Due to the stalemate in the Constitutional Court, the conclusion of the recently held elections in Kotor is uncertain, and the continued delay in the appointment of the missing, seventh judge could block all upcoming election processes in Montenegro.
The next local elections will be held on Sunday, in Budva, then in Berane on December 8, and early next year in Nikšić.
The Constitutional Court is responsible for resolving complaints about election processes, and without a decision of that institution, the elections cannot be concluded, which is currently the case in Kotor, where the elections were held a month and a half ago (September 29). At the session held on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court did not decide on the appeal of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) against the decision of the State Election Commission (SEC) to reject their objection regarding the elections at two polling stations in Kotor, because the result of the vote was tied - three judges were in favor of accepting the appeal, and three against. Because of this, the conditions for announcing the final results have not been met, so it is unclear what the way out of this situation can be.
However, one thing is clear - if the judges continue to act in the same way, the completion of the elections in other municipalities would certainly be blocked.
The Constitutional Court currently has six judges, out of the seven prescribed by law, because he is the former president of that institution Milorad Gogic at the end of May, he became eligible for retirement, and the Assembly has not yet chosen his successor.
Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS) Marija Popović Kalezić, told "Vijesti" that there is general politicization on the scene, that the Constitutional Court has become a reflection of political games and that it fails to rise above the situation and protect professional dignity.
"If the recent negative practice is followed, the Šavnik case may become the rule and not the exception," she assessed.
The elections in Šavnik cannot be completed for two years, because the election commission there cannot make a decision on repeating voting at two polling stations.
The lawyer with whom "Vijesti" spoke unofficially, said that the essence of solving the issue of the elections in Kotor is what position the Constitutional Court will take - whether the procedure on the appeal of the DPS is considered finished when the balance of forces is three to three, or whether it will be restarted decide in the same case.
"Now the ball is in their court, and indirectly also in the Parliament, which should resolve the issue of the missing judge," said the interlocutor.
Another lawyer stated that after the Constitutional Court did not decide on the DPS appeal, the final results cannot be announced, although, he says, in practice the opposite was also the case. When it comes to the question of reconsidering the DPS appeal, he says that it is very uncertain.
"Assembly's contribution to confusion"
Popović Kalezić says that the Constitutional Court, if it already has an insurmountable division in legal positions, could have proposed changes and amendments to certain laws by urgent procedure and given several models for overcoming normative non-implementation and obstruction of the legal and political system.
"The Assembly must think about its contribution to the confusion in many local elections, the dysfunctionality of the Constitutional Committee, the Committee for Electoral Reform, but also other bad practices and effects contributed to by the legislature," she said.
The Constitutional Court did not make a decision even when he was the president of the Municipality of Kotor Vladimir Jokic recently filed appeals regarding the repeat elections at polling stations in Mirac and Dom kulture in Prčanje. The result of the vote at the session on October 24 was also three to three.
In a statement, the Constitutional Court clarified at the time that three judges took the position that they had the authority to investigate the election dispute in essence, while three of them considered that the election procedure was strictly formal and that they should only investigate procedural irregularities in the work of the competent election commission.
Judges Snezana Armenko i Momirka Tešić and the 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.
Jokić withdrew the appeal, which returned the proceedings to the local commission. The MEC of Kotor then decided by a majority vote not to accept the SEC's proposed decision on repeating the voting at the Mirac polling station and the House of Culture in Prčanje. After that, DPS submitted a complaint to the SEC, which was rejected, so that party then appealed to the Constitutional Court.
According to the preliminary results of the elections in Kotor, held on September 29, DPS and the coalition Movement Europe Now-Democrats each won ten mandates, the alliance "For the Future of Kotor", Grbljanska Lista and Democratic Alternative three each, the European Alliance two, and the Croatian Civic Initiative and Kotor movement for mandate. By repeating the elections at two polling stations, DPS can "seize" the mandate from PES and the Democrats.
Complicated complicated
Program associate at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) and member of the SEC Damir Suljević, said recently that until the Constitutional Court decides on the appeal of the DPS, it is uncertain whether the elections in the two places in Kotor will be repeated or not, and therefore also when the final results will be determined.
"By avoiding ruling on this legal matter, the Constitutional Court has complicated an already complicated situation. The practice of the Constitutional Court is instructive for action, although it is not binding, given the numerous legal gaps we have in the election laws. That's why it was necessary for them to take a clear position, which would make it easier for the election administration, as well as for the participants of the election, to find their way in this legal maze", said Suljević in an interview with "Monitor".
He said that the Constitutional Court has long ignored the fact that election disputes are urgent and that they must be decided as soon as possible.
"This seriously undermines the credibility of this body, opening doubts about the circumstances due to which decision-making is deliberately delayed," said Suljević.
The Constitutional Court has been blocked before, so from September 2022 until the end of February 2023, it had three out of a total of seven judges. Due to the lack of a quorum, he could not make decisions on constitutional appeals, so during that period it was not possible to change the government in Podgorica and Pljevlja after the elections in October 2022, because the constitution of new convocations of parliaments in those cities must be preceded by a decision of the Constitutional Court on appeals against the electoral process. .
There are no ads yet, the majority is still negotiating the Constitutional Committee
The Constitutional Committee did not announce a new advertisement for the election of the seventh judge, because the president of that parliamentary body has not yet been appointed.
According to the unofficial information of "Vijesti" from the Assembly, the constituents of the ruling majority are still negotiating about who will get the position of chairman of the board, which is why the new advertisement for a judge has been pending for three and a half months.
Earlier, the parliamentary majority said that the Bosniak Party (BS), which is now part of the government, should be president of a committee, probably the Constitutional Committee.
At its session on July 30, the Constitutional Committee did not support any candidate to replace Gogić, who retired at the end of May, as judge of the Constitutional Court. None of the six registered candidates, in the procedure that lasted since February, received the necessary majority for the Constitutional Committee to propose him to the Assembly, which elects the judges of the Constitutional Court.
The then president of the Constitutional Committee, Simonida Kordić, said after the session that the procedure would be repeated. After that, she assumed the position of Minister of Tourism in the reconstructed Government, but her successor was not named.
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