry of Labor on suspicion of dealing drugs, they will find themselves cheated and without a sinecure left Velimir Ilić to flaunt photos of the current Minister of Health with the famous boss Duča from Šilerova. There will also be a minister Zlatibor Lončar who is given a guest appearance in the Second Daily of RTS, which is said "to shine", and he unconvincingly spends the most precious minutes on "my mother" gossip in the manner of the pub half-world.
In short, it is not Aleksandar Vučić's fault that he cannot step out of his own environment, few people can, the environment is like a shadow, it follows us constantly in life. It usually goes like this: he invites some people because he has "trust" as he likes to say, those people invite their "trusted" people. After that, he has to defend his "trust" and that's it. That is why it is completely logical and predictably human for him to run for president and spend the second period of his reign on Andrić's wreath. That way, he would finally have an alibi for not answering the journalist's questions, but talking about what he wants. Because, officially, he would not have the responsibility of the prime minister, and he would do everything the same as before, opening factories, walking around the plants, counting hundreds and thousands of employees, shaking hands with investors, scolding the voters, comforting the voters (and only because he would have a full alibi as directly chosen) went on visits, received visits, talked with Thaci on the phone, climbed on trucks, drove through tunnels, addressed the nation from the tenth floor of a tower on the water... He just needs to find "his Mirko" - as the cynics noticed as soon as word got out that Vučić, apart from himself, had no other candidate for president - like Slobodan Milošević, who had Marjanović when he was president, and Tadić Cvetković. Therefore, the unconstitutional abuse of the presidential office would not, in that sense, be anything new.
UNLEASHING THE POLITICS OF AFFAIRS: The affairs listed at the beginning of the text would also be a convenient alibi for the parliamentary elections in which the prime minister would be pulled out of his sleeve. Something from the drawer: "blocking the work of the government from outside and inside by planting affairs", "the number of representatives of the ruling majority at the border", "reviewing the work and reputation of ministers", etc. Or, if the parliamentary elections are too complicated an intervention at this moment, a "trustworthy" acting Mirko would be found, while the boss is on Andrić's side. Ivica Dacic, president of the SPS, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, said that at the meeting of the SNS, SPS and JS on Friday, January 27, there was no talk of parliamentary elections because "it is in our interest that the mandate of the institution lasts until 2020." Dacic also said that the position of everyone at the meeting was that Vucic should be the government's candidate for president, who did not comment on such a possibility, except that "it will be discussed in the following days", although it is known that the progressive leadership the parties have already "discussed" it. The regime's media have been announcing for days that "the pressure on the prime minister is increasing", but also that Nikolić is not giving up. In "Večernji novosti", Stanislava Pak, adviser to the President of Serbia, announced that 82 percent of SNS voters support Tomislav Nikolić as a candidate. Everyone is waiting for the Meeting, then it will be announced.
However, this conquest of Serbia by the SNS since 2012 was marked by the fundamental politics of the affairs of the progressive duo Nikolić-Vučić, who have proven themselves to be masters in their production all these years. Let's just remember Nikolić's styrofoam and hunger strike from the time when the progressives were in the opposition, or the sack affair in the pre-election campaign between two rounds of elections, or the famous case of "meetings of the highest state official who met with Luka Bojović in 2008". Although he promised the public several times that he would announce the name of that state official, Vučić never did. Just as even today, his health minister will not say which "most powerful politician in the country" Dušan Spasojević introduced him to, since Lončar, as he claims, "operated on his father", and Spasojević invited him to thank him, when allegedly the resulting disputed photographs. It's the same pattern. Hence the trust. Not to mention the scandals that marked the time of the SNS government: from the eavesdropping affair of President Nikolić and PPV of Vučić in 2012, the "Galenik" affair, the "Miša Banana" affair in which Ivica Dacić was a participant and witness. , through the "helicopter" affair, the "Gašić" case, the "doctorate of N. Stefanović" affair, to these present-day "Jajinci" affairs, "corridors", "train"... In short, Vučić and Nikolić studied well the school of scandals of Vojislav Šešelj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party, in which they spent a decade and a half as the highest party officials. It's one thing, however, when you create affairs or at least help them get loose and use them for your own promotion, and it's another when they start happening beyond you and your control. And it seems that the latter has started to happen to Prime Minister Vučić.
