UNSA Senate Stands by Decision on Election of Tarik Zaimović as Rector, Inauguration on 1 October at the City Hall

(Patria) - The UNSA Senate held an emergency session today, and after the session, UNSA Rector Rifat Škrijelj, whose term ends today, addressed the media. The Senate session was attended by 36 out of 46 members who discussed the KUIP decision ordering the annulment of the rector election and the competition itself.

“The unanimous position of the 36 Senate members present today is that the Senate stands by its decision from July and the election of colleague Tarik Zaimović as rector of UNSA. That is the first conclusion of the Senate. The second was that we will officially forward this Senate position, along with this decision, to our founder, the Sarajevo Canton, with a request that through active participation they prevent further attacks on the autonomy of UNSA and its self-governance,” said Škrijelj.

According to the legal instruction available to them, UNSA will file an appeal with the second-instance body, which is the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of the Sarajevo Canton.

Today's Senate session was also attended by members of the Governing Board, but without voting rights.

"The UNSA Senate and the University of Sarajevo as an institution firmly stand by the position that this KUIP decision was a crude attempt to violate the autonomy of the University. Disrespect for autonomy, our self-governance, disrespect for the Senate as a body of UNSA, and in our opinion, the acting inspector who signed this decision exceeded her authority by ordering UNSA to annul the election and annul the competition. The Senate maintains that we did everything correctly and that we will prove this legally," he added.

He announced the ceremonial inauguration of the new rector, Tarik Zaimović, for tomorrow at the City Hall, where the first inauguration of a UNSA rector took place 75 years ago. The inauguration will begin at 12:00 PM.

Škrijelj said that UNSA's legal counsel is preparing an appeal, and the appeal suspends enforcement, as stipulated by law.

Škrijelj emphasized that the KUIP conducted the inspection on 2 September, but they received the decision only on 27 September.

"Given that they issued it late, they waited 25 days to deliver the decision to us. Everyone in KUIP and the Sarajevo Canton should ask themselves how much right an inspector has to drag out a procedure and to deliver the decision to us just before the rector's departure. The pro-rectors follow the rector; as of midnight, UNSA has neither a rector nor pro-rectors. Tomorrow, the new rector will assume office," he stated.

The opposing candidate in the rector election, Almira Hadžović-Džuvo, received three votes fewer than the elected Zaimović in the second round of voting, not one as some media claim.

Škrijelj said that those with authorizations could also vote, as per the Rules of Procedure.

"Candidate Tarik Zaimović was a pro-rector and had the right to vote. The voting is secret, and you do not know how anyone voted. If he had not voted, there would have been 45 voters. The third objection was that some deans are not registered in the court register. That is an untenable theory because the moment UNSA submits a person for registration in the court register, that person assumes the full capacity of the position, signs documents, issues certificates, and that procedure takes some time.

In the opinion of legal experts, none of the arguments hold, and we will refute them, and we will seek sanctions for those who have grossly attacked the autonomy of UNSA. This is also a personal stance as a rector ending his term. The atmosphere in the Senate is that we do not want to obstruct the work of the Inspectorate, we do not want to obstruct the work of the second-instance body of the Ministry, but we do not want to allow associated groups and individuals, for personal interests, to obstruct the continuous work of this University," said Škrijelj.