The Administrative Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro established at yesterday's session the list of candidates for the Council of the Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG), which includes Marijana Camović-Veličković, Nikola Tatar and Janko Ljumović.
The list of candidates for the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (SAMU) has also been established, and the candidates are Jelena Šušanj, Dragoljub Duško Vuković and Niko Martinović.
DNP MP and president of the Administrative Committee Working Group, which was supposed to review the candidacies, Jelena Kljajević, said that Camović-Veličković was nominated by 29 human rights NGOs, but that four did not submit complete documentation.
She also said that the candidacies of Tatar and Ljumović are timely and complete. Tatar was nominated by the Confederation of Trade Unions (SSCG), and Ljumović by Matica Crnogorska.
"Without intending to offend anyone, anyone's actions or work, but some non-governmental organizations... Their work is completely unknown, and some are only registered. And that is unacceptable," commented the president of the Administrative Board, Jelena Nedović, reading the names of the NGOs that supported Camović-Veličković.
Martinović's candidacy, submitted by the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU), was timely and complete. The same was assessed for Šušanj's candidacy, proposed for SAMU by the Montenegrin PEN Center.
"Out of 13 non-governmental organizations in the media field, nine submitted timely and complete documentation, while four did not," said Kljajević.
The lists, said Nedović, will be published in the Official Gazette and on the website of the Parliament of Montenegro.
According to regulations, the parliament should appoint members of these two councils within 60 days of the Administrative Committee submitting the material to them.
Both councils have been operating in a truncated composition for some time, which was noted in June by the European Commission (EC) in an informal document (non-paper) relating to Montenegro's progress in chapters 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom, security).
The EC said that the efficient implementation of the new laws on audiovisual media services and the national public broadcaster in Montenegro is being slowed down by delays in the transparent and merit-based appointments of members of the SAMU and the RTCG Council.
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