The Center for Civic Education (CEO) announced that they have once again submitted the Initiative for Amendments to Article 36 of the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees and Article 60 of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees to the members of the new parliamentary Committee for Political System, Judiciary and Administration.
"Earlier, encouraged by the statements of certain representatives of the new parliamentary majority, such as Zdenka Popović, the vice-president of the Assembly and Miodrag Laković, the president of the PES parliamentary group, the CGE had previously referred them directly to the Initiative," said Vasilije Radulović, a program associate at the CGE.
Reminds that it is The CGE also referred this Initiative to the previous convocation of the Assembly in February 2022. "However, all parliamentary clubs, regardless of the numerous differences they insist on in public, unanimously ignored the proposal reducing these officials' privileges, which put quite a burden on the Budget of Montenegro," adds Radulović.
He said that the CGE continuously points to a "bad legal solution" which regulates the right of officials to receive compensation for one year after the end of the function, the so-called officials' compensation, which is prescribed by Article 36 of the Law on Salaries of Employees in the Public Sector.
"In fact, this norm favors public officials compared to other employees in the state, and its abuses to feed the party infrastructure and to the detriment of the public interest are frequent. Additionally, in this part, Montenegro is more generous than many developed and richer countries. the state. Also, the way in which this right is acquired, which is not subject to any restrictions in terms of exercise, is unknown to other legal systems. This is also recognized by the citizens, who in a huge percentage - 82% believe that the compensation of officials upon termination of office should be abolished , according to data from CGO and DAMAR agency research," says Radulović..
The initiative proposes changes to the existing legal solutions regarding the duration of the period of receiving official benefits, in order to shorten it from the current one year to three months, and it is also proposed to abolish the possibility of extending the payment of benefits up to one year if the official acquires the right to a pension during that period.
Also, the CGO proposed a change in the amount of this compensation, that is, instead of the amount equal to the salary that the official received in the last month before the termination of the position, it should be limited to the amount equal to the average net salary in Montenegro.
The initiative foresees limitations regarding the realization of this right, so officials who have spent less than three months in office, who have been dismissed from office, as well as officials who have been dismissed at their personal request, would not have the right to compensation upon termination of office.
For the sake of harmonization, the Initiative proposed changes to Article 60 of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, in the part of the compensation amount to which appointed and appointed persons whose mandate has ended and who have not been assigned within a period of one year are entitled.
"Thus, instead of compensation in the amount of the salary that the official had in the last month of performing duties, this compensation is lowered to the level of the average net salary in Montenegro. Accordingly, the proposed amendment abolishes the possibility of extending this compensation for another year if during that time the official acquires the right to a pension," says Radulović.
The CGE appreciates that the proposed changes are a "combination of good legal solutions" of the countries of the region, which are aligned with the "real possibilities of Montenegro in terms of allocating funds for this type of compensation".
"The attitude of the new parliamentary composition towards this Initiative will give an indication of whether some bad practices are intended to be changed, or whether party interests continue to be put before the public interest," the announcement concludes.
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