Veran Matić: Election of an independent REM Council, a prerequisite for the independence of the state public broadcaster and democracy in Serbia

Author: Veran Matić

The REM Council elects the Boards of Directors of public media broadcasters. The Boards of Directors of RTS and RTV elect the Program Councils, appoint and dismiss the general directors of Radio Television of Serbia, editors-in-chief and responsible, and program directors. The REM Council has concentrated enormous power and presents the only body that can legally influence the regulation of media chaos on the airwaves. So far, the REM Council has not used these powers, but rather, by its inaction and amnesty for violations, has contributed to media bullies feeling completely protected by this regulator.

The European Commission is asking Serbia to elect new members of the REM Council, as the previous term expired six months ago.

The students say that their condition for lifting the blockade of RTS is to announce a competition for the election of members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media, or to abolish the public service broadcaster Radio and Television of Serbia. It is logical that the request is linked to the fate of RTS because the public media broadcaster, through a mandatory fee paid by the citizens of this country, has gained independence from the executive and any other authority and influence. These two institutions, which should guarantee stability, objectivity and plurality in informing all citizens, are protected like “polar bears” from all influences – on the basis of the law and in practice through funding that ensures their independence. Therefore, it remains only to consistently comply with the laws that clearly prescribe their roles, powers and obligations.

I am sorry that only students, with the support of citizens, insist on REM members being elected to the REM Council. It is not fair and it is not enough, precisely because of what follows as a possibility.

What would happen if the competent parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information were to end the unfinished competition and re-announce the Public Call for the selection of members of the REM Council?

Who would apply for that competition? The same ones who have already applied: a handful of organizations that do not have the right to nominate candidates by law, organizations that have a nominal right, or have formally fulfilled the right through gimmicks, although they do not essentially exist. Would the same or similar candidates who do not meet the requirements, but are ready to unquestioningly support the current government that is actually behind their candidacy, be proposed again?

Would those candidates who honorably withdrew from the illegal process that ended in a fiasco appear in that process? I am sure that most of them, for various reasons, will not be willing to participate again. Just a few months ago, they entered the process with an open heart and with the best titles related to the public interest. They experienced being outvoted and eliminated or were left in the process competing with an overwhelming group of incompetent candidates and their proposers who essentially do not meet the conditions to be proposers at all.

Even if they ran again, the same thing would happen to them. Or worse. They would be dragged through the tabloid mud, with no chance of getting elected. Simply put, those who constantly violate the laws, which the REM Council should sanction, simply will not allow any candidate who would consistently represent the REM mission and implement the Law on Electronic Media.

Let’s also imagine a scenario in which the government would allow the election of two truly independent experts. Unfortunately, even such a convocation of the new REM Council cannot make any progress. Three, four or five undisputed experts out of a total of nine in the Regulatory Council does not bring about change.

Serbia needs an independent REM Council, with professional and honest experts. We need a Council that will courageously confront the legacy that has formed one of the worst media scenes in Europe today, in which the tabloid approach absolutely prevails, with a public broadcaster abandoning its role and time has created a space for fake news, targeting of everyone, especially those who think differently, violations of codes and laws, to be absolved of any responsibility.

I know that there are those who would roll up their sleeves, take risks, and I see and feel that energy and hope that emanates from student protests. In order for their efforts and sacrifices not to be wasted, it is important to warn that it is necessary that the election process for members of the REM Council be conducted on the basis of consistent compliance with the Law on Electronic Media. And that this demand for consistent compliance with the law be accompanied by unambiguous measures and actions that will follow from the students in the event of a process of cheating that would resemble what is happening with the election for the REM Council, which has not yet been formally completed.

The profiles of the newly elected minister of information and telecommunications and minister of education point to a completely different scenario – one of repression and violence. The rhetoric of the authorities is threatening and discrediting, which, combined with the rhetoric of the tabloid media, takes on dramatic proportions.

That is why it is very important to be completely clear in advance about the facts and implications of each next move.

It is more than clear that the criminal complaint against the rector of the University served as a threat, an attempt to humiliate the rector, the rector’s collegium, the extended rector’s collegium and the entire university and every faculty in Serbia that is in lockout. It is clear that there are no elements of abuse of official position, but rather the prosecution and police are being abused in order to make reports for TV Informer and other tabloid and pro-government media. Such an approach creates opportunities for the rector and the academic community to be abused and for a complete violation of the law and code of conduct. The absence of a criminal offense is being used to place an unacceptable narrative through the tabloid which, along with numerous untruths and accusations, hint at what will happen to universities and the academic community. And what can happen if society in all segments does not rise to resistance. Therefore, it is necessary for political parties, civil society organizations, and citizens of Serbia to actively (and not only self-declaratively) support the efforts and actions of students.

With their simple demands, the students managed to completely demystify the government, which has literally metastasized in recent years. Let me quote the words of someone I greatly respect, the students contributed to “something that was superior in almost everything yesterday, becoming powerless. I hear how everything that was superior to every attempt to challenge, criticize and expose until yesterday, becomes powerless. Spent. Ineffective. Bare. And it seems to me that everything that has been done and said turns into the strength of that social movement of the daughters and sons of Serbia“.

Student protests are changing the stereotype of Serbia as the cause of all evil in the Balkans. It is an incredible feat that is also taking place through the self-sacrifice of students, with their authentic ideas that are conquering the region, Europe and the world. And that is the key. By showing initiative, innovation and universal demands, Serbia is no longer just the world, but Serbia is also changing the world. Novi Pazar is the world, but the students of Novi Pazar and Serbia are changing the world.

A friend tells me: “The media coverage here is emerging from a typically nationalistic perception of Serbia. For the first time, its political strength is beginning to be understood outside the war-nationalist narrative. For the first time, this does not come from the political mainstream, but based on one’s own experiences and observations. For the first time, here, as in the past, Serbian libertarian Piedmontism is being recognized. Those who recognize it present a minority, but that was not the case, because it was forgotten”.

And I add an important message, not only for us in Serbia: “It would be a fatal mistake to react to that force (student and civic protest) with any force. We here, and I believe all Serbs living outside Serbia, care very much that its new strength does not turn into force, but into democratic social power. I know that it depends on only one person. I want to believe that he knows this too and will prevent it from happening. For our own sake, because we Serbs do not need another trauma. All our traumas have flowed into Serbia anyway”.

Sometimes it is better seen from the outside, by sincere patriots. Although the issue of electing the REM Council seems to be much less important than the important words in the quote, it is that moment of turning point: will Serbia move in the direction of “Serbian libertarian Piedmontism” or will it opt for the darkness of the 1990s, the price of which we are all paying. The citizens of Serbia have unmistakably chosen the former, because this process initiated by students has succeeded, says my friend: “Serbia could regain an internal democratic strength that it has not had for decades, and based on it, renew its international relevance, which it has not had for more than a hundred years.”

In order for this to happen, everyone who cares about Serbia should help. Especially those who have the responsibility for leading Serbia. If they don’t think so and don’t want to, those who want and can do it have come forward.