Acting Director of Radio Television Podgorica (City TV) Vladimir Otašević he did not resign as a member of the Council for the fight against corruption.
This was answered by "Vijesti" yesterday from the Government of Montenegro.
President of the RTV Podgorica Council Vesna Radulović two days ago, she announced that Otašević fulfills all the conditions and that in that body "they took into account Otašević's certificate proving that he resigned from public office".
The Government, on the other hand, makes a longer claim.
"Namely, the aforementioned Council was appointed by the 43rd Government and with the election of the 44th Government of Montenegro, its mandate ended", the Government replied to "Vijesta".
The question of the legality of Otašević's election was raised by several non-governmental organizations, as well as candidates for acting director from Gradska TV.
The council elected Otašević by a majority of votes at the session on Tuesday. According to their assessment, the long-time journalist, editor and former director of RTCG also met the criteria. Andrijan Kadi.
Member of the Council of RTV Podgorica, lawyer Aleksandar Djurišić yesterday, he submitted to that body a separate opinion related to the session at which Otašević was elected acting director of Gradska. He did not vote for Otašević.
Đurišić explained that, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Council, he has the right to explain his opinion.
He emphasized that he was "against the majority decision to hold a secret session".
"During the opening of the session on December 6, it was established and made indisputable that the Council has nothing to hide in its work, and that the public is not excluded. The fact is that the exclusion of the public is allowed subsequently in the continuation of 12. However, this was not explained with anything before the vote, and it is notoriously analogous to systemic laws that the public is excluded only when it comes to minors or when it comes to intimate matters of adults persons, that is, families for some reason. These reasons do not exist. The actual reasons were not given. A vote was taken without reason. For these reasons, my opinion was singled out and I voted against such work and actions", states Đurišić in a letter to his colleagues in the Council, which "Vijesti" had access to.
He further states that he was against the exclusion of employees of the company who meet the conditions for the election of directors by refusing to vote, given that this provision of the Founding Decision is imperative.
"During the opening of the session on December 6, a deadline was given (according to this imperative norm, which does not open dilemmas, but dictates how to act) of three days to collect, due to the absence of the company's manager at that session, the work files of the company's employees in order to this clear and simple procedure was followed in the continuation of the session. The given rule mandates an active attitude of the Council towards the company's employees, so after the evaluation, invite those employees to give their consent. That was not done. All despite the fact that more than ten employees meet the requirements, according to the current acting director at the session. There was no choice for these people and they were not given the opportunity. For these reasons, my opinion was singled out and I refused to vote on that occasion," Đurišić emphasized.
According to him, in the continuation of the session, "the decision was reduced to a vote on two candidates, who are outside the company", and meet the conditions.
"One candidate (Otašević) has been an elected official of the Government of Montenegro since last year, so according to Article 29 point 3 of the Founding Decision, he does not meet the legal requirements to be elected. Pursuant to point 6, he is the owner of the shares and the founder of the NGO. Pursuant to point 8, no proof was submitted that he was not convicted. Pursuant to point 9, no evidence to that effect has been submitted. Pursuant to Article 30 paragraph 1, one member of the Council is in my opinion in a conflict of interest because he made a decision about an NGO colleague, and he did not inform the members of the Council or exempt himself from the specific issue, but denied his state function together with the candidate and tried to justify it, but only on December 12 at 12:19 p.m.," Đurišić claims.
He emphasizes that Otašević's biography was incomplete.
"There was no mention of the fact that he is a government official. The fact that he was employed in the daily newspaper Dan... in 2018 and 2019 was also hidden. He submitted via email to the Council a certificate of employment for the period from 2017 to 2023 from the NGO in which he is the founder and owner. It is contradictory and contradictory to the previous facts, certainly inconsistent with Article 48 a of the Decision. All this adds to the confusion about professional training, because he completed his four-year studies last year, and on that basis, he does not fit into the minimum schooling requirements required according to the aforementioned regulation," says Đurišić.
He believes that Otašević's application should have been rejected as "inadmissible", which is why he voted against his election.
"The second candidate (Kadija) was the only one who received the votes of all members of the Council that she met the requirements. It is the only unanimous decision. With the indisputable fulfillment of the requirements of this candidate and the inadmissible candidacy of another candidate, it is indisputable that this candidate is far above the general minimums set by the regulation. Considering the fact that she has twice as good qualifications in the TV profession and management, and more than twice the minimum required by the regulation", explains Đurišić.
He believes that the Council should annul the decision on the appointment of Otašević and "repair what has been done".
"I believe that the rule of law comes before voting, because democracy without rules does not exist. As far as this member of the Council is concerned, I hereby put an end to this topic", concludes Đurišić in a letter to the Council.
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