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Radovanović: Rector Should Win More Than 50% of Votes, Government Wants One-Third to Push Through Its Candidate
🇷🇸 Serbia /Elections & Politics

Radovanović: Rector Should Win More Than 50% of Votes, Government Wants One-Third to Push Through Its Candidate

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources In the courts
  • Voja Radovanović says proposed changes to the University of Belgrade’s rector election rules would require more than 50% of votes, rather than one-third.
  • He says the education inspector found a procedural violation because the university council meeting was held electronically, while university rules allow electronic meetings under certain conditions.
  • Radovanović argues the higher threshold would protect the rector election from political influence and says the university has 60 days to respond to the inspection order.

Voja Radovanović says a rector should win the support of more than half the University of Belgrade’s voting body, not merely one-third. The dean of the Faculty of Philosophy helped propose changes to the university’s statute that would introduce that threshold.

We want the rector to be elected with more than 50% of the votes.

— Voja RadovanovićRadovanović argued for a higher threshold in the University of Belgrade rector election.

Radovanović told N1 that the education inspector had found a procedural violation because the university council meeting approving the amendments was held electronically. He said the council’s rules permit an electronic meeting when the proposal is properly justified. He added that, if the vote is repeated, he expects the result to be the same.

The proposed changes would align the rector’s election with other university decisions. Radovanović noted that department heads, full professors and deans must receive support from more than 50% of the relevant voters. He questioned why the rector alone could be elected with more than one-third of the vote.

A rector who cannot get more than one-third of the votes should not, in my view, be rector, because he is clearly not an authentic representative of the academic community.

— Voja RadovanovićHe criticized the existing one-third threshold.

He argued that the lower threshold could allow a candidate without broad support from the academic community to take the post. He also described the amendments as an attempt by deans to shield the election from political interference, warning that decisions could otherwise be challenged repeatedly until a preferred result emerged.

A society organized in that way is very unstable, and it will never end well.

— Voja RadovanovićHe warned about repeated political challenges to university decisions.

The university has 60 days to respond to the inspector’s order. Radovanović said the issue should go to court so judges can decide whether the council meeting must be repeated. He also cited the practice at other state universities, where rector candidates need more than 50% support.

If the inspectors keep coming to tell you that something is wrong when you know it is right, then let the court decide.

— Voja RadovanovićHe called for judicial review of the inspection’s finding.
About this summary

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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