[4][6] Pavlović began his academic career at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, where he worked as a part-time lecturer on the "Socio-Economic System of SFRY" course.

[4] After moving from Kragujevac to Belgrade in the early 1980s, Pavlović entered politics and befriended Ivan Stambolić.

[7][8] During his term, he supported the resignation of Rade Končar [sr] from the City Committee and was an active member on economic issues.

[5] A month later, on 28 May 1986, Pavlović was elected member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia at the 10th Congress.

[15] In June, Pavlović was also elected member of the Presidency of the City Committee of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Belgrade.

At a session in June, the City Committee discussed cooperation between Serbian and Kosovar institutions; there, Pavlović expressed his opposition to nationalism and to the emigration of Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosovo.

Milošević denounced Pavlović as being soft on Albanian radicals, contrary to advice from President Ivan Stambolić.

[4] After retiring, he lost his status as a lecturer at the University of Kragujevac and tried to obtain a job in the public sector, but was unsuccessful.

He then moved to Slovenia, where he obtained a job, but occasionally came to Serbia to visit his parents and his friend Vidosav Stevanović.

[4] Milan Milošević, a Vreme journalist, wrote that Pavlović was "a victim of an attempt to forcibly change the broken system" (žrtva pokušaja da se sistem koji se slomio promeni iznutra) and was one of the first to "warn the danger of the fire that was ignited in those days" (upozorio na opasnost od požara koji je tih dana raspaljen) on Kosovo.