The parliamentary majority has been blocking the filling of the State Election Commission (SEC) for a year, which opens up space for non-recognition of election results, announced the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
The General Secretary of DPS, Aleksandar Bogdanović, sent a letter to the head of the OSCE Mission in Montenegro, Dominik Vag, and to the representative of ODHIR, Pietro Tesfamariam.
Bogdanović stated in the letter that the SEC is the umbrella body for conducting elections in Montenegro, so the legitimacy of its composition is crucial for the electoral process, both at the national and local levels.
He said that it is a well-known fact that the electoral process and the role of electoral bodies are prescribed by the provisions of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament (ZIOP).
"Thus, the result of the election is reflected in the 'new convocation' - the composition of the Assembly, and at the constitutive session of the Assembly, along with the SEC's legal obligation to confirm the mandate of the deputies, the new convocation of the Assembly is determined," added Bogdanović.
He emphasized that it is the legal obligation of the Assembly, in accordance with the ZIOP, to elect a new convocation of the SEC, which will also correspond to the new convocation of Supština.
Bogdanović said that the provisions of Article 30 of that Law very precisely and unequivocally prescribe the structure of the SEC, which, in accordance with the above, consists of the president and ten permanent members, and authorized representatives of the electoral list submitters.
"Four members of the permanent composition of the SEC are appointed on the proposal of the parliamentary majority, while four members, one of whom is the secretary, are appointed on the proposal of the parliamentary opposition," Bogdanović added.
He said that contrary to such a legal solution, the current composition of the SEC, among others, consists of members of political entities that do not have parliamentary status, as well as members of political entities that cannot be represented in the SEC in accordance with the number of mandates won in the Assembly .
"The fact is that such composition of the SEC corresponds to the former convocation of the Assembly from 2020, as well as the number of mandates won by political subjects in it," said Bogdanović.
He said that it is also clear that, apart from the illegitimacy of the composition, it can be seen that even the representatives of the ruling majority from the ranks of the Europe Movement now do not have a single representative in the SEC.
"From all of the above, it is unequivocally concluded that until today the SEC functions in a composition that corresponds to the former convocation of the Assembly," said Bogdanović.
He said that there is a reasonable question, bearing in mind the mentioned provisions of ZIOP, whether it is legitimate that, if the SEC members were not elected on the basis of the results of the parliamentary elections, such a SEC can give opinions to all bodies for conducting elections, organizing elections.
Bogdanović stated that the question arises as to whether such a SEC can make decisions based on objections that the Constitutional Court decides on, both in parliamentary and local elections.
"Of course not, because in terms of its structure it does not correspond to the structure of the parliament and is directly opposed to Article 30 of the ZIOP", said Bogdanović.
According to him, the consequence of such illegitimacy of the composition of the SEC is the illegitimacy of the decisions made in the SEC.
Bogdanović said that the DPS believes that due to the clear commitment of the legislator expressed in Article 30 of the ZOIP regarding the composition of the SEC, the provision of Article 19 of the same law should be interpreted in the context of the spirit of the entire law, and not separately and alienated from other provisions.
He cited the Law, stating that "election commissions are appointed after the constitution of the newly elected Assembly, for a period of four years, and election committees are appointed for each election of councilors, i.e. representatives".
Bogdanović added that the time frame given in the aforementioned provision refers to regular elections, while the first part of the norm clearly emphasizes that election commissions are appointed after the constitution of the newly elected Assembly.
He said that on that occasion, the DPS attended the Administrative Committee's postponement of the election of a new convocation of the SEC several times.
"There is no legal and essential reason for postponing and not solving this issue," Bogdanović said.
He stated that the excuse of the absence of proposals for deputy members of the SEC from certain political subjects of the ruling majority cannot be taken as relevant and well-founded.
"This is best illustrated by the fact that DPS has not had deputies of individual members of the SEC for many years," said Bogdanović.
In the past practice of the work of the Assembly, he added, it is not known that there could have been a relevant reason for postponing the election of the new composition of the SEC.
According to Bogdanović, if one takes into account the fact that the elections in the Municipality of Šavnik cannot be completed for a long time, "all thanks to the actions of the members of the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) from the ruling majority", the current illegitimate structure of the SEC can be used for very complex and the subtle actions of certain political subjects of the parliamentary majority.
"In the sense of the above, the provisions of the ZIOP cannot be ignored that the SEC decides on the objections of political entities dissatisfied with the decisions of the MEC", said Bogdanović.
He believes that pointing out objections to the illegitimacy of the composition of the SEC will, without a doubt, open the possibility of obstructing the announcement of the final results of the elections in the municipalities where the elections are held.
He asked the representatives of ODHIR and OSCE to contribute to solving the mentioned problem.
"In order for the composition of the SEC to be elected as soon as possible and harmonized with the electoral legislation of Montenegro", Bogdanović stated in the letter.
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