The Fight for REM: The Challenge of Independence and Accountability in the Regulation of Electronic Media in Serbia

Ivana Stevanović from the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation warned about all the legal irregularities that accompanied the past two processes of proposing and agreeing on candidates for the new composition of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM). She emphasized that the authorities imposed various "false dilemmas" on the proposers aimed at obstructing the entire process.

"My main impression is that the authorities are willing to do anything to maintain control over REM. An independent REM would be able to quickly and easily dismantle the media landscape on which this government relies, and thus it would significantly undermine the power of this government," said Stevanović.

For REM to function properly, it is essential that citizens trust this institution and understand its activities, emphasized the candidate for the REM Council and assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, Dr. Dušan Aleksić. He noted that he sees his role in the process of forming the new Council as a form of dual struggle.

"On one hand, it is a struggle to liberate an institution that is very important and which, if it operates as stipulated in the Law on Electronic Media, will contribute to improving the quality of information and, consequently, the quality of life for citizens. On the other hand, the educational role, which seems to have been lacking in the past year, is also important – people still do not understand what is happening and why REM is important," pointed out Dr. Aleksić.

Former candidate for the REM Council, Saša Mirković, stated that Serbia is facing the fact for the first time that the Council does not exist at all, a year after the dissolution of the previous composition. He compared the current and previous processes of selecting candidates for the REM Council and explained that there are key differences between the two processes.

"Since the previous process was concluded in January when we decided to withdraw our consents, it was logical to expect that the authorities would draw some conclusions from that and would want to take a step further, primarily due to the international community. However, things have become so complicated in the meantime that no scenario can be ruled out. On the other hand, the international community is so involved in this process this time that the election of the REM Council is currently one of the top priorities," Mirković stated.

Journalist and candidate for the new composition of the REM Council, Antonela Riha, said that through her participation in this process, she realized that diverse groups with a common interest, which is adherence to the law, can agree, coordinate, and act together and decisively. She noted that every previous government wanted to establish control over the media, while the current one – which she considers autocratic – aims to place the media under its absolute control.

"The authorities have two options: either to invalidate the 'phantom voters' or to invalidate the entire REM. By passing the ball into their court, we have done a good thing and shown that we know how to play a game that is very much political," said Riha.

The only role of the state in the process of selecting members of the REM Council is to refrain from interfering in that process, but instead, the opposite is happening, emphasized the executive director of Civil Initiatives, Maja Stojanović. She pointed out that the REM Council should not be chosen and proposed by the authorities, but by various sectors of society.

"What we believe is that if these sectors of society do not engage in the electoral process, REM will certainly not be independent, meaning it will be under complete control of the authorities. Our role as a society in Serbia is to not allow the authorities to easily maintain control over the media and everything else in the state," Stojanović explained.

The moderator of the round table was the president of the Association for Political Science of Serbia (UPNS) and vice-dean for scientific research at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Krstić.

Source: FPN