Prominent lawyer and former information commissioner Rodoljub Šabić has sharply criticized the Serbian government, directly accusing Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) of sabotaging the recent elections for the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council.
In a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Šabić thanked those who congratulated him on his election but did not conceal his outrage over what he described as a deliberate act of political manipulation.
“The election in the category of national minority councils was sabotaged by an agreement — in fact, by a deplorable, transparent, literally criminal combination of Ana Brnabić and SVM,” Šabić wrote. “Otherwise, the result would have been even better.”
Šabić noted that despite the government’s interference, the outcome still reflected a significant success for independent and opposition-backed candidates, calling it the best result achieved in 13 years of unequal political struggle against the ruling autocratic regime.
He announced that a joint response from independent proposers, candidates, and elected members of the REM Council will be discussed at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, emphasizing that the group intends to address what they call an orchestrated theft of democratic representation.
The accusation strikes at the heart of Ana Brnabić’s administration, which has long faced criticism for consolidating political control over key state institutions — from the judiciary to the media. Critics argue that the REM Council, which plays a crucial role in overseeing broadcast media fairness, has been systematically captured by the ruling SNS party and its allies, ensuring continued dominance of pro-government narratives across national television networks.
Šabić’s statements underscore growing frustration among Serbia’s dwindling circle of independent voices, who describe the REM process as a political theater designed to simulate democracy while preserving absolute executive control under Vučić’s regime.
