Ana Brnabic, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, commented on her X profile regarding the controversy surrounding Rector Djokic’s political involvement.
“Since yesterday, I’ve been hearing absurd claims suggesting that Rector Djokic has every right to be on an electoral list, and that doing so does not violate the Law on Higher Education—citing examples of other rectors, deans, and professors who have also been politically active. This kind of relativization and twisting of the facts is astonishing, so let me clarify:
Of course, faculty members at universities have the right to express their political views and engage in political activity. We even have university professors among our MPs and political party leaders. The key difference between them and Rector Djokic is this: they use the university as a place of education while conducting their political work within their parties. Rector Djokic, on the other hand, has turned the university into his political party.
Alongside some of his associates—and clearly with massive logistical and financial backing from abroad (where else could the blockade movement be getting so much funding?)—he first practically occupied the University of Belgrade, even excluding students who actually wanted to study. He then privatized the institution by deciding which students he would communicate with and which media outlets were allowed to attend press conferences. In the final step, he transformed the university into his campaign headquarters.
So, it’s not just that he’s on an electoral list—he turned a public academic institution into a political organization. And now, this ‘party-university’ is publicly backed by figures such as Natasa Kandic and Tonino Picula. No one has the right to transform a university into a political party or movement, nor to misuse its resources—its facilities, finances, influence, visibility, personnel—for political ends or to undermine the state.
We all know that so-called student ‘plenums’ are held in university amphitheaters, where discussions revolve around the electoral lists of the blockaders. We’ve all seen and heard footage of those meetings ourselves. That’s exactly why Article 43, Paragraph 10 of the Law on Higher Education clearly states: ‘Political, party, or religious organization and activity is not allowed within higher education institutions.’
And because he has taken over an institution that embodies more than 200 years of effort and tradition in this country, Rector Djokic and all his party operatives must be held accountable,” Brnabic wrote.
Од јуче слушам епске небулозе како ректор Ђокић има право да буде на изборној листи и како тиме није прекршио Закон о високом образовању јер постоје примери других ректора, декана и професора који су били на изборним листама. Несхватљива је таква релативизација и замена теза, па…
— Ana Brnabic (@anabrnabic) May 21, 2025
