The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Rodoljub Šabić, is astonished by the fact that, at a press conference, President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, commented the Commissioner’s personal stance regarding the announced spending of RSD 200 million for raising a 120 meter high mast which should hold a huge flag with the inscription "Those who do nothing know only how to criticize".
The Commissioner, Rodoljub Šabić, has said the following:
"President has thus also embarked on unfounded disqualification of me personally, and, more importantly, the institution I represent. This is, completely unfair and inappropriate to President’s constitutional position and role.
In truth, unfortunately, this is not something new. President’s readiness and the need to completely subjectively, without criteria, defend people close to him, has been evident for a long time and it is becoming more and more pronounced, even in situations where there are, to put it mildly, doubts that these people are in conflict with the law, and, worse yet, at the same time he insults and disparages anyone who dares to express any opinion that is not in complete, servile agreement with his.
Regarding the intention to spend RSD 200 million for raising a mast in Belgrade, I asked the question, or opened a poll, on Twitter, with the offered options - acceptable, not acceptable, and meaningless. By the way, the vast majority have opted for the last response.
Nevertheless, there is something much more unfair than President's arrogant attitude towards my opinion or the opinion of the majority of citizens. It is an extremely unfair insinuation that those who are against the idea about the RSD 200 million mast are "against the Serbian flag". I certainly like our flag and respect it as much as the President, however I do not think it has to fly on a mast instead of which you can, e.g. buy a MRI scan for a health care institution or a hospital, or something similarly meaningful. And those who find it very important for the flag to fly at a huge height could, e.g. satisfy themselves by hanging it on the pylon on the Ada Bridge which is, if I'm not mistaken, more than 120 meters high. While we are at the "worry" about the flag, I suggest them to walk, e.g. along the Sava Promenade, which they are often proud of, and see for themselves the poor, inadmissibly bad state of the flags that fly there.
My critical attitude, which I am entitled to, like every citizen, is related to the idea of spending RSD 200 million on some kind of a mast. That has nothing to do with the respect for our flag. My opinion about the need for national symbols to be used in a sadly extravagant way is the same as the opinion of the good old Jovan Sterija Popović presented in his brilliant work the Patriots.
