20. 05. 2009

ANEM CALLS ON THE SERBIAN PARLIAMENT NOT TO ADOPT THE PROPOSED LAW AMENDING THE BROADCASTING LAW

Belgrade, May 20, 2009 – Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) demands of the National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia not to adopt the Law Amending the Broadcasting Law, proposed by the group of 121 members of Parliament!

The proposed amendments would authorize the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information to preselect candidates in the cases when there are more lists than necessary submitted by non-governmental organizations, broadcasters, journalists, film and drama artists and composers, or if there are more than two candidates on a list. At their present form, the Committee for Culture and Information would not be restricted by any preselecting criteria. The proposed amendments even revoke the current Broadcasting Law's provision stipulating that, in the case when there are several lists with candidates offered by non-governmental organizations, the valid list will be the one signed by more organizations which have had more implemented actions, initiatives and publications during the previous period.

In this way, the proposed changes would create a possibility for various centers of political and financial power to instruct a non-governmental organization or a professional association. This is additionally made easier by the fact that such organization or association would not be required to have many members, or be active at all, but only to be formally registered, to propose its candidates and obstruct the agreement. In such situation, if the amendments now proposed by the group of 121 members of the Parliament are adopted, the Committee for Culture and Information would be able to select candidates nominated by virtual, non-active organizations, ignoring the authentic candidates proposed by the civil sector and professionals.

It is especially worrying that these changes have been proposed without any consultations with the authorized proposers. ANEM reminds that, at the session of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information held on March 18 this year, the representatives of professional media associations and non-governmental organizations have unanimously opposed the Committee's conclusion that it was necessary to change the provisions regulating the election of the members of the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency at the moment when this election was ongoing.

The proposed modifications of the law would make meaningless the role of the authorized proposers in the procedure of nomination for the membership in the Council, and would abolish the responsibility of the Parliament and the Parliamentary Committee to prevent illegal election of one of the already nominated candidates for membership in the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency!  

ANEM points out that, after media professionals have already emphasized that the current Broadcasting Law enables the finalization of election of new members to vacated seats in the Council, it is now perfectly clear that the proposing group aims to control the nomination procedure and prevent even the possibility of election of NGO and professional sector candidates which would not be favorable to the government.

ANEM President, Sasa Mirkovic