Who asks you about your profession when the government pushes its personnel

The discussion on the appointment of Milica Vukotić and Ana Radonjić to the Council of the Agency for Electronic Communications was completed in the Assembly.

As during the recent principle debate and before that the talk at the Administrative Board, the opposition's position that the election was not based on experts but on party references and the message of the authorities that the legal procedure was carried out to the end and that whoever wanted to vote was heard again.

For almost all the participants in the debate from the opposition benches, the biggest problem is that, in addition to several excellent candidates (engineers), two of the worst were chosen, which, as was said, were determined even before the announcement of the competition.

For MP Koča Pavlović of the Movement for Change, it is particularly problematic that the committee was voted in secret, even though the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly clearly prescribe when voting is done in secret.

“Why the secret? Secret is not transparent, and the European Commission insists on transparency. Last year, under pressure from Europe, we changed the law so that the selection of the Agency's council would be moved from the Government and that the council would be chosen according to established criteria for evaluating the candidates, and now voting was done in secret. In the end, two of the 10 candidates were chosen, one of whom does not meet the experience requirement, and the other is worse than all the others," said Pavlović, adding that the majority chose the two worst candidates.

For most of his colleagues from the opposition, it is a much bigger problem that, in addition to several engineers with excellent work and professional resumes, the economist Vukotić, the daughter of Veselin Vukotić, and the lawyer Radonjić were elected. Until now, they were members of the Council and, as they claim in the opposition, they were recognized as party soldiers in professional circles and by the public.

"Vukotić said that the media are useless because they do not highlight what is good. Radonjić entered the board like a mighty pasha, probably thinking that everything was over, so instead of talking about herself, she replicated the other candidates, and they held an academy for them," said Vasilije Lalošević (SNP).

Party commission and violation of the law

His party colleague, Aleksandar Damjanović, said that Vukotić and Radonjić, apart from the professional ones, do not meet the other requirements for a place in the Council of the Agency, which controls the area in which between 250 and 300 million euros are turned over annually.

For Vukotić, he said that the DPS website says that she is a member of their party committee, and for Radonjić, that she violated the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest.

At the discussion, information was also heard that some eliminated candidates will initiate a dispute before the Administrative Court

A proposal came from the opposition benches to postpone the election and to hold another round of consultations or to renew the competition and arrange the candidates on the list according to professional references. On the other hand, the representatives of the authorities repeated that the legal procedure was carried out properly and that everyone voted as they wished.

At the hearing, information was also heard that some eliminated candidates will initiate a dispute before the Administrative Court and that the decision of the Administrative Board and the eventual appointment of Vukotić and Radonjić can easily be overturned.

Responding to Damjanović, Radivoje Nikčević (DPS) said that the members of the DPS commissions do not have to be members of the party at the same time. "They do not participate in the meetings of party bodies. The fact that she is the daughter of a well-known official should be neither a privilege nor a handicap," said Nikčević.

The election of two members of the Council of the Agency for Electronic Communications, which regulates the telecommunications market, should be voted on in the parliament today.