The Network for Affirmation of NGO Sector (MANS) and the Media Center will send initiatives to the State Election Commission (SEC) and the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) regarding the implementation of the Law on Election of Councillors and Members of Parliament and stopping of advertising of political entities on public broadcasters.
By monitoring the pre-election process, MANS and Media Center noticed that price lists for marketing with public broadcasters were published on APC’s website, and that within commercial programme, some of them (TV Budva and TV Pljevlja) are advertising political entities participating in parliamentary and local elections.
“We remind the SEC and APC that Article 51 of the Law on the Election of Councillors and Members of Parliament in paragraph 2 prohibits public broadcasters from any additional commercial advertising of political entities in the election campaign.
*Article 51
“During the election campaign, the Radio and Television of Montenegro, regional and local public broadcasters shall ensure free of charge and equal presentation of validated candidate lists submitting entities, and the presentation and explanation of their electoral programmes on a daily basis, of equal duration and as part of the same timeslots within the political information programme, and within the precisely defined political marketing blocks whose audibility and visibility are ensured in the entire territory of Montenegro or local government.
The Radio and Television of Montenegro, regional and local public broadcasters shall not be allowed, under any conditions, to enable the presentation and explanation of electoral programme of candidate list submitting entities or their advertising beyond the timeslots referred to in para.1 of this Article.”
In accordance with their competencies set out in Article 32, paragraph 1, items 1 and 2 of the Law on Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament and Articles 5 and 55 of the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, MANS and Media Center call on the SEC and APC to investigate whether there was violation of the law, and to warn political entities participating in parliamentary and local elections as well as public broadcasters about the restrictions prescribed by law.
We also call on APC to remove the price lists of public broadcasters from its website. SEC and APC bear the greatest responsibility for non-compliance with election regulations, and their ignoring of our initiatives opens space for filing criminal charges against the responsible persons.
Vanja Ćalović Marković, Executive Director of MANS
Goran Đurović, Director of the Media Center
