Students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) in the blockade announced today on social media that they have lifted the blockade of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) due to the fulfillment of the request to announce a new competition for members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM).
"A new competition has been announced for the REM Council. With that, the blockade of RTS is over, after 14 days," FDU students stated on the social network "Iks".
At today's session of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information, a Decision was voted on to initiate the procedure for proposing candidates for the election of members of the REM Council.
On April 14, students in the blockade blocked the RTS building in Takovska and Košutnjak when they stated that the public media service would be blocked until the election of the new REM Council was announced.
The Serbian Parliament's Committee on Culture and Information has annulled the previously made decision on the election of members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) and initiated the procedure for announcing a new one, which was formally requested by the opposition.
The announcement of a new competition for the selection of members of the REM Council was a request from students, in order to end the blockade of the Radio Television of Serbia buildings.
All 16 committee members present voted for the first decision, and 15 voted for the second.
During the session, which lasted about three and a half hours, government and opposition MPs expressed diametrically opposed positions on the media, as well as on student blockades.
MP from the People's Movement of Serbia Ivana Rokvić expressed hope that the new process for selecting members for the REM Council will be conducted in accordance with the law, which, as she stated, is very clear.
She proposed four measures that, as she stated, "could streamline the process," and included among them the timely and transparent delivery of the proponent's documentation.
This, in her opinion, is necessary in order to determine in a timely manner whether they meet the criteria to be able to propose candidates.
She noted that the fact that (candidate from the previous competition) Leontina is a good singer or that Dejan Vuk Stanković "teaches great" at the Academy of Young Leaders is not relevant to the jurisdiction of REM.
Green Left Front MP Radomir Lazović believes that it is important that students, the opposition, and non-governmental organizations take care that the government, as he pointed out, does not repeat the abuses as during the previous procedure for the election of members of the REM Council.
He said that REM serves to "justify the lies from Pink, Informer" and other pro-government media, while Democratic Party MP Zoran Lutovac assessed that REM has enabled the media to serve the purpose of preserving the Serbian president's ratings.
Lutovac noted that the government in Serbia is based on protecting Vučić's ratings, and that RTS has joined in, instead of, as he stated, working in the interests of all citizens.
The previous procedure for the election of new REM Council members was practically suspended, because seven of the total 18 candidates withdrew their candidacy, claiming that the process was full of irregularities and illegalities.
Another candidate, professor at the Faculty of Teacher Education and political analyst Dejan Vuk Stanković, has meanwhile been appointed Minister of Education.
The majority in the Committee for Culture and Information is made up of MPs from the ruling coalition, so there is no guarantee that a new competition will be announced.
The mandate of the previous convocation of the REM Council expired on November 4, 2024, and a new one was not elected for almost six months.
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