The method of electing the new president of the State Election Commission (SEC) is problematic and controversial, said Democratic Front MP Branka Bošnjak, stating that an agreement should have been reached in this regard, in order to build electoral trust and create conditions for fair and free elections.
On March 4, Aleksa Ivanović was elected as the president of the SEC, and 41 members of the ruling coalition voted for his election.
Bošnjak said that until now it has never happened that there are more than one candidate, and no interviews were conducted at the Administrative Committee so that the members of that Parliamentary body could hear how the candidates envisioned their mandate and what their plan was.
"The manner in which Ivanovic was elected is problematic and controversial. First of all, an agreement should have been reached if we want to restore electoral trust and lead to fair and free elections," said Bošnjak to the MINA agency.
As she stated, instead of building trust, it seems that "we are sinking deeper and deeper into divisions and that these elections will be very uncertain."
"From our side, either there won't be any, or it will be fair," said the Bosniak.
She believes that the atmosphere in Montenegro is not good and that, in order for Montenegro not to fall behind and for progress to be made, it is necessary to reach an agreement between the opposition and the government.
"Some who were at the head of the Anti-corruption Agency went to the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data (AZLP), he (Ivanović) from AZLP is coming to the SEC and the rotations that are being made speak of the fact that it is surely a cadre of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) ), because they wouldn't put someone they don't trust in that position," said Bošnjak.
According to Bošnjak, "no matter how much DPS abused, before every election, that party at least tried to build trust in the electoral process.
This time, as she stated, that did not happen.
"Electoral laws were adopted at the moment when we were arrested, without the presence of the opposition. So everything points to the fact that the opposition will think about what to do and whether to allow the elections to be held in the fall," said Bošnjak.
Asked if it is positive that the president of the SEC was elected, because otherwise that institution would also be in a state of emergency, Bošnjak replied that it was more a problem of the government that did not take care of it.
As she stated, during the previous election of the SEC president, a person was elected who was known to be eligible for a pension during his term.
"I think it's all targeted. We are more used to the VD state and the VD state suits them. This time it suited them to choose this particular man in this way," said the Bosnian.
As she pointed out, the absence of compromise and the desire for an agreement only leads backwards and deeper divisions, and that is not good for Montenegro.
Asked if she thinks that the Commission can respond to all the challenges and tasks before it, bearing in mind that local and parliamentary elections are coming up, Bošnjak replied that it will be seen and that the Commission proved to be very contentious in everything.
"A completely new model for electing members of the SEC was also planned. It was seen that it was much more important for them how they were going to get the various allowances for travel expenses than what they were doing," Bošnjak said.
As she stated, it seems that all institutions are blocked.
"There is no democracy here and we are in complete chaos as far as the institutions of the system are concerned," said Bošnjak.
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