In light of the announcement of a new competition for REM Council members, Civic Initiatives remind the public of the illegalities and manipulations that marked the previous attempt to elect this important regulatory body.
At the moment of the biggest protests in Serbia since the 1990s, the Government of Serbia and the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information tried to use the atmosphere of the crisis in order to secure control over REM – a body that has a key role in monitoring the media with a national frequency – through a non-transparent process. The competition was then announced on November 25, 2024, several months late in relation to the deadlines established by law. It was continued – non-transparent.
Civic initiatives closely followed the candidacy process and published it on the website www.remontuj.tv, and compiled the findings in a report that, among other things, revealed:
- 17 out of 34 candidates for REM Council members did not meet the legal criteria.
- 32 out of 121 candidate nominators also did not meet the legal requirements.
The final election of REM Council members did not take place because, due to irregularities during the election process, 7 candidates from 5 different areas withdrew their candidacies. You can watch the press conference, held on January 28, on the occasion of the candidate’s withdrawal, at this link.
After the two-week student blockade of RTS, with the request to announce a new competition for members of the Council, the previous process was invalidated and a new competition was announced at the session of the Committee for Culture and Information, held on April 28, 2025. The whole procedure starts with the announcement of the competition in the Official Gazette. Publication is expected on May 5, 2025.
You can download the analysis on the election process for REM Council members by clicking the button below: