The assertions of the Media Center and other non-governmental organizations that the Government of Milojko Spajić wants to create conditions for the election of a pre-arranged new/old general director of the RTCG by changing the proposal of the Law on Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG), immediately before referring it to the Parliament for adoption in June of this year, will come true. probably already on Saturday at the session of the RTCG Council, it was announced from the Media Center.
They said that the competition for the election of the new general director is a simple farce because the outcome of the competition is already known, and the new/old general director will be Boris Raonic.
"This is the result of an agreement between Milojko Spajić (President of PES), Andrija Mandić (President of NSD and President of the Parliament of Montenegro), Milan Knežević (President of DNP) and Boris Raonic, who was twice illegally elected to the post of General Director "The fact that there are many recognizable names among the registered candidates who deserve respect will not affect the members of the Council, except, of course, Marijana Camović Veličković," the announcement states.
The Media Center says that in June, with the support of other members of the Government (except for the support of Deputy Prime Minister Bečić, Minister of Culture and Media Tamara Vujović, and Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Saranović, who are members of Democratic Montenegro), he independently made changes to the draft Law on RTCG, which previously received the support of the European Commission and eased the criteria for the selection of members of the Council and the general director of RTCG.
"Amendments to the law were, as announced, written in Raonic's cabinet, and they are aligned with his modest work experience and desire to continue in the position of general director. Instead of retaining the legal solutions that have been present since the adoption of the first Law on RTCG in 2002 , and for which the condition for the election of the general director was to have at least 10 years of work experience in the VII1 level of qualifications, Spajić lowered the criterion so that now for the election of the general director, 5 years of work experience with the VII1 level of qualifications is required," the announcement states.
They said that with these changes, the Law on RTCG was adapted to Raonic, because he obtained the VII1 level of qualification in 2018 and could not be elected to the position of general director until now, which was confirmed by final and first-instance court verdicts.
"The new Law on RTCG should contribute to the greater professionalization of RTCG and the fulfillment of the goals prescribed by law. It is not logical that better management in RTCG can be achieved if people with less work experience are appointed to the Council and to the General Director. On the contrary, it is more likely that persons with more professional experience, with the prescribed VII1 level of qualification, will contribute to more responsible decision-making than persons with less professional experience. Greater quality in the work of institutions is not achieved by relaxing the criteria, but by tightening them," states the statement signed by the executive director. Media center Goran Đurović.
"With the amendments of Zaon on RTCG, Spajić made meaningless the work on media laws that lasted for almost 30 months, everything that was agreed in the working group that worked on the laws, and adapted the election of henchmen to the position of general director of RTCG to his party interests. He did the same DPS during its rule and control of the work of the RTCG only in a slightly more elegant way, because they managed to find loyal officials who at least formally meet the more demanding requirements regarding 10 years of work experience. The name of the formal director was not so important because the work of the RTCG was edited in Milo Đukanović's cabinet, and by his adviser Milan Roćen", it is emphasized.
They said that the last-minute changes to the law and adaptation to known leaders were demonstrated by the same political group that is in power today during the changes to the Decision on RTV Podgorica (City RTV).
"After the public debate on the amendments to the Decision, the supposed noble goal of which was to professionalize and free City RTV from undue party influence, and to stop the disastrous propaganda of DPS, the representatives of PES, NSD and DNP (Vasilije Čarapić, Mitar Šušić and Jelena Borovinić Bojović) changed the Decision on RTV Podgorica, just before its adoption in the Capital City Assembly, lowered the criteria in terms of years of work experience in order to enable the election of Vladimir Otašević to the position of director interested the political parties in power in the Capital City," the announcement reads.
"Everything that happens around public media services should not be too surprising because Spajić and his young colleagues from PES do not remember that RTCG was free from inappropriate party influences from 2017 to June 2018. At that time, we as real representatives of NGOs in the RTCG Council (which was elected by the NGOs themselves, and not by the parties in the Administrative Committee of the Assembly) we managed to remove Rad Vojvodić (a director loyal to the DPS) and elect Andrijana Kadija to the position of general director of the RTCG DPS and DF (the first because they lost control, and the second because they did not take control), but no politician was allowed to call the general director and the then director of TVCG (Vladan Mićunović) on the phone and ask for any favors As much as it bothers the current government and part of the opposition, the current Council and management of RTCG, we remind you that in March 2018, for the first time, TVCG was the first in the trust of viewers (ahead of TV News) according to the only valid research that is regularly in line with serious methodology implemented by RTCG since 2011. Those studies have not been carried out by RTCG since 2022, and the only reason is that the results would certainly not suit the Council and management of RTCG," it added.
