Mayor of Podgorica Olivera Injac did not give her consent to the Decision on the election of the director of the Public Institution Gradsko pozorište, claiming that this prevents violations of the law, because the candidate proposed by the Theater Council does not meet the requirements, it was announced yesterday.
President of the City Theater Council Marija Backovic She told the news that she considers it a "populist use of the situation" and added that Injac did not prevent the abuse because she was doing her job conscientiously, but was trying to find a reason why the proposal would not pass in the Assembly of the Capital City.
"I consider the statement given by the mayor insinuating that the Council had the intention of breaking the law and abusing the trust given as an abuse of position, when in fact the situation is different, because the mayor abuses her position and wants to make some decisions despite the competition, rules and regularity," says Backović.
Head of the technical and stage production sector at the City Theatre Nikola Krstić, after the prescribed procedure, a candidate was selected for the position of business director of the City Theater, by decision of the Council. An actress Branka Femic, The council voted and proposed for the position of artistic director. The proposal is then sent for a vote in the Assembly of the Capital City, which makes the Decision on the appointment.
Backović claims that Injac has a "favorite" for the position of business director, which is currently held by a writer and screenwriter Stevan Koprivica, whose mandate expires in April.
"Mayor Injac had her own candidate for the position of director and through other people she put pressure on the members of the Council. At one point, an explanation was received that, during the division of power in Podgorica, the parties agreed on which place belongs to whom, regardless of the fact that competitions are being announced for certain places. As the president of the Council, I questioned it and publicly spoke about it at the sessions, stating that it was about pressure", says Backović and adds that she called on all members of the Council not to succumb to it.
Backović also explained that a few months before the announcement of the public competition for the position of the director of the City Theater, she received a letter from the capital asking her to "dismiss the current director because the mayor has a proposal for an acting director".
"I said that, if that happens, we will follow the procedures and respect the Statute and appoint someone from among the employees, not someone from outside the theater," says Backović, who points out that she has been following legal frameworks and procedures since becoming the president of the Council, so that will be the case. and now.
In addition to her, the members of the Council of the City Theater are: Milivoje Lakić, Sreten Kaluđerović, Ilija Gajević, as well as the proposed director, Nikola Krstić as employee representative. Backović says that there is nothing controversial about that, because he is exempted from all the processes related to the election of the director by his candidacy.
"This year we had four candidates for the position of director, and one of them is also a member of the Council from among the employees. When we announced the competition, the City Theatre's lawyer, who also records the sessions, stated that there is no legal restriction for anyone from the theater company to apply, not even a member of the Council. The moment Nikola Krstić submitted the documentation, I insisted that he be excluded from all further processes. He did not attend Council sessions or their segments where candidates for business or artistic director were discussed, he did not attend interviews, evaluation of plans and programs of other candidates, and we followed all the procedures. The outcome of the vote was such that he had the most votes and became the Council's proposal for the appointment of a new business director... The Council agreed that the candidate proposed by the mayor was not the best, nor was his proposed plan and program," explains Backović.
In yesterday's announcement by the Public Relations Service, the education of Krstić is problematic. The competition stipulates that for the position of director, a "higher education qualification of at least 240 CSPK credits, VII 1 level of education qualification, Faculty in the field of social sciences or humanities is necessary; at least eight years of work experience in the same or similar positions, of which at least three years of work experience in management positions".
"In the explanation sent by Injac to the Theater Council, it is stated that the proposed candidate submitted a diploma of basic (applied) studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Montenegro, a Bachelor's degree, studies in applied computing. Also, the candidate obtained a diploma of postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Montenegro, specialist degree (Spec.App) management", explains the Injac office.
Backović replies that it can be interpreted differently and that it was precisely a tool for "fixing the competition in relation to the will of those in power at a given moment". She adds that Krstić submitted a diploma with 240 credits to the competition that meets the conditions of the competition, which, she says, was determined by the commission.
"If the law says that basic studies and their nature are taken into account, I have no problem entering into the procedure of canceling the competition and announcing a new one. What I have a problem with is constantly entering gray areas, which has been systematically done for many years in Montenegro. I see that the new government continues to use gray areas, loopholes deliberately left in the law that can be manipulated and given an opinion on a case-by-case basis," says Backović.
The President of the Council, she says, received a letter from the Mayor with an opinion from the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, which was referred to in yesterday's announcement.
"When the competition, in addition to the statement that the candidate must possess a qualification of 240 ECTS, states the field, i.e. faculty, both diplomas, i.e. qualifications of basic and postgraduate specialist studies, are evaluated, only if they are obtained from the same fields of science. When considering evidence of completed education, when the candidate has obtained diplomas of completed basic and postgraduate specialist studies in various fields, the diploma of completed basic studies is valued, unless the competition stated otherwise", reads the answer of the Ministry of Education, which Injac submitted to the Council.
"The mayor warned the Council that the proposed candidate does not have the necessary educational requirements, as prescribed by the institution's Statute and the public competition for the position of director, referring them to the Law on Culture, which states that "a member of the Council may be dismissed before the end of his mandate if is acting contrary to the law, which is the case here," the capital city's statement reads.
After receiving that letter, Backović told Vijest, she asked the competent person from the City Theater to send an email with a request for an explanation of that opinion.
"In addition to the adequate legal framework on which it relies, as well as the officially adopted documentation that shows the norms of how each diploma of Bologna schooling is valued. We sent a request to the Labor Inspectorate to give an opinion in relation to that situation, as well as to the Ministry of Public Administration", says Backović.
She also states that the mayor's office sent a request to the Council to submit all the details related to the competition, along with audio recordings of interviews and sessions.
"That process was transparent, but a basis is being sought for overturning, that is, not adopting the proposal of the Council," claims Backović.
Injac, it is stated, expects that the Council will review the decision on the election of the director and take measures and actions so that the director is appointed in accordance with the Statute and the Law on Culture.
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