Montenegro welcomes the upcoming elections with unremedied shortcomings in the legislative and institutional framework and a much more complex political situation compared to the previous ones, according to the report of the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT).
The CDT said that the key election principles that the rules are known in advance and that the future in the election process is certain are called into question, due to the delay in adopting the rules for conducting elections in pandemic conditions.
As they said, although the preparation of that document is not a legal obligation, nor is there a set deadline for it, with that significant delay the participants of the electoral lists, election observers and citizens were brought into a situation of additional uncertainty and the impossibility of adequate preparation for the elections.
"After the last attempt to implement a comprehensive electoral reform failed at the end of last year, Montenegro entered these elections with unremedied shortcomings in the legislative and institutional framework and a much more complex political situation compared to the previous elections," the report says.
It is stated that the elections held in the conditions of the existence of the coronavirus epidemic by the nature of things limit the behavior of all actors, especially political parties.
These restrictions, as it is added, require a timely and high-quality reaction of the authorities responsible for their implementation in complicated conditions.
It is stated that the party's campaign has moved dominantly to the media and the Internet, and the intense official campaign and the unusual participation of the church in the pre-election game are visible.
One of the most important conclusions based on CDT monitoring is that even ten days before the elections, it is not clear whether all citizens who are in hospital or home treatment, self-isolation or quarantine due to infection or suspicion of infection with COVID-19 will be able to vote. The Constitutional Court, as stated, acted on individual initiatives initiated by civil society organizations.
"However, we have not yet heard a clear position of this institution on whether the denial of the right to vote to persons suffering from COVID-19 and to persons whose movement is restricted by the decision of a state authority, is in accordance with the Constitution and confirmed and published international agreements," the announcement added.
It is stated that the State Election Commission (SEC) has conducted all previous election activities in accordance with the prescribed legal deadlines.
"The election administration at all levels must improve transparency and openness to the media. SEC made some positive steps, but did not fulfill ODIHR's recommendations", the CDT report states.
It is added that special concern is caused by the fact that the conditions and guarantees for exercising the right to vote have not been created for all citizens who are in self-isolation, quarantine or hospitals on election day.
"The SEC here chose the approach of looking for legal and practical obstacles to the exercise of voting rights instead of finding enforceable solutions," the CDT report says.
It was assessed that the unreasonably late adoption of recommendations for the holding of elections led to the fact that the constitutionality of the provisions is checked before the elections themselves, which can result in delays and doubts in the practical application by the electoral commissions.
The report states that the Municipal Election Commissions (MECs) did not significantly improve their transparency, nor did they offer the public more information about their work.
It was assessed that the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) carries out control and supervision, but avoids clearly and publicly identifying violators of the Law and promotes the integrity of the electoral process and prevents misuse of resources.
It is added that a big challenge for KAS will be collecting information about campaigns on internet platforms.
One of the key conclusions based on the monitoring is that a considerable number of citizens do not comply with the Law on Residence and Residency Registers and do not deregister their residence after leaving the country, which leaves room for abuses during the election process, as well as numerous speculations and inaccurate calculations about the number of these citizens .
It is stated that the Expert Team for controlling the accuracy and up-to-dateness of the voter list, which was formed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, started its work late, more than a month after the announcement of the elections.
"The expert team for controlling the accuracy and up-to-dateness of the voter list also included representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who applied for the public invitation. In the work so far, the highest level of access to data has been enabled for its members, i.e. access to the original registers that make up the voter list," the report says.
The CDT announced that the preliminary conclusions were prepared based on the analysis of the legal framework and information collected during the monitoring activities, which refer to the period from the day the election was announced until August 20.
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