The "Savnica scenario" can be repeated - local elections in one day would solve many problems

Stopping the meaninglessness of local self-government must begin with the initiative to pass a law on local elections, says Marija Popović Kalezić.

The Ministry of Public Administration submitted initiatives to the Assembly and the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform and prepared the Draft Law on Local Self-Government

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Elections in Šavnik have been going on for almost two years: Polling station after the interruption of voting, Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Elections in Šavnik have been going on for almost two years: Polling station after the interruption of voting, Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Local elections in one day would solve numerous problems in the Montenegrin electoral system, but, although they have been announced for years, nothing has come of it yet, so the "Savnica scenario" could happen in other municipalities as well.

Thus, local elections will be held today in Podgorica and Kotor, and on November 17 again in Budva, after the government in that coastal municipality was not agreed after the elections on May 26 this year. Previously, on September 15, elections were held in Gusinje, and in Andrijevica on June 3.

In Šavnik, the elections have been going on since October 2022, because the members of the election committees from the opposition coalition "For the Future of Šavnik" did not allow part of the newly registered voters to vote because, they claim, they were re-registered to support DPS. At two polling stations, in the Municipality building and in the village of Kruševica, where 541 voters have the right to vote, voting was held nine times, the last time on December 18, 2022, when the elections were interrupted again, after which the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) could not agree on to repeat them. So far, more than a dozen people have been prosecuted before the judicial authorities because of events related to the elections in Šavnik, which included numerous incidents, including physical conflicts.

In October 2022, local elections were held in Berane, Ulcinj, Podgorica, Bijelo Polje, Zeta, Danilovgrad, Rožaj, Žabljak, Bar, Pljevlja and Budva. In 2023, local elections were held in Tuzi, as well as parliamentary elections, which means that starting in 2020, Montenegro will have some elections every year.

The State Election Commission (SEC) told "Vijesta" that regular elections will be held next year in Nikšić, Herceg Novi, Petnjica, Cetinje and Mojkovac.

Open lists, immediate election of the mayor...

Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS) Marija Popović Kalezić says that local elections in one day and open lists, along with the immediate election of the municipal president, would contribute to ending the continuous degradation and meaningless of local elections, where local campaigns are conducted exclusively from the highest state and party positions.

"Stopping the meaningless of local self-government and opening the way to its development must begin with the initiative of passing a law on local elections," Kalezić told "Vijesta".

The abolition of the residence requirement created a problem: Marija Popović Kalezić
The abolition of the residence requirement created a problem: Marija Popović Kalezićphoto: Biljana Matijašević

Local elections in Montenegro are regulated by the Constitution and the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament.

The Ministry of Public Administration (MJU) has submitted initiatives to the Assembly of Montenegro and the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, which are related to the holding of local elections in one day and the immediate election of the president of the municipality.

"It is up to the Parliament of Montenegro and the said Committee to consider the initiatives and decide according to them. So, the initiatives are in the Parliament of Montenegro and should be part of the electoral reform", the MJU told "Vijesta".

As they added, the Ministry, analyzing the system of local self-government, determined that, in the context of improving the system of local self-government and democratic processes, it is justified and necessary to ensure the immediate election of the mayor and hold the election in one day.

MJU also said that they plan to submit the Draft Law on Local Self-Government to the Government by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024.

Personalities instead of party soldiers

Minister of Public Administration Marash Dukaj he previously said that the adoption of the new law, along with the acceptance of the submitted initiatives, would enable "turning the trend in a positive direction".

"Instead of municipal presidents who were not even on the electoral lists and local self-government leaders who 'rotate' as their parties agreed, we would have municipal presidents elected by the citizens. Instead of party officials, we would have personalities. Instead of populist statements, we would have programs. Instead of electoral engineering and instability, we would have legitimate bodies that bring stabilization of the situation. Instead of elections every few months, we would breathe a sigh of relief with elections every four years, as is customary in orderly democratic countries," Dukaj stated at the beginning of September in an author's text for Vijesti.

