Saša Janković has not been the Protector of the Citizens of Serbia for four years, but try remembering who is (no Googling!) The MPs could not, so they criticised the former one out of habit, and sent a message to the current one not to relax and not to think that he is really independent.
“When you choose a law graduate as the Protector of Citizens, that is not an absolute guarantee that he will do his job well. A typical example is Saša Janković. The man was a jurist, but did he do his job well as the Protector of Citizens? He did not. He wanted to run for President of the Republic from the position of the Protector of Citizens, and eventually, he did.”
“When it comes to the former Protector of Citizens Saša Janković, to the people and MPs also known as “Sale the Saluting Gun”, he knowingly violated the Law on the Protector of Citizens by analysing and giving daily political assessments of the political situation in Serbia..“
“Well, if we have protectors of citizens like these two so far, they [might] also get crazy from fame and money and won’t know anymore what they’re doing and how much damage they are doing to Serbia.“
“If someone violated the Law on Conflict of Interest, then it is the very former Protector of Citizens Saša Janković. I am not a jurist, but I believe that if there was someone who was in a conflict of interest and broke the law, then that was exactly him.“
“Feuilletons and films and series will probably be made about Saša Janković. The series, or the film would be called – The Protector. That film would talk about how Saša Janković as the Protector of Citizens, did not protect citizens, and in a part of that film or series there would probably be little talk about the affair - The Gun, and about some investigations.“
“In his recent interview, Saša Janković admits that he was politically engaged, politically involved, and that certain foreign embassies did everything [in their power], and recruited various people in order to violently overthrow the President of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vučić. He is no longer the Ombudsman, but I certainly wonder where that Ombudsman institution is when someone threatens President Aleksandar Vučić and his family.“
“Saša Janković knew that he could not defeat Aleksandar Vučić in the presidential elections, but he wanted to, and worked for years to satanise Aleksandar Vučić and his family and the SNS, to provoke the critical mass that would come to power by force.“
Despite the general dissatisfaction with the work of this institution, the MPs eventually voted that the ombudsman does not have to be a lawyer, that he shall be elected for an eight-year term and continue to receive a salary equal to the salary of the President of the Constitutional Court.
For the Open Parliament, Mirjana Nikolić.