Serbian opposition claims president implements radical leader's agenda

Marinika Tepić, vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), has accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić of enacting policies initiated by Vojislav Šešelj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Tepić stated that Šešelj's recent call for professors to be dismissed by decree from schools and universities signals the direction Vučić's government will take for further retribution against individuals based on their opinions.

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Everything Šešelj announces, Vučić implements

"Everything Šešelj announces, Vučić implements," Tepić asserted, drawing a parallel to past actions concerning the judiciary. She claimed that Šešelj's demand for a purge of judges and prosecutors was followed by the implementation of laws, referred to as "Mrdić's laws," used for political revenge and the disciplining of the judiciary.

Tepić further argued that the removal of "unsuitable" professors is a tactic previously employed in 1998. During that period, she recalled, the "red-black coalition" of radicals and socialists enacted Šešelj's university law, resulting in the dismissal of over 100 university professors from all Serbian universities.

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The latest Šešelj demand that all rebellious professors be immediately dismissed by decree from universities and secondary schools is a clear direction in which Vučić's government will try to carry out further retaliation and persecution of people for their opinions and support for their students.

She concluded by emphasizing that Šešelj and Vučić are coalition partners who will contest the next elections together. Tepić believes that both leaders view professors and teachers as "enemies of the state" and will act on Šešelj's proposals if given the opportunity, reflecting Vučić's own intentions.

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The removal of unsuitable professors is an already tested matrix from 1998 when the red-black coalition of radicals and socialists was in power and adopted Šešelj's university law, and when more than 100 university professors were punished and driven out of all universities in Serbia.