The claims that Olivera Zekić, the REM Council member made in the interview for the daily Večernje novosti, saying that television with national frequency ”do not have the obligation to provide space for the boycott advocates” are confusing for the public and can be interpreted as inadmissible interference with media editorial policy, as well as threatening the interest of the public to be informed as comprehensively as possible about the election process.
The electoral atmosphere in the municipalities of Lučani, Kula, Kladovo and Doljevac, where local elections shall be held on Sunday, are characterised primarily by public officials’ campaigning. In all four municipalities, an intense presence of public officials was noted – from ministers to directors of services and public companies – accompanied by the abuse of public resources. These are the main findings of the CRTA observation mission whose observers monitor the election campaign on the spot.
On the basis of a Draft Rulebook for carrying out the obligations by public service broadcasters, that the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media (REM) adopted on January 20th, CRTA regrets that the REM clearly has no intention to exercise its legal role and to protect the public interest in the electoral process. The adopted Rulebook did not include any of the essential suggestions made by the participants in the public debate that took place by the end of last year.
Towards supporting the growth both within individual teams and the organization as a whole, CRTA invites an expert consultancy for further strengthening of middle management skills and competencies, including concrete skills such as decision making, facilitation and meeting management, offering feedback, managing relationships through training and coaching.
“We are worried that the upcoming elections could deepen the crisis of democracy in Serbia. We fear that the number of citizens who do not see elections as a path of political change will increase and that even greater conflicts could threaten political stability in Serbia and the region”, has said today in Paris Vukosava Crnjanski, director at CRTA, while addressing the Monitoring Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
CRTA filed complaints to the Anti-Corruption Agency against Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, and Minister of labour, employment, veteran and social policy Zoran Đorđević, for violating legal provisions preventing misuse of public resources in order to promote a political
party.
The CRTA welcomes the decision of the OSCE/ODIHR mission that assessed that it is necessary that this international organisation monitors the upcoming elections in Serbia to the fullest extent.
The number of Serbian citizens who would not report corruption due to fear of consequences and distrust in competent institutions significantly increased according to the results of a comprehensive poll “Public Opinion and Corruption” conducted by the CRTA in November 2019.
Today, Istinomer editorial board has filed a criminal complaint against NN persons to the Cyber Crime Department of Serbian Ministry of Interior because of the DDOS attack carried out against Istinomer website on 16 December 2019.
