Gashi says that the journalistic articles about the AVMU's draft council were not substantiated, and the procedure was respected to the fullest extent.
"We have a majority, but in the Assembly there are rarely more than 80 MPs present, especially from the majority and all MPs from the communities who need to vote for it, because for that you need the so-called "big badenter", replied the Speaker of the Assembly, Afrim Gashi, in interview for "360 Degrees" on MRT 1, when asked why the session was interrupted precisely when the item on the proposed composition of the Council of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services reached the agenda.
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Despite the reactions of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, the Delegation of the European Union and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gashi says he is convinced that the procedure was respected to the fullest extent. He added that he has spoken with these "international organizations, factors and embassies" about, as he said, allegations and journalistic articles that are not always fully substantiated.
Regarding Nafije Selmani, one of the seven proposed candidates and a former party member of Gashi, the Speaker of Parliament says that "a person should not be labeled if they were part of a political party at a certain period of their life."
"If you see Nafije Selmani criticizing me personally and my party in recent years, she is not a person you can quickly conclude, I even tell you that it is not a party solution...", said Gashi, and on the remark that AVMU should have people who have experience with electronic media, he stated that Selmani "has worked for a long time in the public relations department in the City of Skopje", something that, according to him, cannot be minimized.
He says it is good that after a long time there will be a new composition of the Council and that the Parliament, the Government and all political stakeholders should exercise constant supervision and pressure on that body in the future.
"I don't want to play lawyer to anyone, I just think that from the perspective of the Assembly, the procedure has been respected. We are judging too quickly, let's not prejudge, but give it a chance. It is good to monitor them and if the Council does not meet its goals, we should recall them," said Gashi.
