Regime Abusing National Broadcasting Frequencies, Says Former Progressive Party Official

Stanislava Pak (YTPrintScreen)

Stanislava Pak, until recently a member of the Serbian Progressive Party's Main Committee, has said that the Serbian regime is "on life support" provided by its media, with which, in her words, it is pretty successfully diverting citizens' attention from important problems and deceiving them.

"National broadcasting frequencies are being abused in the most perfidious way to promote the regime, in the form of a political reality [show]. That reality [show] is edited by the president of the state, Aleksandar Vucic - [he] directs [it], writes the script, picks the participants and time slots," Pak told BETA on July 21.

Ahead of another "Serbia Against Violence" protest in Belgrade on July 22, whose participants will walk the "media route" to the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation building, Pak, who was once also the media advisor to former Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic, said that it was necessary for "pressure to be exerted constantly."

Pak further said that fair elections held on equal terms went without saying, among other conditions, and that peak times for all participants in elections to appear on shows in media outlets with nationwide coverage needed to be clearly determined. "Those from the opposition who would take part in elections under current conditions would look politically suicidal or as Vucic's collaborators," she said.

Pak underscored that clashes among the opposition ranks suited only Vucic and that the focus should instead be on winning over those who had so far voted for the Progressive party and who were unhappy, because without that it would be difficult to beat the regime.

"Many have left the party and are participating in the protests. The number of the disgruntled is growing, which was to be expected because the promises based on which the party came to power were not kept. New jobs, combating crime and corruption, full membership in the European Union and many other [promises], and fear is not enough for someone to keep their voters," added Pak.