Invitations to an appointment are not sent in a footnote...

The leaders of the ruling coalition should initiate discussions on the election of the Supreme State Prosecutor (VDT) and members of the Judicial Council, i.e. the problem of the two-thirds majority in parliament. The process should be conducted with the support of the international community, according to the civil sector and the opposition.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Duško Marković called on the parliament to initiate concrete activities to start a dialogue that will lead to the election of the VDT, members of the Judicial Council, as well as improving the position and responsibility of the Prosecutor's Office and strengthening the role of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK). Marković said this while commenting on the allegations from the non-paper of the European Commission (EC) for Chapters 23 and 24, in which, among other things, it is indicated that the VDT and the members of the Judicial Council were not elected because there is not the necessary majority in the parliament. "It is in the exclusive competence of the Assembly and it is seen as being in the competence of the Government through the non-paper EC to which you refer", said Marković.

Member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Ranko Krivokapić answered the Prime Minister in the Assembly that his party will support the election of Siniša Bjeković as ombudsman. "We will show that when you have a good proposal, we have no problem voting," said Krivokapić, reminding that the president of the country, Milo Đukanović, is behind it.

The general secretary of the SDP, Ivan Vujović, claims that the institutional crisis requires a well-designed initiative for a comprehensive political dialogue, and not random and sporadic invitations from individual representatives of the government. He repeated that the SDP expects discussions on open issues. "Invitations of this kind are not sent through the media or through the footnotes of answers to parliamentary questions or during the prime minister's hour. This is not done if you really want a dialogue about all the open questions. This is done only when you want to escape from a serious dialogue and say that you have fulfilled the form", believes Vujović.

Due to the lack of the necessary two-thirds support, the Assembly has not yet elected the members of the Judicial Council from the ranks of distinguished lawyers or the first man of the Prosecutor's Office. While the mandate of the members of the Council was extended until new ones are elected, Ivica Stanković was appointed as acting VDT, and after that a competition was announced for his successor. Until now, most of the opposition parties have not declared the candidacy of special prosecutor Lidija Vukčević and former SNP MP Danijela Marković for the VDT. Although the opposition MPs called on the ruling coalition to start a dialogue in order to prevent the blockade of the judiciary, there were no official calls from the government representatives.

The Vice-President of the Democrats, Momo Koprivica, believes that the DPS does not want an independent judiciary and prosecution, but only political deals that undermine the reputation of institutions. He recalled the DPS proposal, which was mentioned at the Committee for Comprehensive Reform of Electoral and Other Legislation, which stipulated that the VDT and members of the Judicial Council be elected by a simple majority.

"It represents a backward solution that directly tramples on the principle of independence of the judiciary. Their proposal contradicts the document prepared by Marković's department "Analysis of the need to amend the Constitution in relation to strengthening the independence of the judiciary" from 2011, which states that a simple majority makes the prosecution directly dependent on the political majority. It follows from this that the DPS is now only trying to revise the previous position and establish complete control over the functioning of the judiciary with retroactive decisions", claims Koprivica.

The program director of the Civic Alliance (GA) Boris Raonić believes that due to the decline in confidence of the opposition, the institutions of the system are not the place where a conversation can be started: "That is why dialogue, which is necessary and in everyone's interest, should be at the level of party leaders with the support of the international community . In addition to current problems, the Constitutional Court and electoral legislation are also on the agenda. All this in an election year and a sensitive moment of integrative processes. Things like this show the democratic maturity of the society, but also the responsibility of the parties," said Raonic to "Vijesta".

Parliament is not led by the opposition, but by Marković's coalition partner

"We have a situation where the authorities sometimes tell us that they are supposedly ready to talk. What kind of conversation, about what, where, at what level, based on what initiative - they don't tell us that. Marković is an experienced and sufficiently politically educated politician to know how to start and manage that process if one wants a true dialogue with the opposition on all open issues. While the SDP was in power, it repeatedly demonstrated how a serious process of dialogue between the government and the opposition is conducted on difficult issues. And instead of the Prime Minister and another DPS man advocating for such an approach, he blames the parliament. It is as if the Parliament is not controlled by his coalition and as if the head of the parliament is an opposition member and not Marković's coalition partner", Ivan Vujović pointed out.