O, HOW IS BELGRADE DISTANT TONIGHT?: Enough has already been said about the spotted train "Kosovo is Serbia", which never arrived in Kosovska Mitrovica. Here, however, we could dwell on a few details. Let's believe Aleksandar Vučić that he only saw what the train looked like on Pink, that he really had no idea that Marko Đurić was painting the train, writing graffiti "Kosovo is Serbia" on the outside, and decorating the inside of the train with prints of the most famous frescoes of Kosovo's monasteries, and that after all he said was "to let him know what he's doing first next time". Although it is completely unbelievable, because everyone knew, and the official Prishtina asked the international community to prevent it. Both for Serbia and for him personally, it is not known, in fact, which is worse, that he knew or that he did not know. That is why the question is, what did Vučić want by placing responsibility on his vice-president in the party and the head of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija? To say in Brussels: "Well, these guys have played a game"? Because what kind of country do we live in when the prime minister, at the moment the most responsible for the fragile dialogue with Pristina in Brussels, the prime minister who is still the head of the Bureau for the coordination of all security services, although, as already said, illegal since became the prime minister, but still the boss, how is it possible that the head of the entire security in Serbia is uninformed about such a primarily security-sensitive matter as the release of a train from Belgrade to Kosovska Mitrovica, dotted with slogans on twenty language: "Kosovo is Serbia"? And if he already has so much "trust" in the head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, whom he praises with all his mouth as a man with great political potential, how is it possible that this man of the highest state trust for the most sensitive job in the government has no idea that such a tourist attraction which at the same time devalues the Serbian heritage in Kosovo, but that is not the topic now, it is necessary to obtain elementary data on the safety of travelers, something that is in the job description of the most common tourist agencies, not the Office for KiM of the Government of the Republic of Serbia?
If, on the other hand, he knew about Đurić's "icon painting" on the train, if Đurić did everything in agreement with Vučić, which the public hardly doubts, then the Prime Minister of Serbia, probably having the idea of mixing national cards before the elections, raising tensions with the old, by running a good campaign, and in the end still fulfilling his tasks in Brussels, made a rather bad calculation. Could he believe that Prishtina would calmly observe the entry of such a train into Kosovska Mitrovica? Then why did he collide with the train? Conscious provocation due to the pre-election campaign, the policy of Nemanjina 11 "APP - if it passes, it passes", as well as in the case of the Auxiliary Police, and if it doesn't pass, we will get out? The intention to turn the colorful train into an innocent victim - a "Serbian chocolate bar in Croatia" failed miserably. Brussels seems not to have been too shaken by the "long pipes" of the ROSU special unit, which were ready to wait for the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia". The Dutch ambassador Henk van den Dol in his interview with "Danas" says quite accurately that this is again about daily politics, elections as usual in the region: "Without wanting to judge, if the incident with the train is partly to blame for the dialogue continued in Brussels, I would say that it somehow had a positive effect. Come on, son.
photo: vladimir živojinović...M. Vacić - an ultra-rightist and the most urgent advisor;...
RECRUITMENT LITERACY: Just as the Serbian New Year's train (according to the Julian calendar) did not arrive anywhere, neither did Miša Vacić. And he had big plans. In short, the case of Miša Vacić and his path from the leader of the extreme right-wing Movement in 1389 with a criminal record in the police, to an "advisor" in the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, how he introduced himself to the people on the train with business cards, and the fiasco he experienced on TV N1, and his dismissal shortly afterwards, Marko Đurić denied that Vacić was never an "advisor", but a worker on "humanitarian tasks" under the contract, which "violated the rules of service and misused the resources of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija", is just a continuation of the story from the beginning of the text about the prime minister's staffing pattern. Just as Vučić has confidence in Marko Đurić, in the same way Marko Đurić feels capable enough to have confidence in Miša Vacić. And then everyone is surprised that the unfortunate Vacić is illiterate and can't speak in front of the cameras, which is quite ugly, discriminatory and incorrect, it's not the man's fault that he didn't get an education. In this matter, Prime Minister Vučić is the most illiterate. Literacy is a broad term.
