Mirković: The selection of the new REM is motivated by the government's desire to open Cluster 3 and secure funding from the Growth Plan.

He assessed for FoNet that the authorities want to relativize controversial proposers and candidates, intending to establish a false balance between professional candidates and indisputable proposers, as well as those close to the regime.

Mirković emphasized that both Aleksandra Krstić and he did not apply for the REM Council this time precisely because they believe that there is no point in participating in the process again and then withdrawing from it for the second time in a few months.

"At this moment, we are not far from a repeated scenario from last time - that certain proposers and candidates exit the process if the violation of the Law on Electronic Media continues," Mirković assessed.

As he stated, participation in the process makes sense only if there is political will to elect six independent candidates who will enable genuine changes based on a two-thirds majority in the REM Council.

"Anything below that represents mimicry and gives a false legitimacy to the process," Mirković pointed out.

He reminded that the REM Statute was changed just before the adoption of the Law on Electronic Media, declaring the matters the Council will decide on as official secrets, which means its members will not be able to disclose significant information to the public.

No matter what the composition of this new Council may be, I fear it will not be better than the previous one, while in the future its decisions will be interpreted to the public by spokesperson Olivera Zekić, Mirković indicated.

According to him, it is extremely important for Brussels to clearly state whether it believes that what is happening with the election of the REM Council meets the standards of the European Union, as it is completely clear that there is a fundamental violation of media laws.

"If this path continues, a serious systemic error will be embedded in the process, which will have significant implications for the future functioning of the Council," Mirković warns.

He believes it is necessary to show personal example and personal sacrifice to highlight the shortcomings of the process and thus demonstrate the extent to which there is not a gram of political will for genuine improvements, but rather everything is merely a formality while the essence remains sidelined.

Mirković understands participation in the process, but only to a certain extent, as there are red lines that cannot be crossed.

Krstić: Some candidates have no experience in electronic media

Aleksandra Krstić also believes that it is necessary to participate in the process.

"If you have an abnormal, dysfunctional body that does nothing, that has made and failed to make decisions over the past 10 years, which has been captured by the authorities in various ways, then you have allowed that one body to levitate just like many other bodies and numerous other independent institutions that have unfortunately become servants of the regime," Krstić explains.

This is unacceptable, and if you want to build any democratic society, then you should say - here, I will be the one who will enter that body and try to do something from within, Krstić said.

However, she believes that under the current conditions, the exit of a group of independent candidates is the only possible way to once again demonstrate that the process is irregular.

"I do not understand how the European Union will check that nine members of the REM Council have been elected if the two-thirds majority is close to the authorities, if people who do not have degrees and are not educated for this enter that Council," Krstić believes.

She also emphasizes that some candidates have no experience in electronic media, but have appeared on national television promoting hate speech and targeting politically like-minded individuals, while some candidates are advisors in ministries, and some work in REM.

One of the key problems in our public discourse is the polarization over whether someone is an opposition candidate or a candidate of the authorities, Krstić said, who believes there is nothing to discuss as long as the Culture and Information Committee does not review the biographies of candidates and state from the very beginning who meets the criteria and who does not.

The problem is that in the Committee itself, which should serve as a filter from where the procedure should further develop, candidates who do not meet the criteria will pass, Krstić concluded in an interview with FoNet.

Source: Fonet