Opposition Serbia Center Party: Failure to Establish Media Regulator a Defeat of Democracy, But Also the Regime

REM - Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (Beta/Milos Miskov)

Serbia Center party vice-president Slobodan Cvejic said on March 26 that the failure to establish the Regulatory Body for the Electronic Media's Council was a defeat of democracy and independent institutions and "even more of the ruling regime."

"Because this failure is the result of a joint action by all truly independent proposers, it has drawn the attention of the domestic and international community and the relevant political bodies to the violent reshaping of the will of citizens and their representatives by the Serbian Progressive Party and its allies," Cvejic told the Danas newspaper.

He added that the failure to form the Regulatory Body had denied the right of citizens to objective and independent information. "Although there would not be a two-thirds majority in the Regulatory Body for the Electronic Media's Council that would make it possible for it to reach vitally important decisions in the direction of consolidating this important regulatory body, the regime wants to demonstrate force and come closer to the possibility of buying yet another vote in the Regulatory Body's Council if necessary," he said.