Until Thursday to agree on the election of judges of the Constitutional Court

"The position of the collegium was not to vote today, but to try to reach a political agreement in the coming days," said the president of the club of deputies of the DPS, Danijel Živković.

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Photo: Printscreen YouTube/Assembly of Montenegro
Photo: Printscreen YouTube/Assembly of Montenegro
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The President of the Constitutional Committee, Simonida Kordić, adjourned the working body until Thursday, so that in the meantime the representatives of the political parties could finalize a political agreement on achieving the necessary majority for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court.

Judges of the Constitutional Court are elected in the Parliament by a two-thirds or three-fifths majority in the second round of voting.

Today, the committee was supposed to determine the proposal for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro by public invitation from August 1, 2022, and send it to the plenum, which elects the judges.

The president of the club of deputies of the DPS, Danijel Živković, said that at the collegium of the president of the Assembly, Danijela Đurović, which was held on Friday, it was agreed to try to achieve a form of political dialogue in order to elect US judges.

"The position of the collegium was to not vote today, but to try to reach a political agreement in the coming days".

Democrat MP Vladimir Martinović said that dialogue should be given a chance, and that if there is no clear agreement today that judges are elected by a two-thirds majority at the plenum, he suggests a break of a day or two so that political actors can try to agree on the election of US judges.

If there is a majority that will receive two-thirds support at the plenum, he pointed out that the Democrats will participate in that process, because they do not want to be a brake on the road to the EU.

Andrija Popović (LP) said that today could be a significant day for the healing of the constitutional and legal system of Montenegro.

He pointed out that he has nothing against postponing the session, but, in order to remove responsibility from the Constitutional Committee, he suggested that they vote positively for all the candidates who meet the conditions, 17 of them.

"Let them go towards the plenum. Thus, we will give the parties a chance to agree on who are the candidates who can get a two-thirds majority".

DF MP Milun Zogović said that they are ready to declare their candidacy at any time, stating that Popović's proposal is technically unfeasible.

"We are also ready to give dialogue and additional consultations a chance," said Zogović.

SNP MP Dragan Ivanović said that the committee must come out with a list of four candidates as requested, stating that the political dialogue should take place as soon as possible.

Suada Zoronjić (URA) said that they will be constructive for any cooperation.

"We will vote for all four candidates, and we have an agreement for each," said Zoronjić.

The president of the board, Simonida Kordić, said that there is unison among all the clubs, "which is good in principle." Speaking about Popović's proposal, she pointed out that they must propose the number of candidates required by the competition.

"I was informed that there is no finalized agreement for the selection of four judges and that an additional period is needed to reach an agreement. The elections will be questionable if we don't have a Constitutional Court...In order to make it possible to leave room for additional discussions, and to meet the deadlines, I will give a break to the work of the committee".

Snežana Armenko, Alija Beganović, Tatjana Bulatović, Ilija Vukčević, Sulejman Guči, Dragana Đuranović, Azra Jasavić, Snežana Jonica, Jovan Kojičić, Sanja Maslenjak, Jadranka Novaković, Zdenka Perović, Mirjana Popović applied for the public call for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court. , Ivan Radojičić, Branislav Radulović, Enesa Rastoder, Jelena Ružičić, Gorica Fatić and Edis Hadžić.

The Constitutional Court has been without a quorum for decision-making since September 13, after Judge Miodrag Iličković became eligible for an old-age pension.

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