Parliamentary majority deliberately violated the RTCG Law in the appointment of the RTCG Council members

Yesterday, the Parliament of Montenegro concluded the appointment process for the members of the Council of Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) through a deliberate violation of the Law on RTCG, confirming that the process was driven by political, rather than legal, criteria from the very beginning. 

We recall that on 17 July, a group of NGOs submitted an initiative to the Administrative Committee requesting the reconsideration of the nominations and the establishment of a new list of candidates for the RTCG Council, after reviewing the available documentation and identifying numerous serious irregularities, including the failure of certain candidates to meet the legal requirements.

The initiative received no response from the Chair of the Administrative Committee, Jelena Nedović, or from any members of the Committee. This confirmed that there was no political will to apply the law, but rather to appoint candidates favoured by the parliamentary majority, regardless of whether they fulfilled the legal criteria or enjoyed the support of the qualified authorised nominators. Had the Administrative Committee acted in accordance with the Law on RTCG, following the withdrawal of Veselin Drljević’s candidacy due to a final court judgment sentencing him to a seven-month suspended prison sentence, Olivera Nikolić would have been included on the list as the NGO candidate representing the media sector. Likewise, had the Committee thoroughly reviewed the documentation of the candidate representing human rights NGOs and considered the evidence we submitted, it would have established that Vladan Mićunović had the support of a larger number of qualified NGOs than Amar Škrijelj.

The parliamentary majority also violated the Law on RTCG through the voting procedure itself. Article 29(2) of the Law clearly stipulates that “The Parliament shall decide on the proposed list of candidates for appointment to the Council as a whole.“ Instead, MPs voted on each candidate individually. This provision exists precisely to prevent political interference in the appointment of Council members, as candidates are nominated by authorised proposers, such as the Chamber of Economy, the Olympic Committee or NGOs from the relevant sectors. Individual voting effectively deprives the authorised nominators of their legally prescribed role in selecting their representatives. By introducing this unlawful practice, the Parliament has created a precedent that could allow future parliamentary majorities to appoint only politically acceptable NGO representatives to the RTCG Council.

It is particularly indicative that the Minister of Culture and Media, Tamara Vujović, remained silent throughout the entire process. She failed to react when the public call was deliberately delayed, when the Administrative Committee ignored evident irregularities in the candidates’ documentation, and when the parliamentary majority, including MPs from her own party, voted in direct contradiction to the explicit provisions of the Law.

This outcome also sends a worrying message to the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro. Its callfor the Parliament to carefully verify the candidates’ documentation and ensure a lawful appointment process was ignored, which is particularly concerning in light of Montenegro’s commitments regarding media freedom and the rule of law.

Yesterday’s vote also demonstrated the limited scope of political dialogue between the ruling majority and the opposition. Cooperation appears possible when it comes to appointments within the judiciary or constitutional amendments, but not when it is necessary to ensure the lawful and depoliticised functioning of independent institutions.

The parties currently in power have once again demonstrated that they apply the law selectively – when it serves their political interests, while disregarding or reinterpreting it when it does not. In doing so, they are reproducing the very practices they criticised while in opposition.

Experience shows that political control over RTCG always comes at a price. Just as the previous government ultimately paid the political cost for its interference in the public broadcaster, responsibility for today’s decisions will also rest with those who have made them, including the leaders of the ruling majority.