The Autonomous Women’s Center, together with dozens of other civil society organizations authorized to nominate candidates, has decided to withdraw from the process of electing members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM). This decision was made after none of the 30 objections submitted by legitimate proposers were accepted—objections that pointed to serious violations and misinterpretations of key legal provisions.

We remind the public that this repeated procedure for electing members of the REM Council was initiated following two weeks of blockades organized by students and citizens, demanding the establishment of this independent body in accordance with the law. In light of all the above, we consider the procedure conducted by the National Assembly to be legally and politically meaningless. With this statement, we confirm our withdrawal from further participation in a process that is being conducted contrary to the laws of the Republic of Serbia.

The full letter sent to the National Assembly, along with the list of proposers and candidates who have withdrawn from the process, is available at this link.