As, after all, in the case of Velimir Ilic, who, although he started at least two affairs, is at the same time an affair for himself. About how Aleksandar Vučić played him, i.e. what the power of staffing looks like from the inside, Ilic told in last week's interview for "Vreme": "When we formed that government, we had a meeting with Vučić. And Vučić told me not to enter the parliament, because I will be in the government. I was not on the list either, and I did not enter the parliament. Then, when the government was being formed, Vučić called me and said: 'You know what, I have a good place for you, to be the director of the Corridor of Serbia, that's the best. Seven days after the appointment of the government, you will also be appointed.' Then his associate Aleksa Jokić called me afterwards and said that Dmitri Đurović's term of office expires on October 15 and "let's wait for it to expire regularly" so that things don't get complicated. Then Vučić called me and said: 'Here, in a few days, when the government returns from Niš', since the government was on the ground at that time. So the government came back from Nis, then went somewhere else, and everything like that, like that, like that, and here's how much time has passed. And during that time, Dmitar Đurović, who was dismissed at the government meeting, sat in the Corridors and ironed out the accounts so that what was written in that report would be put in order - to explain how some jobs were awarded through free bargaining, how it was not tenders, and so on."
Ilić mentioned several times to journalists that there was a fierce conflict between Minister Zorana Mihajlović and Minister Nebojsa Stefanović over the then director Dmitr Đurović. And that conflict between the two ministers was, as Ilić says, the reason why Zorana Mihajlović gave him a report on the situation in the "Corridors of Serbia", which the minister denied, claiming that Ilić illegally obtained the work report on the "Corridors". Ilić, however, claims that it is not a work report, but an expert report that the minister is hiding from the citizens and the prime minister. Be that as it may, the readers of "Vremen" will have the opportunity in this issue to see the most important parts of the disputed report. Here, it should only be mentioned that a year or two ago, the media, dealing with the topic "Who gets the lucrative road construction jobs in Serbia?", mentioned the name of businessman Zvonko Veselinović, as one of the subcontractors on Corridor 11, otherwise a man about it is rumored that he is close to SNS and that he organized the barricades in Jarinje and Brnjak in 2011. In an interview with KRIK, Vučić stated that he "provided political support" to Veselinović while was in the opposition. And he emphasized that the support concerned the barricades, not business.
Velimir Ilić, in addition to revealing the details of the report on the "Corridors of Serbia", decided to take revenge on Vučić and the progressives for the unfulfilled promise by revealing a photo of Minister Zlatibor Lončar in an embrace with the notorious Dušan Spasojević, the former leader of the Zemun clan and one of the most brutal mobsters. in the region, a participant in the organization of the assassination of Zoran Đinđić. The public had the opportunity to be informed about the connections of the current Minister of Health with the Zemun clan back in 2004 during the trial for the murder of the Prime Minister. Zlatibor Lončar, then a doctor at the KCS Emergency Center, was mentioned as an associate witness in their testimony by Dejan Milenković Bagzi and Miladin Suvajdžić. Allegedly, as an associate of the Lončar Clan, he helped in the liquidation of mobsters, enemies of the "Zemunians" who, while still alive, were brought to the Emergency Center for intervention, and as a reward for his services he received an apartment in New Belgrade. Journalists of the Crime and Corruption Research Network (KRIK) have reminded of all of this in recent days, especially emphasizing their revelation last year that in 2002 Lončar signed a contract to buy an apartment in New Belgrade with the wife of Sretko Kalinić, the most famous murderer of this clan. And that Lončar sold the apartment nine months later. This discovery of theirs, therefore, partly coincides with the statements of the witnesses of the collaborators in the Special Court for Organized Crime in Belgrade. KRIK journalists report that Zlatibor Lončar told them that he personally took all the contracts to the police and that the state authorities did "their part of the job". The police never filed criminal charges against him. Finally, and most importantly, Prime Minister Vučić also spoke to KRIK about Lončar's connections with the Klan before the April elections last year. He said at the time that this story "hit him the hardest" and that he dealt with the case as much as he could, and that there would be no political interference in providing KRIK with information about this investigation.
PROVE TO ME THAT HE IS A CRIMINAL: "Other than the stories, I have not come across any evidence that would speak against him." If you prove to me that he is a criminal, there will be no place for him in the future. But I have confidence that it is not so, which does not guarantee that I am right or that you are wrong." Here it should be recalled that Vučić made this statement not only as prime minister but also as the head of the Bureau for Coordination of all Security Services and the first operative of the National Security Council, i.e. Secretary of the Council, which are the positions he took during the initial division of the spoils after the 2012 elections, when he was PPV in the government of Ivica Dačić. By law, when he became prime minister in 2014, he should have been removed from the position of secretary of the Council and coordinator of all security services. And although he himself mentioned several times that he would retire from that position, he never did. If he runs for president of Serbia, and wins, which is what all his ratings still say despite the scandals around his neck, Vučić would have the opportunity to resolve an illegal act. At the same time, as the president of the state, he would supervise the work of all services from an even greater, more precisely the highest point, because he would manage the Council for National Security and he would personally appoint the secretary of the Council and the head of the Bureau, as, after all, he was also appointed by Tomislav Nikolić. So, another opportunity to frame as he likes, and that in a department that is especially close to his heart, since the PPV days.
