The acting president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Danijel Živković, said at today's press conference that the party is asking for the postponement of the census for a period of at least six months, in order to obtain all legal and formal conditions for holding that process.
According to Živković, the DPS believes that the basic prerequisites for the successful organization and implementation of the population census have not been met.
He stated a number of conditions, which he said that if they are not met, the DPS will declare a boycott of the census.
Živković pointed out that that party sent a letter to the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT), but did not receive a response, and that Monstat did not tell them why EUROSTAT did not respond.
One of the conditions, as he said, is the adoption of a clear position, the introduction of internal and external monitoring, and the external control of EUROSTAT.
He requested that representatives of the opposition be allowed to participate in the selection of enumerators.
Živković said that it is necessary to approach the creation of a software solution that enables the digital entry of data on the spot, as well as their centralization, which is performed by direct input from enumerators, during conversations with citizens.
He repeated that if the conditions set today are not met, that party is ready to announce a boycott of the elections.
"In the event that a decision is not taken on the postponement, ... the Presidency of the DPS will propose to the Main Board a boycott of the census," said Živković.
Živković said that the DPS expects a clear position from the Ministry of Finance, the Administration for Statistics and all other competent institutions, which participate in the implementation of the population census, regarding the aforementioned conditions.
He said that the opposition parties are expecting an invitation from the Ministry of Finance and the director of the Directorate of Statistics to define the date of the joint meeting, where they would discuss the participation of the opposition parties and the civil sector, in defining internal monitoring and postponing the population census process, as well as defining joint efforts in in order to ensure all logistical preconditions.
Answering the question of how today's meeting with the ambassadors of the Quinte countries went, Živković said that the formation of the new government, in the form in which it was proposed, is not acceptable to the international community.
He said that DPS is not against holding the census, but that the adequate conditions for holding that process have not been obtained.
He warned that if Mandatory Milojko Spajić does not form a new government by November 9, that the President Jakov Milatović will be forced to call new elections, which would coincide with the holding of the census, and he pointed out that the census should not be conducted in a period of political instability.
Živković said that they are asking for the reprinting of census slips with the presence of clear internal and external monitoring, given that the public is informed that about two million census slips were printed, while MONSTAT defined the number of 617 thousand persons included in the census.
Živković repeated several times that the presidents of the municipalities are at the head of the Election Commissions, which jeopardizes regularity.
He said that in the previous two censuses held in 2003 and 2011, when the DPS was in power, that party had inclusive dialogues with the then opposition and ensured its participation in the census.
He stated that the census methodology was then available months in advance, but now it is not.
According to Živković, it is necessary to implement the prerequisites for training enumerators, which at this moment, as he assessed, is not feasible nor has the training been started, due to the fact that the methodology for carrying out the census and the instructions for enumerators have not yet been disclosed.
He said that if it is insisted that the census be held, the data collected on it will not be relevant and will not be accepted by the majority in Montenegro.
He said that protests are an option that the party could use and that, if it organizes them, it will publicly legitimize itself when they start such activities.
He added that the creation of a marketing plan for the population census campaign is mandatory, given that the Directorate for Statistics, in accordance with the Law and statistical standards, is obliged to educate citizens about the rights and methods of conducting the census.
Živković called on government institutions and relevant ministries to urgently protect citizens from political influence in the public, from various organizations, on their determination during the implementation of the population census itself, which would protect the objectivity of providing information during the census and ensure the validity of the census results.
He said that a request should be sent to the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data, for active inclusion in the entire process, with the aim of ensuring the secrecy of the data of citizens who are the subject of the census.
DPS, as Živković added, believes that it is necessary to request an assessment of the constitutionality of the Law on the Census of Population, Households and Apartments, and to harmonize it with other real acts of Montenegro, of the same rank, as well as with international standards and regulations that predate the upcoming Population Census.
According to Živković, it is also necessary to fulfill the recommendations of the European Commission of the United Nations for Europe, which defined clear items in its 2020 document, in order to organize a transparent and open population census process for each country.
"It is especially necessary to take into account recommendation number 77, which states that the census should be avoided in election years, as well as in periods of political instability," said Živković.
He stated that Article 37 of the Law on Population Census clearly defines that all by-laws must be adopted within six months from the date of entry into force of the Law.
"The law was adopted almost a year ago, and the by-laws have not yet been adopted or the public is not familiar with them," said Živković.
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