Belgrade U Rector: My Potential Electoral Run Will Be Determined by University Student Movement

Rector Vladan Djokic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

Belgrade University Rector and School of Architecture Professor Vladan Djokic, has stated that, on his part, any potential role as prime minister or president of state or, rather, any run in the next election, will be determined by the country’s protesting university students and confirmed by the public.

“Serbia does not need another ‘omniscient’ authority. It needs qualified, accomplished people with integrity who are committed to ensuring the rule of law and a life of dignity for each of us,” Djokic told the latest edition of the Radar weekly.

The rector went on to state that there are many capable and worthy people at the University, in Serbia’s society and among the diaspora who are willing to make Serbia a place where people live with dignity, but that it is up to the public to give them a chance.

According to Djokic, the regime has not managed to crush the rebellion despite its “beatings, sound cannons, criminal charges, disgraceful laws [and] tabloid propaganda.” “Discontent does not have leaders,” he said. “It has reasons.”

Responding to President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic’s announcement that snap parliamentary elections could be called on the national holiday of St. Vitus Day, celebrated on June 28, Djokic recalled that the public has been demanding elections for over ten months and expressed his hope that Vucic was serious, since “so far, he has promised and changed his mind so many times it is difficult to follow.”

Asked about Vucic dubbing as ‘political’ the March 31 speech Djokic delivered from the Belgrade U Rectorate building balcony while police were conducting an all-day search of the premises – allegedly looking for evidence related to the recent death of a female student – the rector responded that the speech was indeed political, because “when the police storms the University, every word becomes political.”

“When one minister is threatening caskets while another [claims] you can be openly killed [by police], any resistance is political. When pro-regime media launch a campaign against the University, any public address has to be political. As for charisma, that is neither for me nor for [Vucic] to decide. That evening, thousands of people didn’t come to witness my charisma but to defend the University,” Djokic concluded.