Maja Jovanović was not elected for the VDT

The candidate for the Supreme State Prosecutor (VDT), Maja Jovanović, was not elected to that position today in the Parliament of Montenegro.

Six deputies voted for her, which was not enough for her election. For that, the votes of 54 parliamentarians were needed. There were no votes against, 48 parliamentarians were retained.

This means that, in a month at the earliest, there will be a second round of voting in which the VDT will be chosen from among all candidates who meet the legal requirements. In addition to Jovanović, there are also Milorad Marković and Suzana Mugoša, and the election requires a three-thirds majority - the votes of 49 parliamentarians.

The acting position in VDT ​​has been in effect since October 2019.

Jovanović has been in the prosecutor's organization for over twenty years, and on February 5, 2022, the Prosecutor's Council chose him to perform the function of acting VDT, where she served for two terms. During those mandates, and at her suggestion, the Supreme Court elected a new chief special prosecutor, Vladimir Novović, and then several investigations were launched that resulted in indictments against the former heads of the judiciary.

Abazović: Jovanović was the first to enable changes in the judiciary

Dritan Abazović, leader and deputy of the Civic Movement (GP) URA, announced that his party will support the election of Jovanović. He said that Jovanović was "the person who first enabled the reform of the State Prosecutor's Office to finally begin."

Abazović stated that during her v. d. mandate at the head of the prosecution, Vladimir Novović was elected as the special state prosecutor.

"If someone wants to forget that, it is our duty to tell the truth in front of the citizens. If these processes had not been initiated, we would not be proud of the fact that the State Department gives awards to the special state prosecutor... Jovanovic worked extremely professionally, and no one has ever called for nothing... Mrs. Jovanović did her job professionally, ethically and impartially in the most difficult moment," he said.

Živković: Changes in the judiciary took place at the behest of the Škaljar clan

V. d. the president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Danijel Živković, assessed that the parliamentary majority is led by the head of the Assembly Andrija Mandić and that the majority behaves accordingly. He says that in earlier convocations of the parliament, a dialogue was always opened about elections in the judiciary, but that is not the case now.

"Any kind of exclusion or ostracism will come back like a boomerang... I respect that there were no agreements in our time. There were. Anyone knows how many of those calls. But how do you negotiate with someone who boycotts the work of the parliament," he added.

Živković pointed out that the Parliament is trying to make an agreement "by delivering already agreed solutions".

"And the changes in the prosecutor's organization took place, at least according to what we had the opportunity to read in the transcripts from the 'Sky' application, at the behest of criminal structures. If you will - the organized criminal group 'Skaljar clan', whose members say in those correspondences that the time has come for changes in judicial bodies and the intelligence-security sector," he pointed out.

Ibrahimović: We are not satisfied with the work of Jovanović in war crimes cases

Deputy of the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Vladislav Bojović, said that changes should be made in the judiciary, adding that both the judiciary and the prosecutor's office need "refreshers".

Bosniak Party (BS) leader Ervin Ibrahimović assessed that Jovanović will not be elected to the VDT and that this represents missing an important step in the negotiations with the European Union (EU).

"I feel dissatisfied that the government and the opposition did not start a dialogue and see if Jovanović deserves to be the VDT... Jovanović in principle or almost meets all the criteria of the BS in the fight against crime and corruption. But she cannot get the support of the BS because "We are not satisfied with the proactivity and tangible results in cases of war crimes investigations. The European Commission has also warned about the same," he stressed.

Eraković: They are looking for a VDT that does not recognize the "coup d'état"

Member of the Socialist People's Party (SNP), Bogdan Božović, said that he expects the Assembly to elect a new VDT "as soon as possible".

"He will have a lot of work to do, but he will have a partner in the parliamentary majority to carry out the reforms," ​​he underlined.

Independent member of parliament, Jevrosima Pejović, assessed that Jovanović started a "wheel of change" in the prosecutor's office, proposing Novović as a special state prosecutor.

"That fact alone speaks of her willingness to work on the improvement of the prosecution. She did not obstruct any process, the degree of trust in the prosecution increased...", she added.

DPS MP Jevto Eraković said that Montenegro has come to the point where only one who has a negative attitude towards the "coup d'état" case can be elected as a prosecutor or a member of the Judicial Council.

"There is no independence, judicial evidence, objectivity... From the start, a clear condition - you can pass only if you do not recognize the 'coup'," he said.

Camaj: We will vote for Jovanović; Zirojević: We will be restrained

The MP of the Albanian Forum, Nikola Camaj, announced that the coalition will support the election of Jovanović.

"The team is rounding out the three branches of government. What I could see from her consultative hearing and what I've read about her work, that's something that recommends her for the position. We expect, if she or anyone else is elected, that there will be work "I would like to mention the 'Lim' action, the 'Eagle Flight' action, and why not the 'coup d'etat' case," he added.

Social Democrats (SD) MP Nikola Zirojević said that Mr. d. situation in VDT- take some more time. He states that there was a lack of dialogue between the government and the opposition regarding the election of the VDT.

"Perhaps it wasn't even necessary, because the candidate Jovanović was written off by most of the authorities... We will not support Jovanović, and the SD club will abstain," he reminded.

Knežević: We don't vote for anyone until they declare a "coup d'état"

The leader of the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, said that the members of the opposition "praised Jovanović so much as if he was from their home", but that he would not vote for her.

"The DNP club will not support Maja Jovanović for the VDT, and we will not support anyone for the VDT before we hear his statement about the abuses and montages of the judicial and criminal milieu in the case of a 'coup'. This is not pressure, but a principled attitude towards the biggest affair created in Montenegro after the Second World War," he emphasized.

Knežević announced that the DNP will initiate amendments to the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office.

"We will not support any solution that would go in the direction of removing the Special Police Department (SPO) from the Police Administration (UP) and placing the SPO at the disposal of the Special State Prosecutor's Office. We will also propose that distinguished lawyers in the Prosecutor's Council can no longer be lawyers. They are in a conflict of interest. It would be good to see their property records. Yes, we voted for them, but we are ready to correct the mistake," he said.