Double standards: some decisions of the Assembly are not disputed by the DPS

The Secretary of the State Election Commission (SEC) Nikola Dedeić has been coming to work since yesterday, even though he was elected as a candidate of the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) at a session of the Parliament of Montenegro, the legality of which is disputed by his party.

The decision on his election was made on the eve of the New Year, at a session for which DPS claims that the Rules of Procedure were not followed.

Despite the fact that it enabled electronic voting, DPS claims that the MP could not provide a quorum in isolation.

They also dispute that the Assembly verified the mandate of the URA MP, after the SEC refused to do so based on the decisions of members from the DPS.

Dedeić told "Vijesta" that the parliamentary decision on the election of nine members of the SEC and his appointment as secretary was published in the Official Gazette and is valid in the legal system of Montenegro.

"That decision was published in the Official Gazette on December 30, and according to the final provisions, it enters into force on the day of its adoption, which is December 29. Bearing in mind that this is a regulation that now appears as valid in the legal system of Montenegro, I came to work. I look at it as a lawyer with almost 20 years of experience," said Dedeić.

The decision on the election is signed by the President of the Assembly and cannot be challenged by the President of the State, who did so in connection with seven laws adopted at the same session.

He reminds that regulations can be challenged in court, and until then they are valid: "Someone can possibly challenge that decision before the Constitutional Court, and we cannot prejudge what kind of decision the Constitutional Court would make or will make."

The Assembly appointed Koča Đurišić, Dražen Medojević, Milisav Ćorić, Vladimir Čađenović, Nataša Pešić, Vera Mijatović, Nikola Dedeić, Aleksandar Jovićević and Haris Mekić as members of the SEC.

State President Milo Đukanović, precisely because of the quorum and the verification of the mandate of the GP URA MP, which was contested by the DPS at the session itself, refused to sign the laws that the Assembly adopted at the last session last year and sent them back for re-decision.

"The decision on the selection of nine members of the State Election Commission can be contested by someone before the Constitutional Court, and we cannot prejudge what decision the Constitutional Court would make or will make," said the Secretary of the Commission, Nikola Dedeić.

The dispute was then caused by the State Election Commission, the majority of which, from the parties from the former government, refused to state the replacement of the mandate of URA deputies, which happened for the first time in the history of Montenegrin parliamentarism.

After that, the mandate of the new MP from URA was determined by the Assembly, which happened before when the current opposition was the parliamentary majority.

Also, during the past year, deputies in epidemiological isolation took part in the work of the Assembly, and then no one questioned it, and Đukanović signed more than 20 laws adopted in that way.

When the Parliament re-adopts the laws that have already been returned, Đukanović must sign them, otherwise he would violate the Constitution, which could lead to the initiation of his impeachment procedure.

Đukanović returned amendments to the Labor Law, amendments to the Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities, amendments to the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, amendments to the Law on Health Care, amendments to the Law on Credit Institutions and the Rehabilitation of Credit Institutions , and amendments to the Law on fiscalization in the circulation of products and services.