Student protesters from Belgrade’s higher education institutions addressed the Serbian Parliament’s Culture and Information Committee, reminding them of their obligation under the Law on Electronic Media to launch a public call for nominations for members of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council no earlier than six months and no later than three months before the term of Council members expires.
“We would like to remind you that the previous REM Council’s term ended on November 4, 2024. On November 25, 2024, the Committee voted to initiate the process for proposing candidates for the election of new Council members and established the text of the public call. On January 20, 2025, the committee published a list of 18 candidates and conducted public interviews with them, fulfilling the requirement under Article 14 of the Law on Electronic Media to have ‘the election of a council member placed on the agenda of the next session of the National Parliament,’” the students said.
However, the students said, the election of Council members was not on the agenda of the March 4 Serbian Parliament session.
The students also emphasized that Article 10 of the Law on Electronic Media stipulates that the REM Council comprises nine members elected from prominent experts in fields relevant to the work of the Regulatory Authority, and that a Council member can only be an individual who is respected in the public sphere and has advocated for freedom of expression, free flow of information, human rights, the development of civil society, the enhancement of democracy, and adherence to constitutionalism and legality.
As the entire process of electing REM Council members has been marred by legal and procedural violations and lack of transparency—resulting in seven candidates’ withdrawal of candidacies—the credibility and legitimacy of the process itself have been called into question, the students said.
“We request that you, the Culture and Information Committee, repeat the election process for members of the Regulatory Authority Council by annulling the previous public call and launching a new one, ensuring that the process is conducted transparently before the public. Our protest outside the RTS (Serbian state TV) headquarters will continue until you announce the public call for the election of REM Council members,” the students said.
Source: N1
