Belgrade, February 28, 2025 – Today, a press conference was held at the Media Center where independent candidates for membership in the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council announced the withdrawal of their candidacies. During the conference, they presented the reasons for this decision and made an appeal to the members of parliament to repeat the process of electing REM Council members.
As they pointed out, the withdrawal of candidacies has created a situation in which the National Assembly of Serbia cannot legally elect the REM Council. Out of a total of nine proposer groups, two will have no candidates, while three will only have one, making a democratic election impossible. Only in four categories will parliamentarians have the option to choose between two candidates, which threatens the fundamental principles of pluralism and representation in this regulatory body.
The main goal of this address was to highlight the irregularities and issues in the process of electing REM Council members, as well as to inform the public and the professional community about the next steps planned by the candidates proposed by independent associations and institutions.
The following speakers addressed the conference:
- Aleksandra Krstić, candidate from the child protection association
- Dušan Aleksić, candidate from the child protection association
- Saša Mirković, candidate from the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality
- Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, candidate from the freedom of expression association
- Željko Hubač, candidate from the association of stage and dramatic artists
- Rodoljub Šabić, candidate from the freedom of expression association
- Maja Stojanović, author of the report on the REM election process
CANDIDATES – TO THE PROPOSERS:
“We deeply appreciate the effort and dedication you have invested in the nomination of candidates. We know how much time, resources, and energy were required to prepare and submit each nomination. Your work demonstrates your unwavering commitment to the values of freedom of expression, children’s rights, media independence, and public participation in such processes, and for that, we are sincerely grateful.
Unfortunately, the current election process has revealed numerous irregularities that threaten the legitimacy and independence of REM (violations of legal procedures and basic principles of transparency, including the ignoring of conflicts of interest, discrimination, and the involvement of illegitimate proposers and candidates; pressures that have undermined the independence of the proposers and the process itself; selective application of the law that raises questions about the fairness of the election).
The candidates jointly state: “The decision to withdraw our candidacies was made so that we could jointly call on the National Assembly not to vote for illegitimate candidates at the session on February 29, as well as to repeat the election process in a legal and transparent manner. We believe that this is the best way to collectively stand in defense of the values we share and to try to secure the independence and integrity of REM.
Once again, we sincerely thank you for your trust, efforts, and support. We remain with you in the fight for the independence of this key institution for media freedom in Serbia, and thus for the professional and objective RTS, RTV, and national television stations. We believe that together we can contribute to building an institution that will serve the public interest and democratic values.”
Aleksandra Krstić
Dušan Aleksić
Rodoljub Šabić
Dubravka Valić Nedeljković
Željko Hubač