The Municipal Election Commission of Tivat postponed the drawing of lots to determine the president of the polling stations by polling station for the upcoming local elections on April 5 in Tivat.
The new date in which this procedure could possibly be carried out is Tuesday, March 24, if in the meantime a formal decision is not made at the state level to postpone the elections in Tivat due to the emergency measures that are in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The MEC Tivat previously passed a decision on the permanent composition of polling boards, so according to its current representation in the local parliament, DPS will have its presidents of the polling board at 10 out of a total of 19 polling stations in Tivat. SD will have 2 presidents, and Tivatska Akcija, SDP, SNP, HGI, DSS, Bokeški Forum and Arsenal for Tivat will have one each.
A total of 38 representatives proposed by the ruling coalition DPS-SD-HGI will be appointed to the permanent composition of the election committees, while the opposition parties that received the largest number of votes in the previous elections - Tivatska Akcija and SDP - will appoint 19 representatives each.
The representatives of the electoral list of the coalition "Narod pobejeđeja" still today asked the MEC to receive the institution's official position on whether the campaign can continue and the elections can be held under the conditions of the emergency measures declared by the National Coordinating Body for the Fight against Infectious Diseases, but and MEC president Marija Sijerković could not precisely answer that.
She said that the MEC itself is waiting for an answer to the questions and a request for instructions on how to act in such circumstances, which she sent to the Government and the National Coordination Body on Wednesday afternoon.
No response from Podgorica has yet arrived, and Sijerković said that in the meantime, the President of the State Election Commission, Aleksa Ivanović, promised her that he would try to get the official position of the competent state authorities as soon as possible on whether the elections in Tivat can be held in circumstances when the Government officially invites citizens to "stay at home".
By the way, in a letter requesting instructions sent to the Government and the National Coordinating Body on Wednesday, the MEC Tivat emphasized that "the conduct of elections at polling stations will certainly be in conflict with the measures that your body has adopted in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus".
The MEC did not make an official announcement today, but the lawyers explained in informal discussions that the elections can only be formally postponed by the possible declaration of a state of emergency in the country, and that then the dilemma arises as to whether such a circumstance would know that the election process is interrupted from and where with all valid measures and actions that have been carried out in it up to that point and continues from that point after the interruption of extraordinary circumstances, or it would mean canceling everything that has been done so far and moving into election actions again "from scratch".
Member of the MEC Ognjen Vuksanović, refraining from speaking on his own behalf, and not on behalf of the entire commission, told "Vijesta" that in these circumstances it is absolutely not possible to hold elections in Tivat and that they must be postponed.
"Namely, the measures ordered by the Government and the National Coordinating Body for the Fight against Infectious Diseases in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are in direct conflict with the measures that we would have to implement under the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament and Councilors. In these circumstances, bans on public gatherings and gatherings, we cannot carry out the training of electoral committees, which we are obliged to do according to the Law and the election of deputies and councilors. The question also arises whether the confirmed electoral lists in these circumstances will have sufficient capacity in terms of the number of available people to propose for the composition of the Iraqi committees. Yes do our polling stations meet the requirements of the measures ordered by the National Coordinating Body to maintain minimum physical distance, as long as we only allow one voter at a time, because in those small rooms there will be a large number of people - members of polling boards, observers... Does the MEC have personnel and technical potential to carry out the voting procedure by letter, of which there will certainly be much more than ever before because citizens, especially the elderly, avoid leaving their apartments. Finally, how should we deal with the fact that even people who are in isolation or self-isolation have unsuspended voting rights and no one can deny them the right to vote?" explained Vukasović, adding that it is clear to everyone that in such circumstances "it is technically impossible for Tivat to hold elections ".
The representatives of the opposition previously accused the DPS of refusing to make a decision on postponing the elections in Tivat, trying to retain power in that city at all costs by holding the elections, knowing that many opposition voters, frightened by the extraordinary circumstances and the possibility of the spread of the coronavirus, will remain home, while on the other hand, the DPS will bring its "safe voters" to the polling station without any problems, most of whom the opposition considers to have been blackmailed or bought.
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