Members of Parliament of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia elected Zoran Pašalić as the Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia by majority vote of all MPs tonight.
Pašalić is the first Protector of Citizens elected under the new Law on the Protector of Citizens, adopted in November 2021.
On 13 April, the Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on Constitutional and Legislative Issues, after discussions with the candidates, passed a Proposal for a Decision on the Election of the Protector of Citizens and proposed Zoran Pašalić as the Protector of Citizens, which it then referred to the National Assembly for consideration under an urgent procedure.
Pašalić was at the head of the Institution of the Protector of Citizens for the previous five years, during which this independent state body for the protection of human rights confirmed the highest A status in the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), increased its work efficiency in handling cases from 65 to 92 percent, increased its media visibility many times over, which contributes to raising citizens' awareness of human rights and the responsibilities of the Protector of Citizens in their protection, and took the leading place among the state institutions in which citizens had the most confidence during the 2020 pandemic.