The Parliamentary Constitutional Committee has narrowed down the list of those who can be elected to four seats in the Constitutional Court, and the final agreement on this will be announced next week.
All "Vijesti" sources confirm that the negotiations have progressed, but there is different information about which "formula" is the most certain for the selection of the missing judges. Several sources say that there is an agreement in principle for the election of three judges, one of whom is at the will of the Democratic Front, one from the quota of the Democratic Party of Socialists, and one with the support of the rest of the ruling majority, that is, the so-called political center. Other sources state that an agreement is possible for all four vacant seats, two of which would be on the quota of the ruling alliance, while one would be from the quota of the Democratic Party of Socialists and one from among the minorities. However, no one was ready to confirm this yesterday, and there were such hints the previous time when the election attempt failed because the DPS boycotted the vote at the plenary session.
President of the state and leader of DPS Milo Djukanovic is during the meeting with the US ambassador Judy Rising Reinke on Thursday, he confirmed that "efforts are being undertaken... in order to reach a compromise regarding the selection of candidates and emphasized that support for the selection of judges is unquestionable if the selection procedure from the first step in the Constitutional Committee is fully respected".
One of the members of the Board told "Vijesti" that colleagues from the DPS are very constructive at the sessions and during consultations and that he hopes it will remain so.
Formal talks began in the middle of the week. The parties and their representatives in the Assembly are thus trying to create a list of the "most serious" candidates on which a political compromise would be reached, but this does not exclude their obligation to formally declare all 26 who responded to the advertisement.
From that number, a shortlist of 18 lawyers has been made so far, "Vijesti" learns. According to "Vijesti", the secretary of the health center in Berane did not pass the first elimination round Marijan Aković, former MP Azra Jasavić i Snežana Ionica, former Inspector General of the National Security Agency Danica Kovačević, adviser in the Ministry of Public Administration Sanja Maslenjak, former deputy ombudsman Zdenka Perović, Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Savo Rašović and the head of the Department for second-level administrative proceedings in the Directorate for Security and Supervisory Affairs of the MUP Azra Cam.
Board member, member of the Liberal Party Andrija Popović told "Vijesti" that he did not attend the meeting of the members of the Constitutional Committee on Thursday, but that there was already an agreement that next week, at the meeting of the heads of parliamentary clubs and members of the committee, the modalities for the election of the four judges of the Constitutional Court will be fully agreed upon.
The election of US judges requires 54 and 49 votes of deputies, so it is impossible without an agreement between the government and the opposition.
President of the Constitutional Committee Simonida Kordić she said on Thursday that she would not schedule a session to vote before the parties reach an agreement on the selection of four judges.
From the office of the President of the Assembly Danijela Đurović It was announced to "Vijesti" yesterday that political discussions on the completion of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro are taking place continuously and at different levels. They state that Đurović holds regular consultations with the heads of parliamentary clubs, as well as with members of the Constitutional Committee, and is fully committed to reaching a political agreement on the election of Constitutional Court judges.
"What is certain is that unblocking the Constitutional Court and ensuring its full functionality is a key prerequisite for getting out of the institutional crisis we are currently in and continuing our European path," the Assembly announced.
According to the knowledge of "Vijesti", the favorites for four places in the US are currently Snezana Armenko, Jelena Ruzicic, Fadil Kardovic i Jadranka Novaković.
Amenko is a deputy ombudsman, she was a judge of the Basic Court in Podgorica. She was shortlisted in the previous advertisement and despite the fact that she was an advisor in the office of the state representative before the European Court of Human Rights, she did not receive support because the opposition is bothered by her family relationship with the representative of the Democratic Front.
Ružičić, who was also shortlisted in the previous advertisement, and Kadrović are judges of the Administrative Court, while Novaković is the head of the Department for Constitutional Appeals of the Constitutional Court.
The unblocking of the US was also the topic of conversation yesterday between Montenegrin and European Union officials, as well as foreign and local diplomats, who followed the hearings of the candidates in the Parliament.
President Milo Đukanović and the President of the European Council Charles Michel as it was announced, during the telephone conversation they agreed on the necessity for the sixth round of the election of judges of the Constitutional Court to succeed and for that court to be fully completed.
"We are happy about the firm will of the EU to help Montenegro achieve a stable and normal functioning of both the parliament and the government in order to enable the achievement of results that will lead Montenegro rapidly towards the EU," Đukanović wrote on Twitter.
The competition for US judges was announced at the end of December according to a shortened procedure, in order to unblock the Constitutional Court, which has been blocked since September last year, as soon as possible. The highest judicial instance now has three out of seven judges and does not have a quorum to decide.
Marijan Aković, Snežana Armenko, Alija Beganović, Narcisa Maja Bošković, Nikola Golubović, Suleiman Gucci, Dragana Đuranović, Azra Jasavić, Snežana Jonica, Fadil R. Kardović, Danica Kovačević, Jovan Kojičić, Sanja Maslenjak, Darko Mugoša, Musovic Medina, Jadranka Novaković, Zdenka Perović, Ivan Radojicic, Savo Rašović, Faruk Resulbegović, Jelena Ružičić, Momirka Tešić, Edmond Ujkaj, Azra Cama, Maja Šćepanović i Amer Šukurica.
Two candidates applied and were heard from the Basic Court of Kotor - judge Narcisa Maja Bošković and acting president Momirka Tešić.
Dragana Đuranović was the protector of property and legal interests of Montenegro, and Medina Mušović is a judge of the Administrative Court. Lawyers Sulejman Guči, Amer Šukurica, former adviser to the prime minister in the DPS governments Jovan Kojičić, primary prosecutors in Ulcinj and Kolašin Faruk Resulbegović and Maja Šćepanović, Edmond Ujkaj, a lawyer in the notary's office, also answered the questions of the deputies.
Adviser Ivan Radojičić also applied from the US and was heard, as well as Darko Mugoša - director of legal affairs at Lovćen insurance and Alija Beganović, president of the Bijelo Polje misdemeanor court, and Nikola Golubović, member of the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures.
State Department concerned, judges to be chosen as soon as possible
The US special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, during a meeting in Washington with the president and deputy of the Democrats Aleks Bečić and the head of the caucus of that party, Boris Bogdanović, said that the election of judges is the basic premise for all subsequent unblocking processes in Montenegro and that he expects the judges to be chosen as soon as possible.
Escobar, as reported by Democrats, reiterated the US's concern about the dysfunctionality of certain institutions in Montenegro, such as the Constitutional Court, during a meeting at the State Department. "I encourage you and other politicians in Montenegro to contribute to the country continuing to move along the well-trodden European path and through strengthening the partnership with NATO allies," he added.
The Vice-President of the Assembly, Branka Bošnjak, spoke with the French Ambassador Christian Timonije in Podgorica. It was said that they hope that the agreement as the primary option will bear fruit and that the danger of politicization of this important issue will be avoided. Timonije, as announced by the Assembly, said that he hopes that there will be a positive outcome and that the result of the process will be the collective success of all political entities in the Assembly and an indicator for further reforms and the admission of Montenegro to the EU.
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