Nedović: Maybe MPs will agree on another candidate for the AMU Council

The election of two members of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU) is one of the things urgently requested by the European Commission (EC) in its latest report on Montenegro, otherwise they may reopen the temporarily closed Chapter 10 - Information Society and Media.

The elections did not take place on three occasions in the Parliament because first the competition was annulled, so the candidacies were assessed as incomplete, and in the end the parliamentary majority did not want to vote for the candidate of the non-governmental (NGO) sector Dragoljub - Duško Vuković and the candidate of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU) Niko Martinović.

The parliamentary majority has now indicated that they want the NGO sector to propose another candidate, as a compromise measure. This was stated by the President of the Administrative Committee of the Parliament from the Europe Now Movement, Jelena Nedović, at the conference entitled "Media Horizons - Efficiency of Regulatory Bodies", which was held in Podgorica.

"I personally have nothing against the last candidate proposed by the NGOs (Dragoljub – Duško Vuković, ed. a), nor do I believe any of us do, but I think that it would be a compromise measure for the NGOs to propose another candidate in this public call. Perhaps the MPs will agree on that other candidate because, after all, the law is such that a candidate is elected in parliament," said Nedović.

The opposition says that this also shows that the government wants political control over this Agency, but they believe that the election, under pressure from the European Union (EU), will have to end at some point.

"What is happening with the AMU Council has completely exposed the political scene in Montenegro. A classic attempt at political control. Here, colleague Nedović very honestly told the NGO - 'propose another candidate'," said Boris Mugoša from SD, which caused laughter in the audience.

Mugoša, on the other hand, said that it wasn't funny, but also that he likes honesty in politics.

"Honesty is this - propose another candidate. I think that is not a good message. I think that this is about one thing - that the election is being postponed so that NGOs can change the candidate, who in the perception suits the majority. The intention is that you are pressuring the authorized proposers to think about what the parliamentary majority likes, and I am deeply convinced that the authorized proposers will not do that, but will insist on what they think is right, so let's see how this process will end, in the end. And in the end, under enormous pressure from the European Union, the AMU Council will be elected, it is only a question of when, and I think that it must happen quickly because, unfortunately, Montenegro is waiting for pressure from the European Commission," said Mugoša.

Nedović then corrected herself and said that she thought it would have been better if they had had more than one candidate from the NGO sector for a Council member, to vote on.

"I didn't say to propose another candidate, but that if there were multiple candidates, maybe one of them would be elected and we would have a complete Council. I just want to correct myself because I was misunderstood and my colleagues in the audience obviously found it funny," said Nedović.

Seri: You must have independent bodies

Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Podgorica, Riccardo Seri, recalled that the appointment of the AMU Council was one of the European Commission's requests in the latest report and he hopes that this issue will be resolved in the next month.

"You have to have independent bodies, because it is not an instrument of governance but an instrument of democracy," Seri said.

At the conference, organized by the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, the Acting Head of the OSCE Mission Giovanni Gabassi and the President of the AMU Council Branko Bošković also spoke in the introductory part.

Bošković, among other things, emphasized that the capacities of the AMU must be strengthened, because they have more obligations ahead of them, and this especially applies to the act on media freedoms.

"The agency should remain a leader in regulation, because it is the institution that knows regulation best, has the experience and staff," Bošković emphasized.

Gabasi drew attention to the issue of media ownership and transparency – especially when it comes to online media.

"Consistent enforcement of rules on transparency of media ownership is necessary as a safeguard against corruption, undue foreign influence and money laundering," Gabasi said.

Seri said that any changes to media laws, which have been positively assessed by the EU, if they occur, should not slow down the progress already made.

"Regarding the editorial, institutional and financial independence of AMU and Radio Television of Montenegro, this must not change and should remain as it is," said Seri.