From the office of the President of the State Milo Đukanović yesterday they could not specify what will happen, i.e. whether there will be an election on October 23, after the Constitutional Court (US) repealed the Law on Amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government.
Yesterday, the US declared unconstitutional the amendments to the law, on the basis of which the elections in 14 municipalities were postponed, but it did not suspend actions related to the elections and those that have already been completed - in some municipalities, presidents were re-elected, all from the Democratic Party of Socialists.
"...Taking into account the importance of the topic itself, as well as the prerogative of the President of Montenegro, before the decision of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro regarding the specific case is officially announced, that is, before it enters into force, we believe that it is more meaningful and acceptable that for now, let's refrain from giving projections of legal consequences, which they will inevitably produce in the Montenegrin legal system. In the end, the President of Montenegro will analyze in detail and find out the content of the mentioned decision, and then act fully and in a timely manner in accordance with its legal effect", the answer reads. Boris Bastijančić, adviser to the president for the constitutional system and legal issues.
"Vijesti" asked about the legal consequences of the US decision and how Đukanović, who is also the leader of the DPS, will proceed after the confirmation of the unconstitutionality of the amendments to the law.
Bastijančić reminded that Đukanović had previously returned the law on amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government to the Assembly for reconsideration. As he states, he pointed out the legal consequences, doubts and open important questions that arise in characteristic political situations, with a reflection on the field of the Montenegrin constitutional system and the postulates of constitutional law in general, if this law is adopted and promulgated.
"That he did all this for a reason was confirmed by numerous challenges arising in practice regarding the immediate application of the regulations of presumed legal perfection, as well as yesterday's decision of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro," said Bastijančić.
The Constitution gives the President the possibility to refuse to sign the law once, while he is obliged to do so after its re-adoption in the Parliament. MPs of the DPS, the Socialist People's Party, the "Black on White" coalition, the Bosniak Party and the Social Democratic Party voted for amendments to that law in the Assembly.
Due to the challenges left by the decision of the US, which only states that the law is not in accordance with the Constitution, yesterday at the session of the constitutional court, the opinion of the judge was singled out Miodrag Ilicković i Milorad Gogic, and it will be published as such in the "Official Gazette", along with the Court's decision.
"I voted for the decision that the amendments to the law are unconstitutional, but I also gave a dissenting opinion because the decision was incomplete and incomplete, made late, which caused many harmful consequences that will be very difficult to eliminate," said Judge Iličković to "Vijesta" .
The US decision, as it was made, he added, leaves dilemmas:
"Do the re-decisions on the election of municipal presidents still exist in the right system, even though they are legally and constitutionally problematic. Then, the decision of the President of Montenegro to call elections for October 23, given that they stem from a law that was declared unconstitutional and has ceased to be valid. Did the repeal of the law leave a legal gap, and I think it is... Who should fill that legal gap, in what way and by what majority, because the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament should be amended, which requires a two-thirds majority in to the Assembly".
The judge says that there is also the question of what to do with the deadlines for certain election actions, such as, for example, the financing of parties in the campaign because it is related to the spending of budget money, then what about the employment ban...
"The court did not answer these and some very important questions. I insisted that the court make a decision as soon as possible in order not to get into the current situation where we have very serious dilemmas that leave room for various speculations. "Such an incomplete and incomplete decision will introduce additional legal confusion and leave all dilemmas unresolved, which was the obligation of the US to resolve," the judge told "Vijesti".
The proposal for the evaluation of constitutionality was previously submitted by members of the Democratic Front and two NGOs - CDT and Action for Social Justice.
Executive Director of CDT Dragan Koprivica in a statement welcomed the decision of the US, stating that it was justified, but it was made with great delay.
"If this court had reacted on time, immediately after the controversial change in the law, the resulting damage and chaos in the legal system could have been prevented, as well as the symbolic consequences that such violent legal acts have for democracies," he said.
Elections have been announced for October 23 in Podgorica, Tivat, Budva, Plužine, Žabljak, Bijelo Polje, Šavnik, Bar, Danilovgrad, Kolašin, Pljevlja, Plav, Rožaje and the city municipality of Golubovci.
Bastijančić: There are no grounds for early presidential elections
Bastijančić states that there is no reason for early presidential elections. DF MP Milan Knežević said in the previous days from the parliamentary benches that they will demand early parliamentary and presidential elections along with local ones on October 23.
When asked if there is a legal basis for this, Bastiančič reminds that the Constitution stipulates that the mandate lasts five years, as well as the reasons for its early termination: ...
"(The full) mandate of the President of Montenegro ends at the end of the term for which he was elected, while this can happen earlier only in the following cases: 1) if the President of Montenegro resigns, 2) if he is permanently prevented from performing his duties and 3 ) by resolution. In order to avoid a constitutional vacuum in such cases, the highest legal act stipulates that until the election of the new President of Montenegro, as well as in the case of his temporary inability to perform his duties, the same shall be held by the President of the Assembly".
Bastijančić says that if "the political elites were to open a concrete discussion about an idea that is constitutionally unsustainable, such as the calling of early presidential elections, for the sake of possible access to its realization, that would be the path, without return, to "constitutional anarchy", and in the end - de facto the collapse of the legal footprint of the state of Montenegro and its political system, along with the flagrant nullification of the further existence and functioning of our most important institutions of the democratic parliamentary system of government".
"Therefore, we strongly doubt that in such a socio-political environment any of the responsible holders of the highest public positions would engage in such legal exhibitionism and dangerous institutional adventure, and that such a scenario is at all likely," he adds.
Bastijančić adds that presidential elections are announced by the President of the Assembly no later than 120 days before the end of the mandate. The decision to call the elections, he states, determines the day of their holding, with the fact that no less than 60 nor more than 90 days can pass from the day of the call to the day of the election.
"Therefore, bearing in mind the notorious fact that the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, was inaugurated in Cetinje on May 20, 2018, and in consideration of the aforementioned norms, from January 20 of the following year, the deadline for the President of the Assembly to call for elections begins. .., that is, make a decision on calling for elections and determine the date of their holding, it is assumed, with timely consultations with the representatives of the political parties represented in the highest legislative chamber", said Đukanović's adviser.
Suhih: We are expecting some clarification
The President of the Assembly of the capital Đorđe Suhih (SD) expects the US to give some clarification and guidelines: "There are institutions of the system that are superior. Until now, we have listened to the first institution of the system that is superior to us - the Ministry of Public Administration and their views. "Normally, with the fact that we were waiting for the position of the Constitutional Court, which is the most authoritative," said Suhih for "Vijesti".
He previously scheduled a session of the Podgorica Municipal Council, where Ivan Vuković (DPS) received another mandate - without an election, referring to the opinion of the Ministry of Justice.
Suhih says that there is a problem, because they cannot conduct the elections on the day they were supposed to according to the law in force at that time. He pointed out that there will be no more sessions of the Assembly of the capital and that he expects that the issue will be clarified in the meantime.
"Will councilors be allowed to work... There, the law has two different items that go practically one behind the other. The mandate of councilors as well as the President of the Assembly lasts four years, and on the other hand, the mandate of councilors ends the moment the mandate of other councilors is confirmed. Again, the President of the Assembly, in particular, still has the obligation to convene the first constituent session. So, practically, he has to be in office until he convenes that constituent session and then his office ends," said Suhih.
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