Skopje, 25 August 2016 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services is sending out a sharp reaction to the positions presented in the SDSM’s press release titled “The Fifth Ad-Hoc Committee Member Must Be an Expert, Gruevski Cannot Thwart Fair Elections”.
SDSM claims that the formation of the Ad-Hoc Committee for Observing Media Coverage ‘has only confirmed the division along party lines and lack of competence” of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services.
The Agency demands that the parties stop giving voluntarist assessments about the expertise of the regulatory authority. The Agency’s professional service has always conducting monitoring of media coverage of elections, as well as other types of monitoring, conscientiously, objectively and impartially, implementing methodologies harmonized with the international rules and practices. As a matter of fact, it is the agreement reached among the four parties to form the Ad-Hoc Committee that constitutes direct intrusion into the independence of the regulatory body.
The expertise and competence of the Agency can be assessed by anyone who wishes so through our monitoring reports available on our website.
We appeal that the Agency not be dragged into inter-party bickering.