As soon as she was elected, Mileva Malešić submitted her resignation from the REM Council together with three colleagues. For Vreme, he explains why
Of the nine members of the Council Regulatory body for electronic media the ruling majority in the Serbian Parliament agreed to elect eight – four regime and four independent. With a stump By advice, REM is practically non-functional.
After that “matchmaking” of the government, four independent candidates resigned – Rodoljub Šabić, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković. They did it together in the presence of the proposers who nominated them, says Mileva Malešić for “Vreme”.
“The main reason is that they faked the election of this body, which should be independent and serve citizens. They want the continuity of the previous REM – not to do what it should do and to serve the ruling elite, that is, the ruling party,” says Malešić.
They estimated that no real change could be made with the truncated new REM, and that European officials, if they had agreed to its formation in this way, would have ticked off that what was requested was done.
“Well, it wasn’t done, because it wasn’t done properly,” says Malešić.
Saver REM makes important decisions with a two-thirds majority. Because of this, the government insisted on the ratio of 6:3 for a long time, only to give way after a serious protosk from Brussels.
We do not agree to a process that puts politics above the law
The four REM members who resigned previously said they were stepping down because they did not agree to be elected in a process that puts politics above the law.
They state that they decided to address the public since the Assembly of Serbia did not elect all nine members of the Council, although the complete list of candidates went through the legal procedure, public hearings and received confirmation from the Committee for Culture and Information.
“With this act, the ruling majority brought us to a fait accompli, in a situation where we are expected to participate in a process that is fundamentally meaningless. This sent a message that institutions can be filled selectively, according to the needs of the parties in power, and even when it is in accordance with the law and established procedure”, they emphasized.
New competition for the ninth candidate
Before the four candidates announced their resignations, a new competition was announced for the ninth member of the REM Council.
Previously, on Wednesday, the ruling coalition refused to vote for the Bosniak and Albanian National Council candidates Muhedin Fijuljanin and Ljumturija Ametija, so instead of nine members, eight of them were elected.
“They immediately announced a new competition in order to probably choose a suitable and obedient candidate and later a member of the REM Council,” says Malešić.
As he explains, the procedures were rushed in order to tick that something had been done.
“We were invited already on Monday to meet the director of REM. Everything should have been done quickly and ticked off, but in fact nothing is really being improved or moving forward.”
A body with all nine independent members
In the ideal scenario envisioned by Malešić, the Council of REM has all nine independent members who urgently make decisions that regulate the Serbian media scene.
However, in Serbia under the government as it is today, that scenario is not achievable, she believes.
“In Serbia as it is, I cannot imagine a council with nine independent members.”
She previously accepted the candidacy because she thought that changes and the election of an independent REM Council were possible.
That the government desecrated the process of electing members of the Council Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) because no candidate of the national councils of national minorities was elected, the president told “Vreme”. Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia Željko Bodrožić on the day when the truncated Council of REM was elected.
The mandate of the previous REM Council ended in November of the previous year.
A year-long saga ensued, which will obviously continue. In the meantime, the regime’s television stations under the command of Aleksandar Vučić are running wild as they are ordered, ignoring laws and regulations.
Source: Vreme
