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30. 05. 2014

ANEM CONDEMNS INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TOWARDS INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS

Belgrade, 30.05.2014  - The Association of Independent Electronic Media ( ANEM) condemns the inappropriate conduct of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia towards independent institutions.

On Thursday 29  May, 2014 the parliamentary Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending and the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration, and Local Self-Government should have had a joint session to consider a report on the work of the Anti-Corruption Agency for 2013. Due to the lack of quorum, i.e. the absence of members of the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration, and Local Self-Government, no decision was made on  the report. The Committee on the Judiciary should have, independent of the Finance Committee, at the same session considered the Regular Annual Report by the Ombudsman, as well as the Report by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.

Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, said that out of 15 members and 15 deputies only seven were present at the session to review the reports by independent institutions. ANEM draws attention that in this way that the new members of the parliament only continues the practice that has existed in its previous session, when, for example, the report on the work of the Republic Broadcasting Agency for 2012 was considered only in December 2013.

The most recent case of parliamentary disregard for independent institutions took place only one day after the Ombudsman stated that nineteen of his staff must be dismissed because the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has not given consent for their further engagement. Zoran Babic, president of the parliamentary Committee on Administrative, Budgetary, Mandate and Immunity Issues, answered that Ombudsman`s request for the extension of the engagement of his associates will be considered, but also added that he will personally and immediately initiate legislation that would, for managers and representatives of all regulatory and independent bodies, determine salary levels by one same law and equalize them.

ANEM condemns the bidding with salary levels of regulatory and independent bodies as pressure against their independence, and the call to equalize wages as unacceptable, because the different regulatory and independent agencies are funded in different ways, but also because it believes that the salary levels for those bodies should not correspond to each other, but to the responsibility that each individual position implies and the complexity of tasks that each employee of these bodies performs.

ANEM points out that the strengthening of independent and regulatory institutions is a prerequisite for further democratization of Serbia, and that the announced public sector reform cannot be turned into a mutilation of these bodies, but, on the contrary, is essential to further build and strengthen their capacities. ANEM emphasizes that there can be no robust protection of citizens' rights and effective control of the work of organs of state administration and holders of public authority without strengthening the capacities of the Ombudsman and his staff, as will there be not much transparency of the work of public authorities and the eradication of systemic corruption without strengthening of capacities of the staff of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Anti-Corruption Agency.

As an association of electronic media founders, ANEM especially emphasizes the need to strengthen the capacity of regulatory bodies with media sector jurisdiction, primarily to strengthen the capacity of the Republic Broadcasting Agency. ANEM points out that the new media laws, whose adoption is expected, will not be implemented on their own, and thus calls on the Republic Broadcasting Agency to immediately adopt a plan to improve its professional capacities in order to ensure adequate implementation of the new regulations.

ANEM President, Milorad Tadic

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