The Media Center assesses that the election of the general director of RTCG has been accelerated because they want to preempt the election of new members of the RTCG Council in June of next year according to new/better procedures (which again give freedom to the NGOs themselves to choose their representatives), "and it is already certain that as representatives of NGOs, there will never again be persons without the slightest integrity in this body such as Veselin Drljević, Naod Zorić, Amina Murić and Milica Špajak".
"Veselin Drljević and Naod Zorić are the direct representatives of Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, while Amina Murić and Milica Špajak are the representatives of Boris Raonic, and they were all appointed together in 2021 when the majority of credible NGOs boycotted the election process because they did not want them to decide on their choice We have no doubt that these four members of the Council will vote for Raonic again on Saturday, and the only dilemma is whether the representatives of COK, the University of Montenegro, the Employers' Union will vote, i.e. what explanation will they have for why they supported the person which is aware of the fact that it does not meet the legal criteria, insisted on being elected to the position of general director on two occasions," they explain.
They said that the consequences of such appointments and the retention of party influence on RTCG are "that from 2021 and the illegal appointment of Raonic, this public media may not criticize the work of any local or state institution, including the work of the 42nd, 43rd and 44th governments".
"The illegally appointed general manager Raonic was not even allowed to criticize those in power because he was blackmailed, while on the other hand, almost all parties and institutions (PES, NSD, DNP) remained silent on the illegal appointment of Raonic on two occasions and disrespect of final court decisions , URA, Democratic Montenegro, Bosniak Party, SD, President of Montenegro....) It should be remembered that they had a different approach when they were in opposition".
The Media Center says that thanks to the illegally elected general director, RTCG has become a "party megaphone", and they add that the superficial viewers, "of whom it is understandable, the majority, as well as the political parties themselves, are quite satisfied that they can now see representatives of different political parties and favorite NGO representatives".
"Past experience should make citizens realize that the interests of political parties are not always identical to the interests of citizens and that giving space to all political parties is not the only goal of the RTCG, but to contribute to better informing the public and professionalization through permanent monitoring of all important topics and professional criticism of the work of the institution. institution, democratization of society. Citizens should remember how many topics have been deliberately neglected and not addressed since the change of party influence over RTCG in 2021. Many topics that divide citizens and are of vital importance have not been adequately addressed because it did not suit the politicians "The Fiscal Strategy and changes to the law will soon be adopted, which will have far-reaching consequences for all citizens, and there is no debate at the RTCG, just as there are no reports on the life problems of citizens in local communities."
They say that the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), which could not complete the investigation on the criminal report of the Media Center for the whole year, also contributed to this state of affairs and the farce regarding the election of the general director of the RTCG.
"If criminal proceedings had been initiated against the president, members and members of the Council for disobeying court rulings and abuse of office, as well as criminal proceedings against Raonic and the head of the legal department for inciting the commission of a criminal offense, the situation would probably be different now. The role of Vrhovng is worrisome State Prosecutor Marković in connection with the (non)work of the State Prosecutor's Office and the damage to the state budget due to illegal appointments, as well as the silence of the Prosecutor's Council and the Basic State Prosecutor's Office, which took over the case from the SDT adaptation of the law to one man. The result of the adaptation of the law to one man, which is why the Media Center is reacting, will result in the unprofessional work of the RTCG, because the service to the parties that brought him to office will have to be returned RTCG had to be careful not to resent the political subjects of the government and the opposition, so that they would not publicly point out his illegal election. Since his new appointment, everyone who is not in favor of Spajić and his coalition partners will feel the "professionalism". That approach will certainly not be as brutal as during the DPS, but it will certainly favor the government either by giving it additional space or by not criticizing it. The professionalism of the RTCG must not depend on changes in the government, because the 20 million euros that the citizens set aside annually oblige the RTCG not to be partial to any government, but to be responsible to all citizens," the announcement reads.
"Finally, it should be recalled that in May 2012, Boris Raonic was appointed by the Government of Milo Đukanović (without any criteria) to the Management Board of Pobjeda, which was then state-owned. His cooperation and closeness with the then as well as the present nevertheless indicates to the authorities his potential and gives hope that he will be able to put his experience in trade to the function of achieving the interest, of course not the public interest," the announcement concludes.
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