In less than three years, the 27th convocation of the Assembly cost more than five million euros, the Center for Civic Education (CGO) announced, only in the part of the salaries of MPs, as well as the costs of their trips and per diems.
This, as Nikola Mirković, a program associate at that NGO points out, is significantly disproportionate compared to their engagement during plenary sessions.
"Some of the MPs didn't even appear in the Parliament, most of them didn't even speak, and many spent more time traveling than in the Parliament hall," says Mirković, saying that this was shown by a cross-section of the activities and receptions of the MPs on the 27th. convenes the Assembly, presented in the publication "Well-paid extras on the parliamentary stage" published by CGO.
"CGO, in the previous period, monitored the work of the representatives of the 27th convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro through their activism in the plenum with a comparison with earnings, and periodically informed the public about it through the lists of the most active and the least active. The publication gives an overview from September 23, 2020 . until June 1, 2023, i.e. from the beginning of the work of the 27th convocation until the week before the parliamentary elections, and in addition to the activities and earnings of MPs, it also provides data on official trips and accompanying allowances, as well as on the expenses of the President of the Assembly, which were especially and unusually increased after the dissolution of the Assembly," the announcement states.
Mirković adds that the 27th convocation of the parliament functioned "turbulently, often in a half-empty assembly hall", due to the boycott of certain political structures, and was also marked by the removal of the president of the assembly, as well as the vote of no confidence in the 42nd and 43rd governments. "At the same time, many important legal texts were not in the focus of MPs, and important issues were raised in a selective and populist manner, without a true commitment to the public interest," he states.
The best-paid MP, according to the cross-section of May salaries, was Branko Radulović (PzP/DF) with 2.555,52 euros, followed by Danijela Đurović (SNP), the then president of the Assembly, with 2.549,16 euros. Also, among the deputies whose May earnings were above 2.000 euros were: Branka Bošnjak (PzP/DF), Boris Bogdanović (Democrats), Ivan Brajović (SD), Predrag Bulatović (DF), Branko Čavor (DPS), Dejan Đurović (DF), Dragan Ivanović (SNP), Bozena Jelušić (URA), Miloš Konatar (URA), Dragan Krapović (Democrats), Simonida Kordić (DF), Jovanka Laličić (DPS), Miodrag Lekić (Democrats/DEMOS), Duško Marković (DPS), Genci Nimanbegu (FORCA), Melvudin Nuhodžić (DPS), Slaven Radunović (DF), Kenana Strujić Harbić (BS), Tamara Vujović (Democrats) and Danijel Živković (DPS).
On the other hand, the lowest May parliamentary salary was 1.586,98 euros, received by Bogdan Božović (SNP). The average MP's net salary was around 1.880 euros, and it was calculated on the basis of receiving full net amounts, that is, not including MPs who exercise the right to the salary difference. MPs who had the entire mandate, from September 23, 2020 to June 1, 2023, earned an average of slightly more than 60.000 euros in net amount, according to Nikolić.
"Generally speaking, the activities of MPs in the parliamentary plenum were not in proportion to their earnings. The most obvious examples are some of the DPS MPs, who for less than three years spoke in the plenum for only a few minutes each (Mevludin Nuhodžić and Branimir Gvozdenović), or they didn't speak at all, but only came to specific votes (Duško Marković)," he adds.
Overall, from the beginning of the 27th convocation, i.e. from September 23, 2020 to May 30, 2023, the most active in the plenum was Momo Koprivica (Democrats), followed by: Branko Radulović (PzP/DF), Boris Mugoša (SD ), Miloš Konatar (URA) and Slaven Radunović (DF/NSD), Marko Milačić (Prava Montenegro), Danijel Živković (DPS), Branka Bošnjak (PzP/DF), Andrija Popović (LP) and Damir Šehović (SD).
In total, a little less than 400 hours were spoken in the plenum, of which these 10 most active MPs spoke for almost 40 percent of that time, or 147 hours.
"The lowest level of activity in the plenum is recorded among DPS MPs, starting with Mevludin Nuhodžić and Branimir Gvozdenović, then Nela Savković Vukčević, Miloš Nikolić, Abaz Dizdarević, Branko Čavor and Dragica Sekulić. Next, MPs Vladan Raičević (PzP/DF ), Dragan Vukić (SNP) and Maja Vukićević (DF/DNP). Also, it was not recorded that MP Duško Marković (DPS) once took the floor in the plenum during his almost three-year parliamentary mandate," said Mirković.
He also points out that the parliamentarian's work "led him all over the world": "From the region, through the EU member states, the Nordic countries, to Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, the USA, etc."
"In less than three years, they visited a total of 61 cities in 44 countries, taking part in various conferences, sessions, forums, summits and observation missions. The official trips did not stop even after the decree of the President of the State on the dissolution of the Assembly, and the President of the Assembly was particularly prominent in this. Danijela Đurović According to the available data, the official trips of deputies cost the citizens 330.530,64 euros, which includes plane tickets, accommodation, transportation costs, insurance and other costs, where these were not covered by the organizers, as well as per diems. This does not include the costs of using the government plane," adds Mirković.
He said that, among the deputies whose official trips were spent on the most funds, Predrag Sekulić (DPS), who was also a member of several boards and commissions in the 27th convocation, is leading the way. "During the 27th convocation of the Assembly, Sekulić earned 32 euros in net earnings in 71.819,37 months, and if you add to that the expenses of official trips, it comes to over 100.000 euros. During the same period, he spoke for 3 hours in the parliamentary plenum and 55 minutes. This is followed by MP Vladan Raičević (PzP/DF), who cost the state over 80.000 euros in total, which includes wages, daily allowances and travel expenses, while in the same period it was recorded that he spoke in the Parliament for only 55 minutes," he says Mirkovic.
Among those who traveled a lot, he adds, the most active in the plenum was deputy Slaven Radunović (DF/NSD) with more than 11 hours of active engagement in the plenum, "and with paid wages and daily allowances in the amount of 72.262,04 euros".
"Frequent travelers included Maja Vukićević and Maksim Vučinić from the Democratic Front (DNP and the Workers' Party), Assembly President Danijela Đurović from the SNP, Ivan Brajović from the SD, then Danilo Saranović and Dragan Krapović from Democratic Montenegro, as well as "Andrija Nikolić from DPS. A number of MPs waived daily allowances for official trips, such as Boris Bogdanović and Aleksa Bečić from the Democrats club, who waived daily allowances for Baku, Brussels, Washington, Istanbul, Antalya, Skopje and Ljubljana," says Mirković. .
He emphasized that the source of all the data published in the publication is the Parliament, with some publicly available on the Parliament's website, but the majority of it was collected by the CGE team through a request for free access to information. "Therefore, it is recommended that, in order to increase transparency and accountability, the scope of publicly available information on the Parliament's website should be expanded, as well as that information on earnings, travel, compensation and activities of members of the parliament be published on a monthly basis, along with the accompanying quarterly and annual sections, and so that the citizens would have a clear picture of who represents them, how much and in what way," said Mirković.
The publication "Well-paid extras on the parliamentary stage", was developed with the support of the Core grant of the regional project SMART Balkan - Civil society for a connected Western Balkans, which is implemented by the Center for the Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD), the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPM) and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) and is financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
"The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of the Center for Civic Education (CGE) and does not necessarily reflect the views of CPCD, CRPM, IDM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway," it concludes.
Bonus video:
