A group of 38 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) submitted today to the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, and the Minister of Culture and Media, Tamara Vujović, an initiative by which they request that the new legal framework ensure that Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG) becomes a true public service for all citizens. Montenegro, it was announced from the NGO Media Center.
In the press release signed by Goran Đurović, director of the Media Center, it is added that the NGOs also call on the Government to make it possible through legal solutions to appoint new members of the RTCG Council and the general director immediately after the expected rapid adoption in the Parliament of Montenegro.
"We use the opportunity to point out to you that the representatives of civil society organizations that participated in the working group for the drafting of media laws gave their full support to the solutions contained in the draft media laws, which refer to the new procedures for the election of members of the Council from among NGOs, the increase in the number of members of the Council from the current nine to 11, as well as an additional tightening of the general criteria for the members of the Council themselves, as well as for the election and dismissal of the general director", the press release of the Media Center points out.
It is stated that the submitters of this initiative support the latest version of the draft Law on RTCG (Law on the National Public Broadcaster - Public Media Service of Montenegro), which prescribes clear conditions for the selection of members of the RTCG Council, and they are required to have a VII-1 level of professional education and ten years of work experience, while the general manager is required to have a VII-1 level of vocational education and at least ten years of work experience.
"Also, the draft Law on RTCG foresees that the number of members of the RTCG Council will increase from the current nine to 11. Additionally, the draft Law foresees the procedure for electing members of the RTCG Council, which limits the inappropriate influence of political parties on the process of electing members of the Council in such a way that representatives of NGOs in this body, they will not be elected by the members of the Administrative Committee in the Assembly, but they will be elected by NGOs that meet the demanding criteria by which they prove their activism , and consequently the greater independence of the RTCG management. We believe that the legal solutions contained in the current regulation passed in July 2020 are bad because they allowed the representatives of NGOs in the parliamentary Administrative Committee to be elected by the deputies of the current majority o RTCG harmonized with EU practices (in 2002), the right to appoint representatives of NGOs belonged exclusively to NGOs from the prescribed categories (human rights, media, environmental protection, culture, etc.) to the work of the RTCG Council and then, consequently, to the complete editorial policy of the public media service," said the Media Center
They state that the new solutions contained in the draft law provide that only NGOs can participate in the appointment process that meet the criteria of being registered at least three years before the announcement of the call for the election of Council members, and that in the previous three years they had annual budgets of at least 3.000 euros, of which at least 2.000 euros were intended for projects in the field in which they are proposing a candidate.
"These solutions actually give active NGOs the opportunity to participate in proposing their representatives to the RTCG Council. It is pure manipulation that is continuously promoted through the media from the circles of individual clientelistic NGOs that the members of the Council from the ranks of NGOs are decided by the mere number of NGO 'signatures'. This is not precisely because only those NGOs that are active (as evidenced by the annual financial reports published on the website of the Tax Administration) and that have annual budgets of at least 3.000 euros can participate in proposing NGO candidates," the Media Center press release says.
It is also stated that political parties in the Administrative Board should not decide on representatives of NGOs, just as they do not decide on representatives of the Chamber of Commerce or employers' associations or the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, etc.
"Only NGO representatives appointed by the NGOs themselves have the legitimacy to represent the interests of the public, because if they are appointed by the parties, then they will have to represent the interests of the parties," said the Media Center.
The NGO also said that the current legal solution was actually a sham of NGO participation in the process of appointing members of the RTCG Council, as they were chosen based on three criteria: NGO support, impressions from interviews with MPs, and candidates' biographies.
"In practice, this meant that the election process was reduced to the will of the majority of political parties and their mutual agreements within the Administrative Committee. Those who want to keep this procedure want to make agreements with political parties in order to be elected to the Council, and not with NGOs that We also consider the solution from the draft law to be a good one, which tightens the general conditions for all Council members (including representatives of NGOs) and which requires the VII-1 level of professional education and ten years of work experience, because the key management body RTCG must find people who have proven work experience in areas important to RTCG's work (media, parvo, economy...). It is more likely that people with longer work experience will make decisions that are in the interest of the public," said the Media Center
Furthermore, they consider it a good solution from the draft Law on RTCG to retain the general conditions for the election of the general director of RTCG, which even now stipulates that he has a VII-1 level of professional education and at least ten years of work experience.
