Serbia: Democratic Party Calls REM Formation 'Betrayal' of Public Struggle

The Democratic Party (DS) has strongly condemned the formation of Serbia's Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), labeling it a betrayal of the public's fight for a functional media landscape. The party announced it would continue its boycott of parliamentary proceedings, refusing to legitimize what it describes as a "mafia regime" under President Aleksandar Vučić.

DS argues that participating in Vučić's parliament lends legitimacy to his "arbitrariness, deception, and plunder." The party has abstained from parliamentary activities for over a year and a half, maintaining that the institution has been reduced to a mere facade for deception. This stance underscores a deep distrust in the current political system and its regulatory bodies.

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The greatest help any political actor in Serbia can provide to the mafia regime is to legitimize its arbitrariness, deception, and plunder in Vučić's Assembly.

The controversy intensified after independent REM council members – Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić – declared they would join the council's work. They cited the adoption of an "authentic interpretation" of the Electronic Media Law as their reason. These members stated they feared that abstaining would allow the authorities to blame them and the organizations that fought for a lawful REM for the body's prolonged dysfunction and its negative impact on the rule of law and Serbia's European integration path.

Previously, the REM council was close to full formation, but the ruling majority refused to vote for a ninth member representing minorities. Subsequently, four independent candidates resigned, leaving vacancies that remained unfilled after a new competition attracted no applicants. This series of events highlights the contentious nature of media regulation in Serbia and the deep political divisions surrounding it.

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Otherwise, the authorities would get the opportunity to present our actions as contrary to the law, and to shift their own responsibility for the years-long non-functioning of REM, the continuation of institutional blockade, and the consequences that such a blockade has on the rule of law and Serbia's European path onto us and onto organizations and citizens who fought for a lawful REM.