The collegium of the President of the Assembly approved today, by majority vote, the Bill on the election of councilors and deputies, which the deputies will declare at the parliamentary session scheduled for tomorrow.
The proposal supported by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Democratic Front (DF), the Bosniak Party (BS) and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) stipulates that affirmative action at the local level applies to minorities, which at the local level number from 1,5 to 15 percent.
A two-thirds majority is required for the adoption of the Bill on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament. DF MP Goran Danilović said that he, together with the representatives of DPS, BS and HGI, signed the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, which, he stated, was exactly two-thirds. we are a compromise. DF accepted that the affirmative action will be valid from tomorrow, from the day of its adoption, under the condition that we entered into the law that it be used by minorities, which at the local level are from 1,5 to 15 percent", stated Danilović. This, as he stated, was acceptable for the majority of political representatives of minorities. Danilović said that the DF will return to the parliament tomorrow to vote for the law. "And if the law is passed, then we will remain in the parliament, because we promised the public that," Danilović said. He added that not much has been done for the upcoming local elections. "This electoral legislation should be valid from November 1, and that we have the certainty that we have changed the pre-election conditions in Montenegro for the better. Until then, every election process will be under the veil of suspicion that election resources are being misused," said Danilović. The representative of the Albanian parties, Genci Nimanbegu, said that he did not support the Bill, although they are satisfied with the introduction of affirmative action at the local level. "None the political entity, except for the minority parties, did not support the amendments submitted by the Albanian political representatives during the earlier consideration of the law, and that is the reason why we did not sign such a proposal", explained Nimanbegu. He said that he will vote for the draft law, if there is a lack of two-thirds support at the plenum. "If the 54th vote is missing, I will give it to them," he told Nimanbeg. BS MP Suljo Mustafić said that the party was satisfied with the agreement reached.
According to him, the persistence of the parties representing minority peoples, the understanding of the European Commission, and above all of the political entities in the parliament, influenced the inclusion of the principle of affirmative action at the local level in the text of the law on the election of councilors and deputies. , by persistence, and above all by respect for the Constitution, in the right way upgraded the values of civic, multinational and multi-religious Montenegro", stated Mustafić. DPS MP Milutin Simović said that this party said the same thing today as on February 28, when at the plenum, there was an attempt to pass that law - that it is necessary, important and obvious to incorporate affirmative action at the local level into that act.
"If the voice of the DPS wanted to be heard then, they would have adopted this law on February 28, and we would have already had the month we needed to start preparing for its implementation," said Simović.
He emphasized that the DPS still has certain reservations about the applicability and sustainability of that law, but, as he stated, they will not submit amendments to that act.
When asked to comment on the fact that the Social Democratic Party, as a coalition partner, again voted "against", Simović said that "the coalition partner is against the Constitution, because the topic was a constitutional obligation".
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