Armenko, Vukčević, Novaković and Ružičić proposed as judges of the Constitutional Court

Committee members from the old parliamentary majority voted for those candidates

54051 views 110 comment(s)
From the session of the Constitutional Committee, Photo: Nikola Dragaš
From the session of the Constitutional Committee, Photo: Nikola Dragaš
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.
Ažurirano: 13.10.2022. 14:32h

The Constitutional Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro determined today the proposal for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court.

Snežana Armenko, Ilija Vukčević, Jadranka Novaković and Jelena Ružičić were proposed as judges.

Committee members from the old parliamentary majority voted for those candidates.

Liberal Party (LP) leader and MP Andrija Popović said that all his fears have come true.

"We elected four candidates by overvoting. We know that they are the candidates of the former parliamentary majority. There was no dialogue. We know that these candidates will probably not reach a two-thirds majority at the plenum. We condemned this public call to failure, but let me not prejudge. There are no members here of minority peoples, we did not take this into account even though it is defined by law, and luckily we are talking about gender representation. Please reconsider whether we can proceed with this proposal towards the plenum," said Popović.

The President of the Committee, Simonida Kordić, MP of the Democratic Front (DF), replied that the law says what Popović claims, but that it is not an imperative but a guiding norm.

DF MP Slaven Radunović, who is attending the session as an interested party, said that the proposed candidates are "nobody's staff".

"It is about electing people who can fulfill all the demands that the citizens of Montenegro ask of them. We have four candidates who will be on the ballot. We must bring the situation in Montenegro to as favorable a position as possible. There was communication in all directions, but it ended very quickly because it was neither easy nor realistic to find a common interest," said Radunović.

Popović replied that there was no communication or dialogue.

"Now the first half is over. But I'm going back to the procedure. The article of the Law on the Constitutional Court on proportional representation of minorities is an imperative norm," said Popović.

Representative of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Danijel Živković announced that today the opinion of those who made up the former parliamentary majority coincided.

"The break was requested in order for them to create a common opinion. The former majority agreed on four candidates," said Živković.

Kordić said that she was glad that Odobor chose the candidates, that he fulfilled his legal obligation.

"These are people with clear professional integrity. I am convinced that if they are elected at the plenum, they will justify the trust," she said.

Member of Parliament of the Civil Movement (GP) URA Suada Zoronjić said that today the moment has come to unblock the Constitutional Court.

"I hope that we will get an epilogue at the plenum session. I hope that we will enable the citizens to get the magic number of 54," said Zoronjić.

Živković said that this is part of a political maneuver, where someone tries to preserve his position in order to get into a better position.

"The rule on representatives of minorities in the Constitutional Court was not followed," said Živković.

DF MP Dragan Bojović said that the goal of the DPS is for only the institution of the president of the state, headed by DPS leader Milo Đukanović, to function, and for all others to be blocked.

"We invite you to vote for all or some of these candidates. I see no reason why you should not support some of them," said Bojović.

Živković replied to Bojović that the interest is to unblock the institutions, "and that you cannot transfer that mortgage to DPS".

The proposal for the election of four judges was approved with seven votes in favor, while six deputies abstained.

Kordić will be the reporter of the Committee at the parliamentary session.

How the members of the Constitutional Committee voted on the candidates

Snežana Armenko - seven votes in favor, six abstentions;

Alija Beganović - six votes in favor, seven abstentions;

Tatjana Bulatović - six votes in favor, seven abstentions;

Ilija Vukčević - seven votes in favor, six abstentions;

Sulejman Guči - three votes in favor, ten abstentions;

Dragana Đuranović - six votes for, seven abstentions;

Azra Jasavić - two votes for, one against, seven abstentions, three without a statement;

Snežana Jonica - four votes in favor, nine abstentions;

Jovan Kojičić - six votes for, seven abstentions;

Sanja Maslenjak - one vote for, 12 abstentions;

Jadranka Novaković - seven votes in favor, five abstentions, one without a statement;

Zdenka Perović - one vote for, 12 abstentions;

Mirjana Popović - one vote for, 12 abstentions;

Ivan Radojičić - two votes for, 11 abstentions;

Branislav Radulović - six votes in favor, seven abstentions;

Enesa Rastoder - one vote for, 12 abstentions;

Jelena Ružičić - seven votes in favor, six abstentions.

The meeting was late

The session of the Constitutional Committee at which the proposal for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, based on a public call from August 1, was determined, started today around 13:XNUMX p.m. with an hour and a half delay.

At the previous session of the Committee, on Tuesday, the election of judges was postponed due to additional consultations of parliamentary groups in order to ensure two-thirds support.

Popović protested at the beginning of the session because of its delay.

The session was delayed by an hour and a half because, as some MPs told "Vijesta", they were waiting for the arrival of certain members of the Committee in the Assembly of Montenegro.

Kordić said that she took the break "at the suggestion of the parliamentary majority clubs".

"After 800 days, this public call will probably fail... We have no more time, we have to unblock the Constitutional Court," Popović said.

Kordić said that there was no lack of dialogue and that it was necessary to leave enough space for it.

Democratic Montenegro MP Vladimir Martinović said, responding to Popović, that he would not condemn anything to failure in advance.

"If we have some candidates at the plenum, then everyone will show their true colors. Those factors that would cause the process to fail, will take full responsibility. If I were to prejudge, maybe some entities have an interest in after October 23 (when local elections are scheduled) there is legal chaos," he pointed out.

Živković said that he assumed that the break was requested because they were trying to reach an agreement on the candidates.

"I don't prejudge the outcome, everyone will vote for whoever deserves their attention," he said.

The Constitutional Committee announced earlier that 17 candidates applied for the positions of judges of the Constitutional Court.

Snežana Armenko, Alija Beganović, Tatjana Bulatović, Ilija Vukčević, Sulejman Guči, Dragana Đuranović, Azra Jasavić, Snežana Jonica and Jovan Kojičić were candidates for that position.

Candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court are Sanja Maslenjak, Jadranka Novaković, Zdenka Perović, Mirjana Popović, Ivan Radojičić, Branislav Radulović, Enesa Rastoder and Jelena Ružičić.

The Constitutional Court, out of a total of seven, now has only three members and no decision-making quorum.

The president of the court is Budimir Šćepanović, and the members are Milorad Gogić and Desanka Lopičić.

Miodrag Iličković met the conditions for retirement in mid-September.

At the beginning of the year, Dragoljub Drašković retired, and earlier Hamdija Šarkinović and Mevlida Muratović.

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

Bonus video: