Đurović: RTCG was privatized, violation of the Statute is one of the grounds for dismissing the general director

AUTHOR: M.J.
Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG) has been privatized and has not been achieving the goals established by law for a long time, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Media Center said, adding that the Council and management of the media house do not respect their own plans and decisions.
The Media Center said that the broadcast on RTCG's Parliamentary channel of the recording of the Svetosava Academy, held in Bijelo Polje, is contrary to RTCG's programming and production plan for this year.
That plan, as they said, does not provide for the transmission/broadcast of contributions from religious celebrations and events.
"It is also not in accordance with the purpose for which the Agency for Electronic Media once issued approval for the broadcasting of the parliamentary program," says the statement signed by the director of the Media Center, Goran Đurović.
It is stated that the program-production plan is a key program document which, on the proposal of the general director, is adopted by the RTCG Council.
The Media Center said that it determined all program content that can be broadcast on one of the RTCG channels during the calendar year.
"If the management of RTCG decides to introduce some new content, or remove those it considers unnecessary, it must first propose changes to the program-production plan, which should be adopted by the Council of RTCG", the NGO added.
They said that compliance with the implementation of the program-production plan is an obligation established by the RTCG Statute, as the highest general act.
"Any violation thereof is also a violation of the RTCG Statute, which is one of the grounds for dismissing the general director of RTCG," the statement says.
The Media Center stated that, in November 2016, the general director of RTCG, Rade Vojvodić, was dismissed from his duties due to the violation of the programming and production plan and the Statute of RTCG.
"At that time, the representatives of the political parties from the opposition at the time - Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević, Aleksa Bečić and Dritan Abazović, very enthusiastically welcomed the decisions of the RTCG Council at the time and the principles in defending the general acts of the RTCG and applying the regulations," said the Media Center. .
Today, as they said, most of them are the government and think that everything that happens in RTCG does not deserve their public announcement.
The Media Center stated that they react in all cases of violation of laws and general acts in RTCG.
They also did this, as they said, when the general director of RTCG organized an iftar on the occasion of Ramadan, "in order to trade RTCG money and ensure the support of a religious community".
"The trade continues with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), as well as with all political parties that depend on the support of the SPC, all in order to ensure that the final court verdict is not applied and to enable the illegally appointed general director to finish his term," says the announcement.
The press release from the Media Center states that RTCG, with the support of political parties, has been privatized and has not been achieving the goals set by law for a long time.
"For the sake of satisfying the private interest of the general director, this public service must not criticize the work of state bodies, ministries, political parties," the Media Center said.
As they said, the period of collapse of the national public service, which was started by the Democratic Party of Socialists, was successfully continued, unfortunately, by the parties that make up the new majority.
"The situation with the RTCG points to fundamental problems in the functioning of political parties, which obviously do not care about principles," the statement said.
It is stated that their behavior, after coming to power, is completely opposite to that when they were in the opposition.
"The RTCG, like other public institutions, must respect the laws and its own general acts, and parties and institutions should show principle by publicly criticizing abuses in the RTCG," the announcement says.
Political and religious preferences, as they said from the Media Center, must not be an excuse for non-compliance with regulations in the RTCG.
They said that experience, I guess, has shown that all unprincipled decisions and behaviors, sooner or later, come back to everyone like a boomerang.
"In the past, today's parties in power suffered because of abuses and privatization, and now others are suffering. "Ultimately, due to the disastrous actions of political parties in relation to RTCG, all citizens to whom RTCG only belongs lose," the statement says.
The Media Center said that they do not expect a reaction from the Council of the RTCG, nor from the political parties, which, as they stated, bravely keep silent about everything that happens in the RTCG.
"We expect the public to understand that there are no free and professional institutions, if they are under the inappropriate influence of political parties, as well as religious organizations," the announcement states.