After 8 days of public media blockade in Serbia, a student request entered parliament

During the eighth day of the blockade of National Serbian Television (RTS), opposition MPs have submitted a request to the parliamentary committee on culture and information on the holding of a new competition for members of the Council of the Regulatory Electronic Media Council (REM), Serbian media reported.

Students who block over 60 faculties in Serbia published on April 16 in their Instagram account a letter to the Parliamentary Committee on Culture and Information, demanding a public invitation to hold such a competition.

They have announced that the RTS blockade, which began on April 14, will continue until a new competition for Remus will be announced.

« We will try institutionally to force the regime to respond to this student request, » Radomir Lazovich, co-chair of the Green-Leave Party, told Danas newspaper.

« The previous procedure for the election of members of the Council of Rem was detrimental and it is good that with public pressure we were able to stop it. We have proved that most of the candidates are either proposed by counterfeit organizations, or that they do not have the necessary qualifications. Seven independent candidates, experts, withdrawn.

Reuters

« I hope that parliament will not succumb to the crazy pressure of the students and will not announce a new competition, but will end the old one by voting for the other candidates, » said former President of Rem Oliver Zekic, quoted by local media.

Zekich added that students are not competent to want a new competition.

One of the 18 proposed candidates for Rem was the current Minister of Education, Deyan Vuk Stankovic, who « questioned the reliability and legitimacy of the process itself, » Danas writes.

Rem’s Council is a body that controls the work of electronic media in Serbia. It consists of nine members, elected by the Serbian Parliament among prominent media experts.