The government dissolved the Assembly of the Berane municipality the week before last and introduced forced administration, after the local parliament failed to adopt three plans, which the law obliges them to, within the given deadline, even though such plans do not exist in many other local governments.
Fifteen municipalities have not adopted a Local Action Plan for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities from Discrimination and Promotion of Equality (LAP), and eight have not adopted a Strategic Development Plan. The Ministry of Energy did not respond to the "News" that the municipalities have not adopted the Local Energy Plan, but three local governments confirmed that the document was not adopted.
The result of the failure to pass those three plans, for the adoption of which the government had given the Berean parliament a deadline of ten days, is that the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic announced early local elections in Berane for December 8.
The action plan of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights (MLjMP) defined that all municipalities adopt the LAP by the end of next year, but only the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane, which has not functioned since June, was given a deadline of ten days, after which its mandate was shortened.
In the explanation of the warning to the Beran parliament, it was stated that the local assembly did not adopt the Strategic Development Plan of the Municipality from last year, the Local Energy Plan from 2018, and that the LAP expired in 2020.
Referring to this decision of the Government, the executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS) Marija Popović Kalezić she assessed the selectivity of the executive power as dangerous, but also that it is dangerous for the system of state and public administration to function ad hoc and not to see a single strategic action.
She told "Vijesta" that the Ministry of Public Administration formally and legally within the limits of the law proposed the introduction of forced administration in Berane, and forgot that certain failures exist in other municipalities, which in itself does not have to lead to the dissolution of the SO, but there must not be selectivity.
"When the Local Energy Plan, LAP or Strategic Development Plan is on the agenda, then the MLjMP, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations must be involved. Selectivity is dangerous, but it is also dangerous that the system of state and public administration functions ad hoc, that a single strategic action is not seen and that it is so obvious that it is a political party umbrella that permanently casts a shadow on the professional relationship of civil servants", said the interlocutor. "News".
The MLjMP confirmed to "Vijesta" that Danilovgrad, Zeta, Bijelo Polje, Rožaje, Petnjica, Žabljak, Nikšić, Gusinje, Andrijevica, Bar, Budva, Herceg Novi, Plužine, Tivat and Savnik also do not have the adopted LAP.
However, they explain that in some municipalities it is in the drafting phase or they plan to adopt it during the next year, while some local governments have included the rights of persons with disabilities in other plans.
When it comes to Berane, they confirmed that the public hearing for the draft LAP 2024-2027 has been completed, and that in the following period it will be submitted to the SO for consideration and decision.
"As this ministry monitors the implementation of the activities provided for in the Strategy and prepares quarterly reports on the implementation of activities that are time-bound, the ministry suggested in the process of regular consultations with the holders of the activities that it is expected that all responsible entities implement the planned activities," said the department. Fatmira Đeka, answering the question of whether a warning was sent to any other municipality.
When asked if there is a defined deadline by which this plan should be adopted by all municipalities, the MLjMP states that the Action Plan for the period 2024-2025. it is expected that by the fourth quarter of 2025, all local governments will adopt LAP.
From this department, they did not answer the question whether SO Berane had previously been sent warnings and whether they had been given a deadline by which they had to adopt this plan, but unofficially it was said that they regularly submitted reports to the Government on the fulfillment of all the obligations that local governments have towards them .
The Ministry of Regional Development told the newspaper that, out of 25 municipalities, 17 of them have adopted a Strategic Development Plan, and that their department has continuous communication with all local governments regarding the preparation of this document, but that they did not define a deadline in cooperation and official letters, but they only pointed to the legal obligation, the need to intensify activities on the construction and offered support.
"Failure to adopt the Strategic Development Plan within a certain period after the expiration of the previous Plan, as a reason for the dismissal of the mayor, is planned by amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government, and specifically in this part we will harmonize the Law on Regional Development, for which amendments are being prepared in the final phase ", they added.
Also, although at the session where the decision on the warning was made, it was stated that the Ministry of Public Administration (MJU) supervised the implementation of the Law on Local Self-Government in the Assembly of the Municipality of Berane, taking into account the acts of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Regional Development and Ministry of Energy, from the department Maraš Dukaj referring to the same law, told the paper that it is prescribed that relations between local self-government bodies and state bodies are based on mutual cooperation, but also on the supervision of state bodies over the legality of the work of local self-government bodies.
"It follows that each relevant ministry supervises the application of regulations from its area over local self-government bodies. Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice monitors the implementation of only those laws that are within its jurisdiction, such as the Law on Local Self-Government, the Law on Territorial Organization of Montenegro, the Law on Communal Police, the Law on the Capital and the Law on the Capital City, while monitoring the implementation of other laws that prescribe local self-government activities are carried out by other state administration bodies", they stated in their response to "Vijesta".
On two occasions, the government asked the Berana municipality to respect the law and shorten their mandate because they did not elect a new mayor within 30 days of the end of their mandate. Vuk Todorovic, who resigned on June 13.
The executive authority referred to the provisions of Article 185 of the Law on Local Self-Government, according to which 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 prevents the realization of citizens' rights or causes significant material costs. damage, to warn the assembly that, within a certain period, it must ensure the realization of its functions, that is, fulfill 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.
"bearing in mind that, even after a warning from the Government of Montenegro, the Assembly of the Municipality of Berana did not fulfill the obligations established by law, that is, it did not adopt the Strategic Development Plan of the Municipality of Berana, the Local Energy Plan of the Municipality of Berana, as well as the LAP, which called into question the exercise of rights of citizens, at the proposal of the Ministry of Justice, 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 municipal assembly if it does not establish the performance of its functions within a certain period, i.e. does not comply with the law established obligations", the explanation adds.
The municipality of Berane did not have a 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".
The practice of Šavnik and Budva threatens other municipalities
Popović Kalezić told "Vijesta" that any form of selectivity weakens institutional capacities.
"Not to repeat how weak our institutions are, and one of the reasons is the selectivity and political influence on the part of the state administration, which must be strictly professional when making solutions and decisions. Now we have to add to that the crisis of the local self-government system, which is late in the decentralization process, and which is additionally politicized and polarized from the state level. "Instead of the Electoral Reform Committee working and passing a special law on local elections, they have been in a state of hibernation for too long, so the spread of the practice of Šavnik or Budva is a real danger to other municipalities," she believes.
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