Inappropriate interference by the President of the Republic in the electoral process for the members of the REM Council.

With disputable and speculative claims regarding the intention to request the “REM so that you can dismiss the majority in REM without any rights, any principles, without anything - just so you can eliminate Informer by March 1, enabling you to go to elections," the president of the republic confirmed doubts about the government's sincere intention to elect the future Council of REM in accordance with the Law on Electronic Media and to operate independently of the political will of the ruling majority.

The same parliamentary majority that, through electoral engineering announced in advance by the Vice President of the National Assembly, Elvira Kovač, prevented the election of one of the two candidates proposed by the Bosniak and Albanian National Councils.

This behavior has triggered a crisis, resulting in the resignation of four elected independent members of the REM Council, who justifiably insist on adherence to the law and the election of a ninth member proposed by the National Councils of Albanians and Bosniaks. The authorities stubbornly ignore this legal proposal, striving at all costs to ensure that a candidate close to the Hungarian National Council is elected to the future REM Council.

In such circumstances, the words of the president of the republic carry additional weight as they reveal the clear intention of the authorities to continue controlling the REM Council and to secure five out of nine votes in the future composition of this body at all costs. The president's statements regarding the fate of TV Informer and the connection to the upcoming elections, based on which the highest directly elected official openly protects a private company, further deepens societal divisions.

The president of ANEM, Veran Matić, reminds us that “since November of last year, when the REM Council ceased to exist, the highest number of complaints to the Regulator has been related to TV Informer, regarding which the professional service of REM concluded in 20 cases that the aforementioned media service provider violated the Law on Electronic Media, the Rulebook on the Protection of Human Rights in the Provision of Media Services, and the Rulebook on the Protection of Minors in the Provision of Media Services.”

“Among the disputed cases on TV Informer for which it has been proposed to initiate proceedings are the commentary on the case of student N.S., a scene of a man masturbating with the host explaining the scene, insults based on national and religious grounds, threats, and other content that violates the dignity and privacy of individuals,” explains Matić.

As one of the authorized proposers, ANEM insists that the election of the ninth member of the REM Council be conducted in compliance with the law and that one of the two candidates proposed by the Albanian or Bosniak national minority in Serbia be elected.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)