Open electoral lists represent the true freedom of citizens, and without this way of voting and the national assembly, there is nothing to rule of law and the fight against corruption in Montenegro, said Božidar Vujičić from Civic Action.
Vujičić said that open lists are the "Achilles heel of systemic discrimination and corruption of voting rights and the unconstitutional Assembly".
"Open electoral lists represent the true freedom of citizens, without open electoral lists and the National Assembly there is not even a word about the rule of law, the fight against corruption and so on," said Vujičić to the MINA agency.
He stated that Montenegro had open electoral lists from 1906 to 1990 and that it was known who would receive the mandate from the candidate only after the votes were counted.
"Montenegro had true national assemblies in that period, now the assemblies are made up of citizens who, through discrimination of the right to vote, received secure mandates a month before the day set for voting," said Vujičić.
As he said, the Constitution and international acts ratified by Montenegro stipulate that all voters have the right to vote and be elected without discrimination and that voting rights are equal.
"Is there at least one citizen in Montenegro who will say that the candidates on the electoral list have the same right to be elected, if the mandates are distributed according to the order of the candidates on the electoral list, I don't think there is, if we exclude the judges of the Constitutional Court who claim that it's not discrimination," Vujičić said.
Asked who is most responsible for the fact that Montenegro cannot solve the decade-long problem with electoral legislation, Vujičić said that the most responsible are the MPs who voted for the adoption of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, which stipulates that the mandates of the candidates on the electoral lists are distributed in order of candidates on the lists.
"By distributing mandates according to order on the list, which represents discrimination of voting rights, the parties, by determining the order of candidates on the list, enable candidates at the top of the list secure mandates, while those in the middle and lower part of the list will certainly not receive mandates," said Vujačić.
In this way, according to his words, a large percentage of the composition of the future Assembly is known before the elections itself, which represents systemic corruption and is not an expression of the will of the voters but an expression of the will of the political parties.
As Vujičić said, the most responsible are the judges of the Constitutional Court, who rejected the proposal of five MPs, Dritan Abazović, Aleksandar Damjanović, Mladen Bojanić, Jelisaveta Kalezić and Obrad Gojković, to determine the unconstitutionality of two articles of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament.
"Claiming that the distribution of mandates according to the order on the list does not represent discrimination, because the voter, voting for the electoral list, votes directly at once, for all the candidates listed by name on the electoral list", Vujičić added.
He pointed out that all politicians are also responsible, who claim that the opening of electoral lists changes the electoral system and that therefore a two-thirds majority of deputies is needed, which is not true.
"By opening the electoral lists, voting rights are regulated, the electoral system does not change and remains proportional. Voting rights are regulated in such a way that everyone can be elected without any discrimination, why is the support of the simple majority by 41 deputies determined by the constitution", explained Vujičić.
Vujičić added that the representatives of the European Union are also responsible for turning a blind eye to the systemic discrimination of voting rights.
Commenting on the decision to postpone the local elections, he said that most parties were not satisfied with the results of the 42nd Government, which was overthrown because it did not have the support of the Democratic Front, which voted for it.
"When they overthrew the government, the elections did not suit them at all, and that is why the elections had to be postponed unconstitutionally, so that time would take its course," Vujičić believes.
As he said, the Prime Minister of the 42nd Government, Zdravko Krivokapić, the day after the Government lost confidence, in his address, among other things, pointed out that the best solution would be to organize elections and, if possible, on open electoral lists.
Vujičić, speaking about the election of judges of the Constitutional Court, said that with the adoption of amendments to the Constitution, for which, in addition to the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and its coalition partners, the deputies of the Socialist People's Party and Positive Montenegro also voted, it was determined that the judges of the Constitutional Court the court requires a two-thirds or three-fifths majority of deputies.
"This type of determination allows DPS to wonder even when it loses the majority. Conditionalizing the exercise of majority rule, with a supermajority in the election of judges of the Constitutional Court, is not a democratic solution", said Vujičić.
He asked why, if legislative and executive power is exercised by a simple majority of 41 deputies, a larger majority is needed to elect a judge of the Constitutional Court.
"Only for one reason, to block the exercise of power which has a majority of 41 deputies in the Assembly," Vujičić said.
According to him, all this points to huge systemic corruption and discrimination in Montenegro, which begins with the formation of the Assembly from deputies who received secure mandates before the vote, the distribution of mandates by discrimination, according to the order on the electoral list.
Asked how the non-election of judges of the Constitutional Court will affect the legitimacy of the elections in October, Vujičić said that the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament stipulates that the final results of the elections cannot be announced until the Constitutional Court has made a statement on possible objections from voters and parties on of choice.
"Such a situation suits the DPS best, if in a chaotic state it would not be able to return to power and preserve freedom for many officials of the DPS and privileged citizens of Montenegro, who illegally acquired huge wealth during the transition period," said Vujičić. .
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