The opposition and representatives of national councils of minority peoples demanded at yesterday's meeting with the prime minister Milojko Spajić postponement of the census for a few days, as well as for the Government to form a Commission as soon as possible for the preparation of specifications for the tender for the development of data verification software.
They were at the meeting with Spajić Danijel Zivkovic (DPS), Damir Gutic (B.S.), Damir Sehovic (SD), Mirsad Rastoder (Bosniak council), Sabrija Vulić (Council of Muslims) i Mensur Send (Roma council).
The source of Vijesti said that the position of a part of the participants of the meeting is that in the next two days it will be considered whether the specification for the software can be made and whether the Commission can be formed immediately.
The formation of the Commission is foreseen by the amendments to the Law on the Census, which was adopted by the Assembly on Monday with 64 votes in favor. After the adoption of the Law, the opposition announced that it would seek new talks with Spajić before taking a final position on holding the census.
As stated in the Law, the Commission is formed by the Government for the purpose of establishing software, as well as revising the code of that software. In addition to the preparation of the specifications for the public call for software development, the Commission prepares the specifications for the public call for the selection of an IT company for the revision of software code from an EU member state, monitors the implementation of tender procedures, as well as the implementation of the data verification software itself.
Vijesti announced on Monday that the opposition will ask for guarantees that the census data control software will be developed. The Vijesti source said that it is questionable whether that work can be done by Thursday (November 30), when the enumeration is scheduled to begin, and that therefore the opposition thinks that the enumeration should be postponed for as long as it takes to get guarantees about the software.
The participants of yesterday's meeting, as learned by Vijesti, said that they expect the census to be postponed for a few days if the conditions of the Agreement on conducting the census that Spajić signed with the opposition and the national councils of minority nations are not met. However, Spajić reportedly said that he was not ready to postpone the census due to additional costs, as Monstat would have to make new censuses.
"Despite occasionally raised voices, the atmosphere was constructive," said the interlocutor of "Vijesti", answering the question of whether anyone at the meeting mentioned the boycott of the elections.
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After the meeting, no one wanted to make official statements to journalists.
Spajić sent a statement in which he stated that the census can begin because the conditions of the opposition have been met. He claims that the implementation conditions and control mechanisms are at a much higher level than in the 2003 or 2011 censuses.
He stated that the expanded census commissions and more than what was requested, repeated the public call for instructors and enumerators, and the expanded commissions selected the enumerators according to parity...
"Also, the formation of the Commission for monitoring the creation of data verification software and its duties are defined by law. A parliamentary committee was formed whose competence is to monitor the implementation of the Agreement. Data entry control was established and the agreement was respected that no pre-census identity campaigns would be conducted by political parties from the moment the Agreement was signed, so as not to affect the results of the census," he said.
He appealed to all "rigid individuals not to put pressure on the opposition".
"This is a chance to show that we are all united as a society and focused on the European path of Montenegro, and that we have left social polarization far behind us. The best indicator that we are all winners in this process is the unanimous adoption of the Law on the Census", he said.
President of the state Jakov Milatovic yesterday he signed the amendments to the Census Act.
"This completes the normative prerequisites for the start of the census, which are the result of a broad political and social dialogue. I wish the institutions responsible for conducting the census successful work, and I invite citizens to express themselves freely on all issues covered by the census," Milatović wrote on the X network.
Remiković: We expect the list to be extended
Assistant Director of Monstat Snežana Remiković said that it is very certain that the period of the population census will be extended, which starts on November 30, and it was announced that it will last until December 15.
She said, in Boje jutra on TV Vijesti, that of the requested 3.800 enumerators, 3.300 are ready for the field.
Asked if they are closer to a decision on redirecting enumerators from one municipality to another or extending the duration of the census, she said that they are ready for both possibilities.
"We expect the extension of the census, regardless of the lack of enumerators, but because of the political agreement that is specified in the agreement in order to create an environment for the census," Remiković said.
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She pointed out that censuses in the region take up to two months.
She explained that, if the census takes 15 days, Monstat wants everything to be carried out in 10 days.
"We leave those five days for exceptional cases, if someone is not there. Entering the zone during the part of the year when there are migrations, we hope that it will remain only for exceptional cases", she stated.
Remiković said that the first postponement of the census cost the state, but that they do not have precise data on how much.
She said that extending the census will not increase costs, as enumerators are paid according to performance.
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