Police Commissioner Senad Jušić has stepped down in the face of mounting pressure on him and his boss, Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar, following a court's decision that the procedure to appoint him was flawed.

Poklukar announced on 15 January that he had accepted the resignation offered to him by Jušić, and would put forward Criminal Police head Damjan Petrič to succeed him as acting police commissioner.

Neither Jušić nor Poklukar would give the reason for the resignation but it comes after the two junior ruling coalition parties, the Social Democrats (SD) and the Left, called for Jušić to resign to allow for a repeat call for applications to fill the post of police commissioner before the National Assembly takes a vote on an opposition-sponsored motion of no-confidence in Poklukar.

Poklukar praised Jušić's record in office, describing him as an honourable person who stepped down when he realised that criticism targeting him hurt the police.

"He has made it clear that he wants to lift the burden off the police and of course the pressure on the entire police, so he has made a very honourable move," Poklukar said.

Flawed appointment procedure

The resignation comes almost two months after the Administrative Court found the decision by a vetting commission that cleared Jušić before his appointment as police commissioner to have been unlawful.

This is because the commission provided no exact explanation about Jušić's credentials regarding eight years of work experience in leading posts as one of the qualification for the job.

Jušić's appointment had been challenged in court by Boštjan Lindav, the former acting police commissioner who lost the post to Jušić in February 2023, just days after Poklukar was appointed interior minister to replace Tatjana Bobnar.

When Bobnar stepped down in December 2023, she said Prime Minister Robert Golob made it clear to her that "Lindav did not meet the expectations as he did not purge the police force".

Poklukar has been claiming that Jušić's appointment was lawful, or else the court would have annulled the appointment, and that there had been similar flaws in appointment of police commissioners in the past.

Mounting pressure

However, the pressure for the procedure to appoint police commissioner to be repeated has been mounting with the media citing legal experts in contradicting the minister's and the government's interpretation that the court's decision did not mean the appointment was unlawful.

In late November, the opposition party New Slovenia (NSi) filed a motion of no-confidence in Poklukar with the support of the fellow opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and several unaffiliated MPs.

The main reason for the motion was the minister's failure to act on Jušič's flawed appointment, along with his failure to act on alleged misconduct at the Security and Protection Centre, the police unit tasked with protecting senior officials and those deemed at risk.

With the vote on the motion scheduled in parliament next week, Poklukar had meetings with the three ruling coalition parties to secure their support. But while his own party, the Freedom Movement led by PM Golob, declared he still enjoyed their support, the other two parties demanded a repeat of procedure to appoint police commissioner before the vote, suggesting the best course of action would be for Jušić to step aside.

In a recent interview with TV Slovenija President Nataša Pirc Musar likewise expressed her opinion that the procedure should be repeated following the Administrative Court's decision.

Parties welcome Jušić's resignation

In response to Jušić's resignation the Left and Social Democrats welcomed his move, but the SocDems said this did not automatically mean that Poklukar would have the party's support in the ouster motion.

Meanwhile, the Freedom Movement praised Jušić for showing responsibility after it became clear that the "smear campaign against the interior minister will start to affect the work of the police". The party also does not think that either Jušić or Poklukar did anything wrong.

PM Golob thanked Jušić for the work done, expressing his "personal respect for him for having put the interests of the police before his own ambitions".

The opposition NSi said the resignation only reinforced the accusations against Poklukar, while the SDS argued the resignation came at least a year too late with its leader Janez Janša asserting on X that Slovenia was becoming a paradise for mafia at the expense of its security.

Jušić's resignation has also been welcomed by police trade unions.