"If the government decides to reduce the required number of years of work experience for the general director from the current ten to five, then it will be clear to everyone that the position of general director has already been agreed upon in advance, as if a person ready to trade with political support would be brought to this position. Consequence of the election members of the Council from among NGOs, according to the law passed by the DPS in July 2020 and applied in April 2021 by the then new parliamentary majority, is the current composition of the Council, which twice illegally elected the general director and which is under strong party influence was elected in a procedure that enabled the strong influence of political subjects through the Administrative Board of the Parliament of Montenegro, who elected representatives of NGOs according to their political preferences, and they make up four of the nine members of the Council confirmed court verdicts, one final and two verdicts of the Basic Court," the Media Center press release reads
That NGO said that the Government of Montenegro should understand that NGOs do not want their representatives to be decided by representatives of political parties, because then such members of the Council are not representatives of NGOs but representatives of political parties, as is the case in the current Council.
"We remind you that for this very reason only a small number of credible NGOs participated in the process of appointing members of the RTCG Council in April 2021. If the Government's intention is to once again exclude all credible NGOs from this process and deal with clientelistic NGOs, then they will resort to changes draft Law on RTCG and keep the model prepared by DPS with the same goal in July 2020. We believe that increasing the number of members of the RTCG Council from nine to 11 (as it was in the RTCG Law from 2002) makes it difficult to make settlements and agreements within a smaller number of members and creates greater chances for making decisions in the interest of the public. We also consider the solution from the draft law, which introduces the Bar Association as an entity authorized to nominate a member of the Council, whose representative should contribute to ensuring a higher level of knowledge of legal procedures in the Council And reduce errors in the application of regulations What we do not agree with in the draft Law on RTCG is the beginning of the application of the part of the regulations that refers to the moment of choosing new management structures. The Ministry anticipates that the implementation of the law will be practically postponed for three years so that the current RTCG Council and management will complete their mandate. By doing so, the Ministry demonstrates an inappropriately ignorant attitude towards pressing problems and consciously makes no sense of the necessary changes that should be induced by the new media laws," the Media Center press release states.
The NGO says that the process of amending media laws has been going on for almost 30 months, as well as that the key requirements of the European Union and the Council of Europe are to increase the independence in the work of the governing bodies of RTCG and the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM).
"These are the obligations of the state of Montenegro in the EU accession process. The final adoption of these legal texts is expected in the next month. We hope that the Government will not take advantage of the positive relationship within the structures of the European Union and that in order to obtain the IBAR, it will not resort to proposing legal solutions that RTCG is placed under the full control of political parties again. We appreciate that there is no valid argument to postpone the election of all RTCG management structures for three years, because this is the only way to create the preconditions for this institution to be freed from party influence and professionalized into a truly public one. service," said the Media Center
The announcement also states that breaking the law and ignoring court rulings in RTCG cannot be a contribution to the position of the Government, which claims to be committed to European integration and the rule of law.
"Therefore, we call on the Government and the Ministry of Culture and Media to respect this request of the civil sector and to include in the final version of the proposal of the Law on RTCG the provisions that enable the application of the law immediately after its adoption," the announcement concludes.
The initiative was submitted by:
- Media Center, Goran Đurović
- Media Union of Montenegro, Radomir Kračković
- Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro, Srđa Keković
- Center for Investigative Journalism CIN-CG, Milka Tadić Mijović
- Action for human rights, Tea Gorjanc Prelevic
- Media Institute of Montenegro, Olivera Nikolić
- NGO Juventas, Ivana Vujović
- Center for Civic Education (CGO), Daliborka Uljarević
- NGO Prima, Aida Perović,
- Association SPEKTRA, Jovan Ulićević
- Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), Zlatko Vujović
- Alliance for equal rights of LGBTI persons ERA, Danijel Kalezić
- Montenegrin Women's Lobby, Aida Petrović
- Montenegrin LGBTIQ association Kvir Montenegro, Staša Baštrica
- Society of Montenegrin Publishers, Vladimir Vojinović
- Center for Women's Rights (CŽK), Maja Raičević
- Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO), Zorana Marković
- Union of Young Entrepreneurs of Montenegro, Uroš Bulatović
- NGO NADA-Herceg Novi, Marina Vuksanović
- NGO Association of parents of children with developmental disabilities - Podgorica
- NGO Association for Affirmation and Support of Youth - Podgorica
- NGO Association for support of children with developmental disabilities and their families of Montenegro - Podgorica
- NGO Vuča - Berane
- NGO Vunov lom - Berane
- Non-governmental foundation - "Help - action for the north of Montenegro", Andrijevica
- NGO "Bankrupts in Montenegro", Berane
- NGO SOS phone for women and children victims of violence in Bijelo Polje
- NGO Manifesto
- Bielopolska Association of Non-Governmental Organizations
- NGO European Youth Center of Montenegro
- NGO Agro Center
- NGO Bjelopoljski Democratic Center
- Association for the Protection of the Rights of Workers and Unemployed Persons of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje
- NGO E-Roma
- Association of Roma Novi put
- NGO Democratic Progress
- NGO Green action
- NGO Ecological Society, Breznica
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