Ombudsman Jankovic announces presidential bid
Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic says he will become a presidential candidate "when elections are called, but not before."
Source: B92, Beta
"I will be the candidate of the citizens. The president expresses the state, that is, the national rather than the partisan unity, while parties can, should, and are welcome to find their place in the general interest, not the other way around," Jankovic told Maglocistac, a Subotica-based website.
Jankovic also siad that while he will run for president, "it is even more necessary for Serbia to also have the citizen's ombudsman.""
"As before, I will do my work strictly according to the Constitution and the law, without flinching from anyone. In Serbia, there should be order, not uncertainty and fear," he said.
Reacting to the announcement, Deputy Prime Minister and high ranking ruling SNS party official Zorana Mihajlovic said that Jankovic has "finally acknowledged what she and her colleagues have been saying for months.""
"His admission is further proof that he all the time used a very responsible role of the protector of citizens for the purposes of his presidential campaign, which is neither ethical nor fair. I hope that after his decision to run in the presidential election, candidate Sasa Jankovic, as he says, 'the candidate of the citizens', will now finally resign as citizen's ombudsman, precisely for the sake of the citizens of Serbia he refers to. That would be honest and responsible toward all citizens of Serbia," Mihajlovic said in a statement.
