Members of the ruling majority asked the President of the Assembly yesterday Andrije Mandić to postpone the re-decision on the Law on the Development Bank of Montenegro to September 30, instead of tomorrow, when a session with that, the only item on the agenda, was already scheduled.
The Assembly did not answer the question of "Vijesti" whether Mandić will comply with the request of 41 deputies, including him, to discuss the law that the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic returned to the parliament for re-determination of the vote the day after the elections in Podgorica, scheduled for September 29.
A "Vijesti" source from one of the parliamentary clubs said that he thinks that consultations with the European Union (EU), which last week requested that the law be reconsidered, because it is not fully harmonized with EU regulations, is the real reason for the eventual postponement of the session.
In a letter sent to Mandić yesterday morning, the MPs state that it is necessary to postpone the re-voting "taking into account the discussion in the Parliament that was held yesterday, which showed that some parliamentary groups are conducting an election campaign instead of meaningful discussions, often bypassing the topic at hand agenda".
The MPs state in the letter that the proposed law remains in the parliamentary procedure and will not be withdrawn, but will be considered at the end of the extraordinary session, "through which we will ensure that the strategic goals of our economic policy are achieved to the best extent".
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" claims that voting against the law and then resubmitting it to the Parliament is the only way for MPs to reconsider it and possibly replace it with a new bill, after consultation with the EU.
The previous practice in the parliament was that the deputies did not re-discuss the laws returned by the former and current presidents, but only voted on them again. The Constitution states that the President returns the law to the Assembly "for decision", while the EU Delegation last week and the MPs in yesterday's request to postpone the session spoke of "reconsideration".
Last week, "Vijesti" asked the majority caucuses about their position regarding the EU's request to harmonize the law on the development bank with EU directives. The answer came only from the vice-president of the Assembly from the Democrats Zdenka Popović.
"It is very important that we have a development bank that will improve the institutional environment, promote the economic development of Montenegro and provide support through loans with minimal interest rates and a longer repayment period, especially when it comes to credit placements for micro, small and medium enterprises. Unfortunately, until now we did not have a development bank, if we had, today we would have a much more developed economy", said Popović.
"Also, it is extremely important that every law be harmonized with the European acquis. How much we care about it is also shown by the fact that the Club of Democrats, as a proponent, requested an opinion on the compatibility of the Law on Roads from the European Commission, which it received in record time.
The EU delegation announced last week that the reconsideration of the Law on the Development Bank is an opportunity for the Parliament to harmonize it with all EU acquis.
"The Law on the Development Bank of Montenegro has not yet been adopted, since the President returned it to the Parliament for reconsideration. The EC was aware of the principle intention to establish a development bank in Montenegro, but at this moment it did not consider the details of that law. The next consideration of the law is an opportunity for the Assembly to ensure that the new law is fully harmonized with all aspects of the EU acquis, including those that define competition and the framework of the functioning of lending and payment institutions", the EU Delegation told "Vijesti" in response to the question of whether Parliament should obtain the EC's opinion on this law before re-voting.
On August 17, MPs voted for this bill at an extraordinary session, but Milatović sent it back on August 23 for reconsideration, among other things, because consultations with the European Commission in order to harmonize its norms with European standards were also excluded from the legislative process.
In its opinion, the Central Bank (CBCG) pointed out that it is not harmonized with European directives in the part that refers to the collection of deposits and the performance of payment operations, and that an opinion should be obtained from the EC.
The proposal defines that the development bank performs the activity of receiving deposits, and that the law and other regulations governing the establishment, operations and control of credit institutions (banks) are not applied to it, except for the regulations whose application is determined by this law.
Why don't the Speakers prevent the campaign from being conducted in the Parliament?
"Recognizing the importance of reforms in the field of economic policy and the need to establish a Development Bank, we believe that holding a session in the current political atmosphere would only serve irresponsible structures to stage an incident in the Assembly by violating the Rules of Procedure, all for the purpose of election marketing. Therefore, we propose to postpone the reconsideration of the Draft Law to September 30, when the conditions for voting will be regular", it is stated in yesterday's letter, which was signed by 41 representatives of the ruling majority, including Mandić.
It is not clear why Mandić and the four vice-presidents, all from the ruling majority, who lead the sessions, allow an "election campaign" to be conducted in the parliament and violate the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, which allows the speaker to take away the floor from a deputy who speaks outside the session's topic or exceeds the prescribed time for address.
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