Municipalities in Montenegro continue to hide a large amount of information from citizens, so last year none of them published a report or information on the number of submitted and processed reports of corruption in 2019 on their website, according to research by the Center for Civic Education (CGO).
"No municipality had the following requested information/documents on its website: how the councilors voted by roll call during 2019, the final budget account for 2019, reports on the implementation of the Integrity Plan and the Local Anti-corruption Plan for 2019, the designated dates for the reception of citizens with the mayor/president of the municipality , reports on the work of local self-government for 2019, as well as information on the allocation of financial resources to the media," the research states.
The average transparency rating of Montenegrin municipalities for 2019 is 40,76 points out of a possible 100, which, as concluded, means that local governments must work much harder and be more open.
"The transparency index of Montenegrin municipalities for 2019 includes the data that was on their websites until the period in which the researchers checked the availability of documents/information, which means that deviations are possible if the information/documents were posted later or the websites of the municipalities were changed . The requested information of public importance is grouped into six thematic areas: the municipal assembly, the budget, the fight against corruption, the availability of general information, public procurement, public hearings and public tenders," the research states.
The research team of the CGE conducted an extensive review of the official Internet presentations of all municipalities during January and February of this year, and, as explained, several items were additionally checked during March.
Transparent Podgorica and Bijelo Polje, non-transparent Gusine, Plav and Rožaje
According to the Transparency Index, the two most transparent municipalities are Podgorica and Bijelo Polje, but they also slightly exceed half of the total number of points, i.e. they have 58 points each. Gusinje got the worst grades, 19 points, and Plav and Rožaje, 23 points each.
By area, Podgorica received the best score for the availability of information, 17. The Municipal Assembly received 9 points, the budget 12, public hearings and public tenders 8, public procurement seven, while the fight against corruption received the lowest rating - 5.
"The website of the Capital City of Podgorica has several sub-sites and a large number of different categories, it is well reviewed and offers a variety of content. Although the capital city of Podgorica is comparatively one of the two most transparent municipalities, there are areas that are still incomplete in terms of content and that should be improved", according to the CGE.
Bijelo Polje also received the best score for the availability of information, 17. For the Municipal Assembly, it received 11 points, the budget 11, the fight against corruption 9, public procurement 2 and Public hearings and public tenders – 8.
According to the parameters of this research, the municipality of Gusinje was rated the worst. By area, SO has 2 points, budget 6, fight against corruption and availability of information 4, public procurement 1, and public hearings and public tenders 2.
"One of the youngest municipalities in Montenegro records a marked lack of transparency in terms of the availability of information that is important for monitoring public policies, but also for the needs of citizens," the research states.
The Municipality of Rožaje is among the most non-transparent, with 25 out of 100 possible points. By area, SO was evaluated with 6 points, budget 2, fight against corruption 4, availability of information 5, public procurement 6 and public hearings and public tenders 2.
The municipality of Plav has the same number of points as Rožaje. SO Plav has a rating of 4, budget 8, fight against corruption 3, availability of information 4, public procurement 3, and public hearings and public tenders 3.
There is corruption both at the local and national level
CGO recalls the research on the perception of corruption from March of this year, where the majority of respondents believe that corruption is equally present at the local and state level, and as the dominant form of its manifestation, they cite receiving gifts from officials to solve a private problem.
However, as stated, compared to 2017, the results are better, because three years ago the percentage of those who perceived local governments as corrupt was 63 percent, and in 2020 it would be 56 percent.
"Compared to the research from three years ago, corruption at the local level is recognized to a much lesser extent. When it comes to party ties, almost 60 percent of citizens believe that there is no difference between the local and state levels. However, compared to the previous wave, there is a larger number of citizens who believe that party ties are used more at the state than at the local level, while there is a smaller share of those who think the opposite, as well as those who state that there is no difference," he says. are in research.
The government and the opposition behave the same way
Transparency is not affected by whether the ruling coalition at the state level or parties that are the opposition at the state level are in power in the municipalities, according to the research. The transparency index shows that the average for municipalities led by the opposition is 40,80, that is, 40,78 points for those in which the ruling coalition from the state level is in power.
"The size and number of inhabitants of municipalities have no particular influence on the level of transparency. When looking at the transparency of municipalities through a regional cross-section, the south leads with an overall average score of 43,40, followed by the central part with 41,16, and the northern part with 38,42 points," the research states.
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