The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) appealed to the Constitutional Court against the decision of the State Election Commission (SEC) to reject their objection regarding the elections at two polling stations in Kotor.
This is what the president of the Municipal Board of DPS in Kotor told "Vijesti". Neđeljko Moskov.
"I expect that the Constitutional Court will vote in accordance with the law, and not according to the political discretion of individual parties," Moskov told "Vijesta".
Before deciding on the constitutional appeal, the Constitutional Court will request a statement from the SEC.
Last week, the SEC rejected the DPS's objection to the actions of the local commission in Kotor.
The Municipal Election Commission (MEC) previously decided, by a majority vote, not to accept the SEC's proposed decision on repeating voting at the Mirac polling station and the House of Culture in Prčanje. After the discussion, both solutions were rejected by a vote of 9:7 because the MEC determined that the irregularities were not of such a scale that the elections would be annulled and the elections would be repeated.
Local elections were held in Kotor on September 29, but due to objections regarding two polling stations, the final results have not yet been announced. Due to the deadlock that initially existed in the MEC, but also in the Constitutional Court, it could not be decided whether the elections at those polling stations would be repeated.
According to the preliminary results of the elections in Kotor held on September 29, the DPS and the coalition PES-Democrats won ten mandates each, the alliance "For the Future of Kotor", Grbljanska lista and Democratic Alternative three each, the European Alliance two, and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and Kotor movement for mandate. By repeating the elections at two polling stations, DPS can "seize" the mandate from PES and the Democrats.
List holder of the Democrats-PES coalition and current president of the Municipality of Kotor Vladimir Jokic On October 11, he submitted two appeals to the Constitutional Court due to the stalemate that existed in the Kotor election commission.
However, on October 24, the Constitutional Court did not make a decision on Jokić's appeals, as the result of the vote was 3:3. The Constitutional Court clarified in a statement that three judges took the position that they have the authority to examine the election dispute in essence, while three of them considered that the election procedure is strictly formal and that they should only examine procedural irregularities in the work of the competent election commission.
Judges 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. 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.
In his appeals, Jokić stated that the SEC had no right to reject his objections without discussion because in the Montenegrin legal system there is no longer an institute of rejection in administrative proceedings, but that he had to consider the essence of those objections, and only then make a decision whether to accept them or refuses.
"The complaints claim that the fact that the vote on the objection of the DPS at the MEC was 8:8 does not mean that the objection was not decided, as the president of the MEC claimed, but that the objection did not receive the necessary majority for adoption, and that it was not adopted, i.e. that it was rejected", says Jokić.
Also, he claims in his appeals that the Constitutional Court must go into the merits of the problem, that is, it must determine whether failures in the work of the polling boards require a repeat of voting at two polling stations, as well as that the lack of two coupons at a polling station in Prčanje is not a reason for repeating the election. because it does not affect the result.
In the appeal, Jokić also states that the wrongly stamped back of the ballot in Mirac is not a reason for repeating the election, with additional confirmation that earlier the MEC unanimously decided upon his objection that it was not even a reason to declare the ballot invalid.
"Each of the above-mentioned reasons for appeals was previously considered by the Constitutional Court, where the aforementioned judges took positions that contradict what they declared on Thursday," says Jokić.
At the end of October, Jokić withdrew his constitutional appeals, and the MEC was unblocked, that is, there was a majority to make a decision.
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