Council for Electronic Media claims it is under political pressure

In a statement on April 8, the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) claims that they are under political pressure.

Their position states that after being invited by the parliamentary committee on culture and media to be informed about irregularities in the selection of the Director General of BNT, the members of the CEM were never given the floor.

The regulator says it has found no non-compliance with the requirements of the law regarding the election of the Director General in 2019.

On 7 April 2022, the Council for Electronic Media was invited by the Committee on Culture and Media of the 47th National Assembly to be "made aware of irregularities" in the selection of the Director General of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT). At the meeting, the regulator was accused of unfounded allegations, which had nothing to do with the law, and of shortcomings in the assessment of the documents submitted by the candidates in the procedure for the election of the director general of the public service broadcaster, the statement says.

Although the representatives of CEM were expressly invited to attend the Committee meeting, they were denied the opportunity to express their opinion on the issues raised.

Having examined the documents submitted, the Council did not find any facts indicating that the Director General of BNT, elected in 2019, did not comply with the requirements of the law. The "irregularities" alleged by the Committee on Culture and Media are beyond the competence of the CEM, which cannot investigate the authenticity of the official documents submitted (by the candidates).

The Council for Electronic Media, as an independent regulatory body, is under unprecedented political pressure. CEM urges the representatives of political parties to refrain from using hate speech and revanchism without facts or legal arguments. Targeted discrediting of the regulator not only does irreparable damage to its future credibility, but shows an alarming lack of understanding of the meaning and purpose of regulatory bodies established in democratic countries under a European directive. For this reason, the Council intends to inform the European authorities of the attitude demonstrated by the representatives of the country's legislature.

In response to the request of the Chair of the Committee on Culture and Media for the CEM to consider the option of early termination of the term of office of the Director General of BNT on the basis of the documents submitted, the Council will detail its position on the existence or lack of legal grounds for the requested action, the statement reads.

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