There are two scenarios for framing the authorities in the election of the director of the Public Service. The first is that Bujošević will still be running RTS for a little while, and the second is that the regime has found a new candidate
The competition for RTS is being repeated. because none of the candidates got a majority. However, the previous vote also showed the balance of power in the Public Service Management Board. It turned out that the president of this board, Branislav Klanšček, in his long-standing war with the former director of RTS Dragan Bujošević, still does not have a majority. Apparently, there is no support even from the existing political regime.
“It is obvious that Branislav Klanšček does not have support within the Board of Directors, which he currently leads,” says Rade Veljanovski, retired professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences. “This information is also important because the Management Board of RTS was elected by the REM Council, and these are people appointed by the government. This would mean, in translation, that the regime does not want Klanšček as director.”
Veljanovski suspects that the state leadership may be planning to leave Dragan Bujošević in the director’s chair “a little longer” after February 2026. By law, he cannot run again for a new mandate, but he can potentially remain in acting status. Although Klanšček stated that the rules of the RTS do not allow Bujošević even this possibility, because he has already held the position of acting director twice, there is an option to interpret the legal provisions differently. Because Bujošević was acting president twice, but not “intoxicated”. It will depend – again on the decision of the Board of Directors and their interpretation.
“Although it seems to us that Bujošević has always been sympathetic to the government, I believe that the regime is not enthusiastic about leaving him at the head of the public service, because they do not see him as servile enough. I think he will remain in this position only if they have no one else,” adds the FPN professor. “But as they’re re-tendering, the other option is that they’ve found someone new to take on the job.”
Veljanovski says that he has no idea who it could be, but that the latest media framing of the government is not promising. In it, he was elected as the Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stankovic, while Boris Bratina Minister of Information.
Kles Bujošević and Klašček
The President of the Board of Directors of RTS complained to Bujošević several times. He also filed a criminal complaint against RTS director and assistant director Olivera Kovačević because, according to his allegations, they damaged the Public Service for 14 million dinars through negligent behavior.
In a written statement at the beginning of 2025, Klanšček called on the prosecutor’s office to “start the proceedings from a dead end” and, if there is no basis for further criminal proceedings, to dismiss the criminal complaint or, otherwise, “to carry out the investigation to the end and file an indictment.”
“Personally, but also as the president of the Board of Directors of RTS, I do not understand that after two years, the criminal complaint is in the investigative process, and that as the applicant, no one invited me to give a statement,” said Klanšček. He added that he believes that “everyone is equal before the law, regardless of the position they held and which political option they were close to.”
Media associations, such as the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), expressed their concern and assessed as “deeply problematic” the fact that Branislav Klanšček was recognized as a candidate for the position of general director of the public service, by the same Board of Directors that decides who will be elected to that position.
Source: Vreme