Elem, as KRIK reports, several months after the interview he gave them, Vučić reappointed Lončar to the position of Minister of Health. KRIK journalists asked the MUP for documentation related to the investigation conducted against Lončar, but this documentation was never delivered to them, despite, as they say, the legal obligation of state authorities to provide journalists with information of public importance.
photo: Milan Ilić...former secretary A. Jablanović whose brother was arrested in a government car;...
Another affair from the sphere of crime shook the Government of the Republic of Serbia, more precisely the Minister Aleksandar Vulin and the Ministry of Labour, Veterans and Social Affairs, and it happened at the same time as the Lončar affair. Namely, near Kraljevo, Marko Jablanović was arrested with 2,8 kg of skunk in an official vehicle of the Government of Serbia, more precisely a car of the Ministry of Labour, Veterans and Social Affairs. Marko is the brother of Aleksandar Jablanović, now a former state secretary in Vulin's ministry. Aleksandar Vulin first denied everything, saying that it was a "brutal lie" and that none of this had happened. He later admitted that he had. Aleksandar Jablanović, a man of great Vulin - here's that word again - trust, the founder of the Socialist Movement in Kosovo, a former minister in the government of Kosovo, and until this unfortunate event the state secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Veterans and Social Affairs, shortly afterwards submitted his irrevocable resignation . In a statement delivered to the media, Jablanović, with a few appropriate words about his honor and the honor of his colleagues, took responsibility for allowing his brother and his wife to be transported that day in an official vehicle, but that he "does not accept the false accusations" that in a criminal offense was committed in an official vehicle and drugs were sold. And a few more words of admiration for Alexander Vulin, the statement said. Minister Vulin triumphantly declared that the resignation of Secretary Jablanović is proof that - there are no protected persons.
BITE FOR THE SOUL: At this point, it should be mentioned that in June of last year Darko Šarić's conviction for cocaine smuggling was revoked (Vučić, to tell the truth, had not yet formed a new government at that time, he wrote an exposé), and Dragoslav Kosmajac, whom the Prime Minister personally Vučić, labeled as the biggest drug lord in Serbia, is waiting for his preliminary hearing to begin in the process that is being conducted against him and two other people for abuse of official position in incitement when registering ownership of the land on which his house is located (!?). Vulin is absolutely right, there are no protected ones. For these governments, Bogoljub Karić returned to Serbia as a free man, because the Prosecutor's Office gave up criminal prosecution.
photo: Zoran Zestić / Tanjug...M. Grčić and the mysterious increase in the electricity bill
The last scandal with the December electricity bills certainly affected the citizens much more than the drugs in the government's official vehicle could bite their soul and pocket. BIRN journalists showed how inflated electricity bills have to do with contracts concluded in business with the state. Namely, in August of last year, EPS hired a consortium of bidders led by the company Siquester for meter reading. "The consortium won the tender with an offer of 39,99 dinars per meter read, which is drastically more expensive than the price that was paid for that work years ago. The fixed price of reading in urban settlements, where the meters are more densely distributed and where they are easier and faster to read, was about ten dinars, while for rural and scattered settlements the average price was 30 dinars," BIRN research shows. According to the new rules, which have been valid since August last year, the price is the same for all meters, regardless of whether they are urban or rural settlements, and is, to repeat, 39,99 dinars per meter. Even such a high price was not, however, a guarantee that this work would be done properly. Because of the electricity scandal, the Prime Minister was very angry, and he announced an investigation. At the press conference, he said that he had warned EPS director Milorad Grcic about the scandal with the increased December accounts, and he again quickly ridiculed the group of directors without any reasonable explanation.
And at the end of last month, nine months have passed since the illegal demolition of private buildings in the Belgrade neighborhood of Savamala. These buildings were demolished by excavators on the election night of April 24-25 last year. People under phantoms took part in the demolition and deprived the citizens who happened to be there of their freedom. Prime Minister Vučić stated in June that the highest authorities of the city of Belgrade were responsible for the demolition, but he did not want to name anyone. To date, the public prosecutor's office has not initiated an investigation.
