"Savnik" and on the coast?

Of the 33 councilors in Kotor, at least 20 will not form a coalition with the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), which is why that party is causing such chaos, said the current president of the Kotor Municipality yesterday. Vladimir Jokic after the Constitutional Court did not make a decision regarding his appeals against the election process.

"The decision of the Constitutional Court is another proof that changes in the judiciary are necessary and that parts of the judiciary are still under the iron fist of the DPS", said Jokić to "Vijesta".

The Constitutional Court did not make a decision, because the result of the vote was tied, ie 3:3.

In a statement, the Constitutional Court clarified that three judges took the position that this institution has the authority to investigate the election dispute in essence, while three of them considered that the election procedure is strictly formal and that they should only investigate procedural irregularities in the work of the competent election commission.

According to the information of "Vijesti", the judge Momirka Tešić i Snezana Armenko, who is also the president of the Constitutional Court, as well as a judge Faruk Resulbegović they were in favor of examining the essence of the election dispute. Judges Desanka Lopičić i Dragana Đuranović, as well as the judge Budimir Šćepanović they were against, that is, they voted as earlier, during the DPS, the Constitutional Court dealt with the same issues.

The Constitutional Court currently has six judges, out of the seven prescribed by law, because it is a judge Milorad Gogic at the end of May, he became eligible for retirement, and the Assembly has not yet elected his deputy.

On October 11, Jokić submitted two appeals to the Constitutional Court, one related to the election events at the Mirac polling station, and the other related to a polling station in Prčanje, where the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) is seeking a repeat election. The State Election Commission (SEC) ordered the Kotor Municipal Election Commission (MEC) to announce the decision on new voting in those two places. The MEC did not make a decision on repeating the election, because eight of its members supported the annulment of the vote, while eight were against it. At least nine votes are needed to make a decision.

In the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament (Article 109) it is written that the complaint is considered adopted if the local commission does not act on it within 24 hours of receipt. However, in order for the elections to be repeated, the Kotor commission should, in addition to canceling the vote, also make a decision to repeat the elections, which it did not do.

Before the Constitutional Court, Jokić wanted to review the "deadlock" in the local commission, that is, as he told "Vijesta" earlier, he wants to prove that the ratio of eight to eight is not enough to make any decision.

DPS asked to re-vote in the House of Culture in Prčanje because there were two more ballots in the ballot box (271 in total) than the number of control coupons (269). On the other hand, the Democrats-PES coalition demanded that the vote in Mirac be annulled because the stamp on the ballots was in the wrong place.

Jokić said yesterday that three judges of the Constitutional Court voted to run again due to the lack of two coupons, "and in a few days the same three judges will vote not to run again in 13 seats in Podgorica for the same reason".

"In this case, they invoked formalism, and the same judges in 2018 made a decision that formalism should not be considered when the election results were to be declared in favor of Milo Đukanović. With their vote yesterday, they destroyed their integrity as judges and as lawyers,'' said Jokić.

In 2018, the State Election Commission, and then the Constitutional Court, rejected the appeals of the presidential candidate Mladen Bojanić to the irregularity of the presidential elections, in which Milo Đukanović (DPS) was elected president.

If the elections in Prčanje were to be repeated, the DPS could "steal" one mandate from the Democrats-PES coalition.

According to the preliminary results of the elections held on September 29, the DPS and the PES-Democrats coalition won ten mandates each, the alliance "For the Future of Kotor", the Grbljanska lista and the Democratic Alternative three each, the European Union two, and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and the Kotor Movement per mandate.

The "Vijesti" source said that the fact that the Constitutional Court did not make a decision on Jokić's appeals means that the elections have not ended, that is. that they cannot be repeated, nor can the final results be announced, until the decision of the Constitutional Court, and it has not decided.

''Nobody knows how to get out of this,'' he said.

This could mean that a "Savnica scenario" is happening in Kotor, where elections are not held for two years due to a stalemate in the MEC. Another source states that Jokić will not allow such a thing to happen, even to his detriment.

Jokić told "Vijesta" in early October that he would not allow a "Savnica scenario" in Kotor.

Jokić said yesterday that the decisions, which will be made in the coming period by the political group he represents, but also by him as the complainant and the current president of the municipality, will be guided exclusively by the interests of the city.

"We will certainly not allow the DPS to block the city or cause chaos," he said.

Yesterday, the Constitutional Court did not deal with the "deadlock" in the election commissions for the first time. In 2014, that institution assessed that in such a situation, the objection is considered adopted.

In 2014, the Constitutional Court accepted the appeal of the group of voters "Shule i Mikan with a citizen for Kolašin" and annulled the decision of the SEC, which stipulated that the elections at the polling station Đuđevina, near Kolašin, would not be organized a third time.

In yesterday's announcement, the Constitutional Court stated that three judges expressed the opinion that the Constitutional Court has the authority to investigate the election dispute in Kotor in essence, in order to enable the determination of the final results of the election, and that the irregularities that were determined, which were of a procedural nature and did not significantly affect the election result, they are not used as excessively formalistic reasons to avoid examination of the election appeal in essence, and the election process does not fulfill its democratic capacity.

They based their legal position, as it is added, on the fact that the explanations of contested decisions of the competent election commissions do not contain an evaluation of all the allegations highlighted in the objections, and that a strictly formalistic approach renders meaningless the function of the Constitutional Court to protect constitutionality and legality in the electoral procedure, as well as itself the essence of the election procedure.

On the other hand, three judges considered that the electoral procedure is a strictly formal procedure that is subject to strictly formal rules and that the Constitutional Court is exclusively bound by the content of the decision of the competent electoral commission and the examination of procedural irregularities in its work, and that such an approach does not represent excessive formalism but respect for the law, the jurisdiction of electoral bodies and the rules of the electoral process'', it was stated in the announcement.

One appeal of the Forward Movement was rejected, 13 more remain

At yesterday's session, the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal of the Forward Movement to repeat the vote in Doljani. The decision was made unanimously, with the dissenting opinion of the president of the Constitutional Court, Snežana Armenko.

The Naprijed movement, which was led by Vuk Kadić in the elections in Podgorica, submitted to the Constitutional Court appeals against the decisions of the State Election Commission, which rejected 14 objections related to, as they claim, irregularities in the elections in Podgorica.

The Constitutional Court told "Vijesti" that they will make a statement on 13 appeals later and that they will soon ask the SEC for a statement.

The Naprijed Movement list with 2,75 percent voter support remained below the threshold in the local elections in Podgorica on September 29, and they lacked about 200 votes to enter the city parliament. According to the preliminary results, the DPS won 19 seats in the city parliament, the coalition of the Europe Now Movement (PES) and Democrats won 14, the alliance "For the Future of Podgorica" ​​won 13, the list "Za bolja Podgorica" ​​won six, the European Union three, and Preokret and the Party of European Progress (SEP) two each.

DPS: The decision of the SEC remains in force

The Municipal Committee of DPS Kotor yesterday called on the Municipal Election Commission to make a decision on repeating the elections in Prčanje and Mirac as soon as possible.

"After the session of the Constitutional Court, where no decision was made to accept the appeals of the Democrats, the only relevant decision is the decision of the SEC, which remains in force, ordering a repeat of the elections in Prčanje and Mirac. We complied with all legal procedures, we waited for our opponents to use every legal mechanism at their disposal, but, for the sake of the city, for the sake of the people of Kotor and Kotor, we must no longer allow the electoral process to be hindered, which prolongs the general blockade," it is stated. in the statement.