- Government of Montenegro
DPM Pažin: Planned amendments to Law on RTCG will ...
DPM Pažin: Planned amendments to Law on RTCG will provide stronger guarantee for full independence of national broadcaster
Podgorica, Montenegro (19 February 2018) -- Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin informed representatives of national broadcaster RTCG and national media regulator, namely President of the RTCG Council Vladimir Pavićević, RTCG Director General Andrijana Kadija, President of the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM) Ranko Vujović, and Director of the AEM Abaz Džafić, about the basic intentions of the Government when proposing amendments to the Law on RTCG, an activity scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2018 by the Government’s Annual Programme of Work.
DPM Pažin said that the Government wants, through the active participation of the RTCG, AEM, and other social stakeholders, and with the support of the most relevant international partners, to propose better legal solutions, which will provide a stronger guarantee for full independence of national broadcaster.
"We want a strong and credible national broadcaster that can be trusted and that report on issues of public interest in a professional and objective manner. Such a national broadcaster, which is a key cohesive force of the society, and not a polygon for any political, business or other interests, is a necessity for Montenegro," he emphasised.
DPM Pažin pointed out that the Government has no legal competence to react in relation to the situation in the RTCG, apart from exercising its constitutional jurisdiction and proposing to the Parliament a new legal solution that will be a more reliable protection of national broadcaster.
''I invite all of you, as well as a wider professional community, to join our forces and find better legal solutions in line with the highest international standards, and make national broadcaster RTCG become a place of true journalistic independence and professionalism, without any inappropriate influence," Deputy Prime Minister Pažin told representatives of the RTCG and AEM.
He stressed that consideration should also be given to a model in which the RTCG Council's appointment would be removed from the Parliament.
The leaders of the council and management of the RTCG and AEM welcomed the commitment to dealing with the amendments to the Law on RTCG through broad social dialogue based on the highest international standards. In that regard, they expressed willingness to make a full contribution to this important process.
DPM Pažin voiced expectation that the RTCG Council will soon approve the text of the Agreement on Public Broadcasting Services 2018-2020, after the Government team had accepted all eight amendments proposed by national broadcaster RTCG. The Government supports the views of the working team and is ready to officially confirm the text of the agreement with all the amendments made so far by national broadcaster RTCG, Deputy Prime Minister Pažin concluded.
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER