Serbian Parliamentary Committee selects two REM Council candidates amid controversy

The Committee did not, however, accept an objection submitted by the Civic Initiatives organisation regarding alleged illegalities in the procedure for selecting candidates put forward by the national minority councils.

Radomir Lazovic, an MP for the Green-Left Front (ZLF) and a member of the Committee for Culture and Information, stated for N1 that the ruling party has been attempting to push its own candidates into the REM Council all along.

"The regular election of REM Council members was first interrupted so that the ninth member was not elected, then they are heading towards replacing the two independent candidates who were first proposed with their own candidates," Lazovic remarked.

He expressed hope that "there is still time for this to be corrected and for us to move towards an independent REM." "I don’t think it’s good that the candidates who have been elected so far, those four candidates have the ability to at least inform us and stop some of the key decisions that require a two-thirds majority, should step down."

The Serbian Parliament has so far elected eight members to the REM Council, four of whom were candidates close to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), and four independent candidates who subsequently announced their resignations due to alleged irregularities in the procedure for electing Council members.

Opposition parties and civil society groups are warning that the SNS, under the guise of candidates representing national minorities, is attempting to elect an individual loyal to the ruling party as the ninth member to secure a majority for decision-making within the REM Council.