The new law would "reverse the trend": Maraš Dukaj
The new law would "reverse the trend": Maraš Dukajphoto: Luka Zeković

Marija Popović Kalezić believes that with the permanent abolition of the residence requirement of Pro, space has been created for the abuse of the electoral process, when it comes to local elections.

"By flying from municipality to municipality, without essential verification of residence, it always raises doubts about the election process and creates administrative and legal chaos. This is best demonstrated by numerous polling stations in certain municipalities, where the election process lasts indefinitely and the question always arises, whether and in what way certain persons have the right to vote (and formally and legally they do), even though their residence, i.e. his permanent connection with the place, i.e. municipality, we can hardly prove it," she said.

The decision of the Constitutional Court of November 6, 2020 repealed the article of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, which stipulates that a citizen must have registered residence at least six months before local elections.

Popović Kalezić points out that irregular registers of residence and residency, as well as the absence of residency requirements, create numerous legal uncertainties.

"For the above reasons, all local elections in one day would contribute to solving these problems. This was certainly a long-standing recommendation of CEGAS, along with the existence of the law on local elections," she said.

In the publication on local elections in Montenegro from 2022, CEGAS gave a number of recommendations when it comes to electoral reform.

In addition to passing the law on local elections, CEGAS also recommends proposing a model law on the election of the municipal president, considering the possibility of returning the residence and prescribing a legal ban on changes to election laws for a period of at least one year before the election.

Among the recommendations are the enabling of open electoral lists in local elections and the consideration of changes in electoral units in local communities in order to provide a more territorially representative municipal assembly.

"Since the announcement of the election results (parliamentary elections) on August 30, 2020, the first change of government in Montenegrin history, and the victory of the previous opposition, there has been no mention of electoral reform. "Political subjects who were the loudest advocates of the need for comprehensive electoral reform, after winning power, no longer see limitations and shortcomings in the existing solutions," states CEGAS.

Instead of through parliamentary dialogue and cooperation within the Committee for Electoral Reform, the necessary changes for holding elections in one day, the deputies, as they remind, brought through unconstitutional changes to the Law on Local Self-Government, which provided for the postponement of the date of local elections in 13 municipalities to the 30th. October 2022.

Extraordinary local elections are also a problem

Regarding early local elections and possible problems in that part, Popović Kalezić believes that the next leadership should have a mandate until the end of the original one, in order to reduce possible abuses during the electoral process in that part as well.

Today's elections in Podgorica are extraordinary, as are those in Budva scheduled for November.

Extraordinary local elections in Podgorica were called after the mandate of the local parliament was shortened, which was initiated by opposition councilors (DPS, SD, SDP) and supported by Milatović's Movement for Podgorica and the URA Civic Movement, which were part of the government.

Extraordinary elections could also be held in Berane, due to the dysfunctionality of organs and services.

On two occasions, the government asked the Berana municipality to respect the law and shorten their mandate because they did not elect a new president of the municipality within 30 days of the end of the mandate of Vuk Todorović, who resigned on June 13.

By the end of 2025, the Assembly to adopt a new legal framework for elections

In the Reform Agenda of Montenegro for the period 2024-2027, which was adopted by the Government on Thursday, it is stated that by the end of 2025, the Parliament should adopt a new, comprehensive and harmonized legal framework for conducting elections, in accordance with European standards and existing recommendations Organization for European Security and Cooperation (OSCE) and ODIHR, as well as the Council of Europe.

As stated, the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform will work on amendments to the law on the election of councilors and deputies, on the voter list, on the financing of political entities and election campaigns, and on the registers of residence and residence.

the task of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform is to further improve and change the general environmental conditions for the conduct of elections, which includes: defining a proposal for a code of ethical behavior in election campaigns and defining a decision on how to hold local elections in all local self-government units in one day.

The Assembly should adopt amendments to the Law on the Election of the President of Montenegro by June 2026.

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