26. 03. 2009

APPOINTMENT OF NEW MEMBERS BLOCKED

Appointment of two new members of the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency could drag on forever

The solution – amending the Broadcasting Law

Belgrade, March 26, 2009 (Vecernje Novosti) – The mandate of two (out of nine) members of the Republic Broadcasting Agency expired on February 17. No one knows when they will be re-elected or their successors appointed.

Vesna Marjanovic, president of the Committee for Culture and Information of the Serbian Parliament, believes that new members could be appointed in two months.

Non-governmental organisations and professional journalistic associations that had nominated Velimir Milosevic and Slobodan Djoric in the previous mandate have already nominated new candidates, but the appointment procedure has been reversed to the beginning. The Broadcasting Law stipulates that two candidates should be nominated, while their lists include three and four names, respectively. On the other side, journalistic associations say that the nomination of several candidates is not against the law, but that the law was certainly violated by delays.

- Election of new members has dragged on for too long. The deadline was six months, but now everything is taken back to the beginning, says Goran Karadzic, deputy president of the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency. - We are working without problems with seven members because two-thirds majority is sufficient for decision-making. Of course, it would be better if we could work with all positions filled.

It seems that the best solution for this situation would be to change the Broadcasting Law. The Committee for Culture and Information of the Serbian Parliament, which is in charge of the appointment procedure of RBA Council members, has already agreed to that. They are required to forward the lists with two names each to members of parliament to vote upon.

We have agreed in principle that it is necessary to modify the law immediately in order to remove this blockade, said Vesna Marjanovic, president of the Committee for Culture and Information, to Novosti. - But we must not allow this process to last another six months.

Candidates

Regarding the position of the member nominated by media associations, the Committee for Culture and Information has received submissions with names of Gordana Susa, Maksa Catovic and Slobodan Djoric. The non-governmental sector has nominated several persons, among them Miljenko Dereta, Milovan Vitezovic and Velimir Milosevic.