Montenegro’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) is seizing control of the supervisory council of the state-owned TV broadcaster, RTCG.
The DPS took the process further yesterday (2 January) when it used its majority to get the parliaments to vote in favour of dismissing one of the council’s members, Goran Djurovic.
The party representatives in parliament elected its senior official Slobodan Pajovic as a new member of the council, although this is against the law.
Earlier this week, demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Pogdorica, in response to calls from many NGOs to protest against the DSP’s takeover.
To gain control of the RTCG, the DPS has been infiltrating its supervisory council with the aim of removing members who do not follow its political line, and who are accused by the DPS of supporting the opposition.
This violation of public broadcasting independence could indeed hamper the process of EU accession for Montenegro, which is ranked 106th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
