A member of the Macedonian Parliament from the Levica party, Amar Mecinović, has stated that candidates applying for positions on the MRT (Macedonian Radio Television) Program Council are doing so in violation of the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services. Mecinović made these comments at the Parliamentary Commission on Elections and Appointments, where applications for the appointment of members to the MRT Program Council were under review.

Mecinović specifically cited Article 118 of the Law, which stipulates that the mandate of Program Council members is five years, with the possibility of one additional mandate. He argued that allowing these candidates a third mandate would be a direct violation of the law and should automatically disqualify them. He emphasized that this concern is especially relevant for a candidate who has already served as the president of the Program Council for nearly 13 years.

Mecinović further stated that there are serious doubts regarding potential illegal activities related to the candidates’ previous work. He asserted that regardless of these concerns, Article 118 is clear, and all four candidates should be immediately disqualified from further consideration.

During a press conference related to the parliamentary procedure for appointing a new MRT Program Council, Mecinović raised several questions about the legitimacy and transparency of the public service’s operations. He highlighted that the current general director was initially appointed in 2012 and subsequently re-elected in 2015 and 2018, but a new competition for the position has not been announced since then. Mecinović described this situation as “a director with three mandates plus one free” and emphasized its illegality.

Mecinović noted that there have been announcements since 2021 about the Program Council initiating a new competition for the general director position, but that this has not yet occurred.