Gorica Popović on withdrawing her candidacy for the REM Council: Students have been haunting RTS for days in vain.

Together with our artist, nearly a hundred prominent, distinguished, and eminent individuals – specifically 78 authorized proposers and 16 candidates – have withdrawn from further participation in the selection of members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), due to the trivialization of the process and the humiliation of the legal order of the Republic of Serbia.

They decided to withdraw from the process after none of the complaints submitted by legitimate proposers were addressed, while warnings about gross violations of the law and incorrect interpretations of fundamental legal norms were ignored.

Our esteemed theater, film, and television actress, as well as the singer of the band Suncokret, pointed out that the authorities regarding REM imposed absurd requirements on her.

– I was asked to provide documentation proving that I have been in contact with electronic media for at least ten years, which is complete nonsense. I have been involved with electronic media for half a century, since 1975. I provided a list of everything I have done and recorded, obtained and confirmed by RTS, and I also submitted two of my monographs published in connection with the awards of Pavle Vujisić and Branislav Nušić. They contain a detailed list of my works and awards. Clearly, that is not enough for them – emphasizes Gorica Popović and underscores her observation that this time the laws are being violated even more, further degrading and questioning independent candidates than during the last election for members of the REM Council.

When asked how she perceives the current situation in our society, she comments on REM and observes that the authorities are on shaky ground.

– It is evident that they do not want to change anything and that students have futilely besieged RTS for days demanding elections for new members of REM. The authorities are in a panic and are doing everything to neutralize the energy for change initiated by students and citizens of Serbia. They are becoming increasingly insecure, nervous, and aggressive… Chairs are shaking, privileges are slipping away… But a river cannot change its course and start flowing upstream… It doesn’t happen… – states Gorica Popović.

Source: Danas