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REM (Regulatory Body for Electronic Media) is an independent and autonomous organization that exercises public authority in the field of electronic media in the Republic of Serbia. Its goal is to enhance the quality and diversity of media services, as well as to contribute to the preservation and development of freedom of thought and expression. REM is functionally and financially independent, and its main bodies are the Council (which consists of nine members) and the Director. The organization's headquarters is located in Belgrade, at Nikola Pašić Square No. 5.
From Dawn to Dusk: How the Assembly's Idyllic Atmosphere Was Disrupted During the Election of Candidates for the REM Council
While the police on the streets are arresting and beating students and citizens who are demanding elections, in the Assembly, the authorities are attempting to trade the election of the REM Council on a "one for you, one for me" principle, with an unprecedented outpouring of tolerance among the parliamentary benches, in order to maintain control over this body. Ultimately, the curtains of this performance have fallen.
Committee for Culture and Information on Candidates for the REM Council: Who Passed and Who Was Rejected?
The Committee of the Assembly of Serbia for Culture and Information has today approved the proposal for the list of candidates for members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), which was put forward by associations aimed at promoting freedom of expression. The candidates are Antonela Riha, Jasmina Ninković, and Rodoljub Šabić.
Without opposition at the Committee meeting: The ruling majority accepted the Opinion of the Ministry on the interpretation of the Law on Electronic Media.
The Committee of the National Assembly of Serbia for Culture and Information agrees with the Opinion of the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications regarding the application of the provisions of the Law on Electronic Media in the process of proposing candidates for members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM). This was decided today at the Committee meeting without the presence of opposition MPs.
The opposition announced that the process for selecting members of the REM Council has failed.
Opposition MPs assessed today, at a meeting of the Serbian Assembly's Committee for Culture and Information, that the process for selecting members of the REM (Regulatory Body for Electronic Media) Council has "failed," stating that representatives of the government are trying to impose rules that are contrary to the law - as they are only interested in having media control.
Antonela Riha on the selection for the REM Council: The government has several options.
The outcome could have been completely different. The government could have nominated associations and candidates who meet the precisely written legal requirements for the election of members of the REM Council. With the majority they hold in the parliamentary Culture and Information Committee, and subsequently in the National Assembly of Serbia, they could have selected a new Council, in which they would also have a majority of a total of nine members. Under pressure from students, the public, and even the European Union, they could have "allowed" a few independent candidates and thus concluded a process that has been delayed for months and which already experienced a debacle earlier this year due to its illegality. They could have, but they did not.
Postponed discussion with candidates for members of the REM Council.
At today's meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information, the opinions of the relevant ministries regarding the implementation of the legal provisions in the process of proposing candidates for members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media were discussed, as well as a proposal to postpone the Public Hearing on the topic "Discussion with Candidates for Members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media," the Committee stated in a press release.
Jelka Jovanović on REM: Withdraw the competition and announce a new one – which would comply with the law.
Journalist Jelka Jovanović says that one should not be naïve and believe that the previous call for members of the REM Council was withdrawn due to students and the blockade of Radio-Television of Serbia, and that this was merely an excuse. For her, the solution lies in withdrawing the current call and announcing a new one.
Saša Mirković: No one has taken responsibility for the first process of selecting members of the REM that failed.
The representative of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Saša Mirković, stated that "no one has taken responsibility" for the first process of electing members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), which "failed."
Some are withdrawing from the elections for the REM Council, while others are joining the Association of (pro-regime) Journalists of Serbia.
In the last two days, with regard to the media, two news items have marked the landscape, closely connected by the consequences they may produce on the media environment in Serbia. One is the withdrawal of candidacies from 16 candidates by 78 authorized proposers from the further procedure of elections for the REM Council, and the other is the initiative to establish the Association of Journalists of Serbia.
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