Acting President of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Danijel Žvković said that Montenegro cannot ensure regular implementation of the census as the most important state job.
He said at the press conference that the position of the DPS is clear that the census should be postponed until there will be stable political circumstances.
He pointed out that they are calling on the European Commission (EC) and Eurostat to urgently get involved in the census monitoring process.
Živković said that even in the technical sense, the conditions for holding the census were not provided.
He said that DPS advocates the position that the census should be held, but with adequate preparation and adequate monitoring.
On December 12, 2022, the Parliament of Montenegro adopted the Law on the Census of Population, Households and Apartments for this year, despite European standards that it should not be held in an election year (presidential and parliamentary elections were held in 2023).
The government in its technical mandate will, on the basis of the Regulation it passed at the beginning of the year on the basis of the Census Act, organize a declaration from November 1 to 15. According to the budget for this year, it will cost 4,7 million euros.
He pointed out that the census implies the control of relevant international institutions, as was the case in 2003 and 2011, and he will officially contact the EC and EUROSTAT to monitor the process in Montenegro.
"Whoever thinks that a census can be quickly prepared in this way within a month, that assumptions can be made that everyone has complete confidence in this process, is seriously mistaken," said Živković.
He pointed out that the census implies internal control from political subjects and the civil sector, and reminded that in 2003 and 2011 there was full control from the opposition political parties, that there was a gentleman's agreement between the government and the opposition when the DPS exercised power, that the opposition controls the process to the extent that they asked for it and as much as they wanted, in the part of process control that refers to the number of enumerators, controllers, and the control process in MONSTAT itself.
"In order to have complete confidence in this process without the control of the international factor, without control from political entities and the non-governmental sector, a census cannot be conducted in which all political and social actors will have complete confidence in this process," said Živković.
Speaking about the fact that there are no technical assumptions for holding the census, Živković said that the borders between Podgorica, Tuzi and Zeta have not been established, and that the question is how the borders will be verified in the census process.
"We have also heard various objections from the Albanian and Bosniak communities that the census should be postponed, because not all activities for holding the census have been prepared in accordance with legal procedures. It is crucial that neither the instructions for enumerators nor the methodology for preparing the organization and carrying out the census have been prepared", said Živković.
He pointed out that all this means that someone has the intention "to forcefully speed up the process of the most responsible and important state job" and to draw certain conclusions on the basis of that and, according to the "buffet table principle", to use some data in which most of Montenegro they will have absolutely no confidence.
Answering the question whether the DPS's request to postpone the census a month before its holding can be seen more as an obstruction than as a constructive criticism, Živković said that there is no obstruction to that process, but constructiveness to reach a full consensus on this issue.
He pointed out that the census should be held but in a different environment, through quality preparation and quality monitoring.
In light of the fact that municipal presidents are presidents of census commissions, Živković asked how the census in Budva will be organized if the municipal president is in detention, in Andrijevica and Zeta where there is a political crisis.
Commenting on the statement of the President of the State, Jakov Milatović, that it is unacceptable for any party to be excluded from the Government if it received a certain amount of trust from the citizens in the elections, Živković said that he believed that Milatović was referring to the DPS:
"It (DPS) should not be excluded from the process of forming the government, because we achieved an election result of one quarter of the electorate".
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