Civil and SĆF: The conditions for the Committee to decide on the candidates for members of REM and the proposers have not been met.
Civic initiatives and the "Slavko Ćuruvija" Foundation today addressed the Culture and Information Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia with a request to halt the process of determining the final list of candidates and proposers for members of the REM Council until numerous irregularities are resolved.
The organs of the National Assembly — including the Committee on Culture and Information and the President of the National Assembly — have so far expressed doubts regarding irregularities concerning 65 proposers and 12 candidates. Civil initiatives and the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation have disputed 26 proposers and 14 candidates.
This means that in total, there are doubts regarding 91 proposers and 26 candidates from both the Committee itself and independent observers and proposers that they do not meet the legal requirements.
Moreover, the official documents of the National Assembly indicate serious misinterpretations of key legal terms, including the claims that:
- persons aged 15 to 18 are not children,
- the protection of children does not fall under the area of human rights,
- the portals of print media are considered electronic media under the Law on Electronic Media.
Due to such serious and systemic legal issues, an additional request has been submitted to the Committee on Constitutional Issues and Legislation for an authentic interpretation of the legal provisions.
At the same time, for today’s session of the Committee on Culture and Information, objections have been submitted by several organizations participating in this process, regarding the most blatant violations of the law by certain proposers and candidates.
Under these circumstances, the adoption of the final list of candidates by the Committee on Culture and Information would represent a clear violation of the law and an ignoring of even its own doubts about the illegality of the proposers and candidates, further jeopardizing the legitimacy of the entire electoral process for the REM Council.
Civil initiatives and the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation demand that the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia return the process to lawful procedures and ensure that the REM Council is finally elected in accordance with the law, rather than through an obvious circumvention of legal frameworks.
Civil initiatives
Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation
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