PM: We must have order in country, police

BELGRADE Serbia’s PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic has said that there has to be order and respect of hierarchy in both the state and police. He added that there was an absolute agreement between the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and between him and Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic when it came to combat against corruption and crime. PM: We must have order in country, police The PM said that everything regarding the wiretapping affair needed to be investigated and revealed, adding that the probe was underway. He stressed that he did not request staffing changes but that order had to exist in the Serbian police (MUP). Dacic said that the police and army were institutions with a strict hierarchy and that there were laws that envisaged which individuals from the institutions could give public statements. He explained that statements given contrary to the law gave the police a bad image. Dacic said that everything needed to be done in accordance with the law in order to limit the power and added that what was happening in the police “has gone too far”. “This is not a parliament where everybody has the right to comment. This is a hierarchy, the police director is at the helm and he needs to give the authorization or contact me if someone wants to make a statement,” he pointed out. “We were chosen by the people and nobody is stronger than the people. Some think there will be differences among the political parties like in the previous period but there are no differences but an absolute agreement between the SNS and SPS and Vucic and myself in the merciless combat against crime and corruption,” the prime minister and interior minister underscored. Dacic repeated that order needed to exist in the country and that the police and army could not do whatever they wanted because “Serbia is not a dictatorship but a democratic country”. According to him, this means that phones of the president and government officials cannot be “accidently wiretapped”. Ivica Dacic (Tanjug) Tanjug

PM: We must have order in country, police

The PM said that everything regarding the wiretapping affair needed to be investigated and revealed, adding that the probe was underway.

He stressed that he did not request staffing changes but that order had to exist in the Serbian police (MUP).

Dačić said that the police and army were institutions with a strict hierarchy and that there were laws that envisaged which individuals from the institutions could give public statements. He explained that statements given contrary to the law gave the police a bad image.

Dačić said that everything needed to be done in accordance with the law in order to limit the power and added that what was happening in the police “has gone too far”.

“This is not a parliament where everybody has the right to comment. This is a hierarchy, the police director is at the helm and he needs to give the authorization or contact me if someone wants to make a statement,” he pointed out.

“We were chosen by the people and nobody is stronger than the people. Some think there will be differences among the political parties like in the previous period but there are no differences but an absolute agreement between the SNS and SPS and Vučić and myself in the merciless combat against crime and corruption,” the prime minister and interior minister underscored.

Dačić repeated that order needed to exist in the country and that the police and army could not do whatever they wanted because “Serbia is not a dictatorship but a democratic country”.

According to him, this means that phones of the president and government officials cannot be “accidently wiretapped”.