Beranci to the elections in December or January

The President of the State, Jakov Milatović, is obliged to call for elections the day after the publication of the Government's decision on the dissolution of the SO Berana in the Official Gazette.

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They did not adopt the plans and dissolved the parliament: Local government building, Photo: Municipality of Berane
They did not adopt the plans and dissolved the parliament: Local government building, Photo: Municipality of Berane
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

After the Government of Montenegro dissolved the Beran Parliament yesterday and appointed a committee of commissioners to replace it, the President of the State Jakov Milatovic will announce elections in that municipality in the following days.

The Government's decision enters into force upon publication in the Official Gazette, after which the President of the State is obliged to call for elections in that municipality within one day.

The legal deadline for the date of the election is 60 to 100 days from the announcement, so going to the polls in Berane would have to be organized during December or January. Elections must be held on Sunday.

The elections in that municipality will be the fifth local elections this year, after those already held in Andrijevica, Gusinje, Kotor and Podgorica.

Yesterday, at an electronic session, the Government made a decision that the function of the Berane Municipal Assembly, until its constitution, will be performed by the Board of Commissioners. The board of trustees will include representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration Zlatko Gligorović i Boban Jovović, representative of the Ministry of Finance Snežana Mugoš, representative of the General Secretariat of the Government Ljubica Radović, representative of the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations Milena Strugar and representatives of citizens Vasko Dragović i Nikola Babović.

On September 19, the Government issued a Decision warning the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane to fulfill its obligations established by law within ten days - to adopt the Strategic Development Plan of the Municipality of Berane, the Local Energy Plan of the Municipality of Berane and the Local Action Plan for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities from Discrimination and promotion of equality.

Given that the Beran parliament did not fulfill all obligations in ten days, the executive has the legal right to introduce forced administration.

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

In yesterday's decision, the Government states that the provisions of Article 185 of the Law on Local Self-Government stipulate that the Government, in the event that the municipal assembly does not hold sessions for more than six months, does not execute the decisions of the competent courts or does not execute the obligations established by law, which makes it impossible to exercise the rights of citizens or causes considerable material damage, to warn the assembly that, within a certain period, it ensures the realization of its functions, that is, fulfills the obligations established by law.

"On the basis of the aforementioned authorization, and since the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane has not fulfilled its obligations established by law for a long period of time, which violates the interests of citizens in the territory of this municipality, the Government of Montenegro, at the session of September 19, 2024, passed the Decision on to the warning to the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane, which was published in the 'Official Gazette of Montenegro', dated September 23, 2024," reads the Government's explanation.

With this decision, they remind, the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane is warned to fulfill its obligations established by law within ten days, namely to adopt the Strategic Development Plan of the Municipality of Berane, the Local Energy Plan of the Municipality of Berane and the Local Action Plan for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities from Discrimination and the Promotion of Equality.

"bearing in mind that, even after a warning from the Government of Montenegro, the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane did not fulfill its obligations established by law, i.e. it did not adopt the Strategic Development Plan of the Municipality of Berane, the Local Energy Plan of the Municipality of Berane, as well as the Local Action Plan for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities from discrimination and the promotion of equality, which calls into question the realization of citizens' rights, at the proposal of the Ministry of Public Administration, the Government assessed that the conditions from Article 185 paragraph 2 of the Law on Local Self-Government have been met, which stipulates that the Government, at the proposal of the Ministry, will dissolve the assembly municipality if it does not establish the performance of its functions within a certain period, that is, it does not fulfill the obligations established by law", the explanation adds.

The municipality of Berane currently has no president because Todorović resigned on June 13, and previously the vice president Damjan Ćulafić, who in the meantime was elected the Minister of Ecology, and the second Vice President Mladen Premović the mandate ended when Todorović's resignation was accepted.

The political crisis in Berane occurred after the failed attempt to rotate the position of the President of the Municipality.

The session of the local parliament, where the vote was supposed to be taken on shortening the mandate of councilors, was not held in September because the president of the SO Milun Rmus he did not appear for "health reasons".

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