Stevica Smederevac has been elected as the President of the REM Council.

Member of the REM Council, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, announced at today’s meeting that Stevica Smederevac was unanimously elected as president, receiving the votes of all eight members of this regulatory body.

After the voting, Smederevac stated that the manner in which he was elected to the position of president "gives hope for optimism" that the members of the REM Council will continue to strive to leave as few problems unresolved as possible, and that they will address all issues that have arisen after two years of the REM operating without a Council, as reported by RTS.

"I need to say that this composition of the REM and this Council will operate exclusively according to the law and in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the entire situation regarding electronic media," said Smederevac.

According to him, the president of the Council is not the Council; he is one of nine equals, and in this, one should find hope and optimism that he will "tolerantly allow each member of the Council to express their opinion and that from all discussions we will extract the best solutions for the public at large."

REM Council member Milan Garić, who was a candidate for president at previous meetings, stated before the start of the secret voting that it was agreed during today’s consultations that Smederevac would be elected as president of the Council, while, as he said, in the "same package," it was agreed that Ira Prodanov Krajišnik would be his deputy.

He mentioned that it was Ira Prodanov Krajišnik who made the effort to reach an agreement, and he is glad that Smederevac decided to take on a role that, as he emphasized, "is not at all easy."

Garić also stated that reaching an agreement was not easy and that it was "tense and uncomfortable," but that they arrived at "some outcome that is good in the end."

Stevica Smederevac has been working in various services of REM for 14 years; he holds a Master's degree in Cultural Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Law, and is a journalist and media manager with over 25 years of experience in Radio-Television of Serbia and Vojvodina, as well as an expert in the field of program and legal media regulation "with more than 14 years of experience in the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media."

The Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation previously challenged his candidacy, stating that he participated in the illegal operations of this regulatory body.

It is worth noting that during the previous three constitutive meetings of the REM Council, on July 20 and 30 and September 1, no president was elected for this body.

The first constitutive meeting of the REM Council was held after four elected members of the REM Council, who had previously resigned from their positions, announced that after adopting the authentic interpretation of the Law on Electronic Media, they decided to participate in the work of that body.

These members, along with Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, include Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić.

The other four members of the REM Council are Stevica Smederevac, Milan Petković, Miloš Garić, and Snežana Miljković.

In the category of national councils of national minorities, during the voting in the National Assembly of Serbia in November last year, neither of the two candidates received a majority, which is why the ninth member of the REM Council was not elected, and this should be addressed subsequently.

Source: N1