Controversial Serbian minister quits after record time in office
By DPA, IANSFriday, January 28, 2011
BELGRADE - The longest-serving member of the Serbian government and one of the most controversial Health Minister Tomica Milosavljevic, announced his resignation Friday.
Milosavljevic is the survivor of scores of political scandals. They include allegations of sub-standard healthcare in state institutions and bribe-taking by doctors.
Milosavljevic did not elaborate on his decision, saying only that it was “not made in haste” and was “deeply personal.”
A member of a small reformist party known as G17 Plus, he is the only politician to have served in all four Serbian cabinets since June 2002.
In 2004, Milosavljevic came under fire when three people, including an infant, were infected by HIV while receiving a blood transfusion in a state institution.
Milosavljevic faced especially harsh criticism for advocating the purchase of vaccines against the swine flu in 2009. Three million units were purchased, but only 200,000 were used.
With elections looming in 2012 and G17 facing an uphill battle to get into parliament, Milosavljevic, 55, insisted that he wasn’t retiring from politics.
“My political and public engagement will remain unchanged,” he told journalists.
