The administrative committee of the Assembly proposed yesterday, in violation of the law, that the member and the deputy of the State Election Commission (SEC) from among the minority peoples should be of the same nationality. However, they intend to "correct" this illegality with a new one - by removing the name of the deputy member of the SEC from the ranks of minorities from the adopted list, without re-voting, and forward such a proposal to the parliament for decision.
The president of the committee, Jelena Nedović (Pokret Evropa Sad), told "Vijesta" that a "technical error was made that will be corrected", and that a proposal for the composition of the SEC without the name of the deputy who, like the proposed member from the minority, will be submitted to the legislative chamber party, representative of the Bosniak Party (BS).
That a legal stunt is being prepared is also evidenced by the fact that in the announcement published on the website of the Assembly after the committee session, there is no name of the proposed deputy member of the SEC - Amer Dacić, even though the deputies voted publicly for the list on which he was included with the other proposed candidates. . The committee session was broadcast live on the Parliamentary channel of RTCG and the official YouTube account of the Assembly.
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" who is familiar with parliamentary procedures claims, however, that sending a proposal without Dacić's name on it would represent falsification, that is, a new illegality. He explains that the committee established a single proposal, with the names of all candidates, and that the failure to nominate a member and deputy of the SEC, who belong to the same nation, can only be resolved by re-voting on the candidates at the session of the parliamentary working body.
Nedović told "Vijesta" that Dacić's candidacy was a "technical error" because, she says, he had been nominated before, while BS was in the opposition. He claims that the other minority parties did not apply for a place in the commission, and that the Albanian Forum, which previously proposed a candidate, gave up. When asked whether a new board meeting will be scheduled to vote again on the candidate's proposal, Nedović answered in the negative.
According to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament (Article 30, paragraph five), one representative of the minority list that received the largest number of votes in the elections is appointed as a permanent member of the SEC, while his deputy should be a member of another minority nation or minority national communities.
Despite that and the fact that Nedović read that article of the law at the session, neither she, nor the deputies, nor the secretary of the committee warned about the omission during the vote.
Yesterday, the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT), recalling the provisions of the law, announced that it calls on the Assembly to thoroughly consider the proposal of candidates for members and their deputies in the SEC, in order to prevent the adoption of an illegal solution.
The CDT said that the board proposed Haris Mekić as a member of the SEC in front of the BS, and as a deputy Dacić, who is "publicly recognized as a member of the Bosniak party, that he is a local official at her suggestion, and that he performs the function of vice president of the Bosniak municipal board party in Rožaje".
"We invite the Assembly to check whether it is the same Amer Dacić from the Bosniak Party. The legislator's intention is unequivocal - the goal is for different minority communities to be adequately represented in the SEC, and not for one minority party to have both a member and a deputy," they said.
"Vijesti" asked all the other minority parties/coalitions how they view the fact that Bosniaks, i.e. representatives of BS, were proposed as members and deputies, and the answer came only from the Albanian Forum alliance. His official and vice-president of the Assembly, Nikola Camaj, told the paper that they gave up the position of deputy because, as he stated, that position in reality does not have any effect, and imposes an obligation on the person who performs that function.
Radisav Drobnjak and Marko Šljukić from the governing parties were proposed as members of the new session of the SEC, representing the Europe Now Movement (PES), Veljo Čađenović from the New Serbian Democracy and Velizar Kaluđerović from the Democrats, and Jovan Milić (PES), Predrag Kovačević (PES), Miloš Giljen (Democratic People's Party) and Vladimir Čađenović (Democrats).
Nataša Pešić (who is also a candidate for secretary of the SEC) and Vera Mijatović as representatives of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Ljiljana Jokić Kapa from the Civil Movement (GP) URA and Aleksandar Jovićević from the Social Democrats were proposed as members from the opposition. Deputies Pešić, Mijatović and Jokić Kapa were not proposed to the SEC, while Aleksandar Mitrović was nominated as Jovićević's deputy.
The current convocation of the SEC was elected in 2020, and at the end of November last year, the board invited party representatives to propose candidates for commission members. Since then, the committee has repeatedly postponed the session where the deputies were supposed to deal with the appointment of new members of the SEC. The mandate of the current representatives in that institution lasts until new ones are elected.
At the board meeting held in June, the parties could not agree on whether BS or GP URA should receive a seat in the SEC from the opposition quota. As the board (by majority vote) decided that the seat does not belong to any of those parties, a kind of stalemate was reached. Meanwhile, BS became part of the government.
According to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, the SEC in its permanent composition is appointed by the Assembly, on the proposal of the board. The commission consists of the president and ten permanent members, and one authorized representative of the applicant of the electoral list.
Four members of the permanent composition of the commission are appointed on the proposal of the parliamentary majority, while four members of the permanent composition, one of whom performs the function of secretary, are appointed on the proposal of the opposition. One is from minority nations, and one is from representatives of civil society, the non-governmental sector and universities.
Members of the SEC, their deputies and authorized representatives are appointed from the ranks of law graduates.
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