The Parliament of Montenegro is supposed to decide on the adoption of the budget for 2025 in the middle of January next year, at an extraordinary session, "Vijesti" has learned unofficially.
Sources of the newspaper from the parliament and the ruling majority said that after yesterday's decision of the head of the highest legislative chamber Andrije Mandić to close the session whose agenda included, among other things, the budget proposal, it is certain that the session of the Assembly has ended for this year.
Mandic did this after the opposition MPs came in front of his table in the plenary hall, having previously announced that they would not allow the session to take place. He announced that he was "forced" to "impose a measure" on them, without specifying which one, after which he closed the session. The opposition is disrupting the holding of the sessions because it claims that a "constitutional coup" took place in the parliament last week, due to the decision to Dragani Đuranović termination of the function of a judge in the Constitutional Court will be noted.
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Head of the parliamentary club Social Democrats (SD) Boris Mugoša, claims that there was an agreement that yesterday's session would be paused and not closed, but that Mandić "he himself decided to close it".
"Which means that it is solely his or their responsibility that the budget will not be adopted this year," he said at the press conference after the session.
A source from the ruling majority said that the opposition had allegedly planned to block all other items on the agenda of yesterday's session and to allow the discussion and vote on the budget, but that Mandic preempted them by closing the session.
The interlocutor from the Assembly said that Mandic did not want to order the opposition representatives to be removed from the session, and therefore could not do anything else, except to conclude it. That source stated that the extraordinary session should be in January, and that he assumes that then the decision should be made on the adoption of the budget, which, he added, will not be voted on until the end of the year.
A source from the ruling majority also announced that the budget session should be held on January 16.
The extraordinary session lasts from the first working day in January to the last working day in February. According to the Constitution (Article 90), it is convened at the request of the President of Montenegro, the Government or at least a third of the deputies (27 of them).
In the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (Article 128) it is written that the applicant for an extraordinary session determines the date and agenda of the session, that he cannot request a session within a period of less than 15 days from the submission of the request (exceptionally, the head of state can request this within a shorter period), and that for the agenda he can propose only the proposals of acts of which he is the author.
Bearing in mind that the government is the proposer of the budget, this means that, if it is planned to hold the session on January 16, it would have to request an extraordinary session on January 1 at the latest.
Since the budget, according to the Law on Budget and Fiscal Responsibility, will not be adopted until the end of the year, the state will enter the so-called temporary financing. This means that the Ministry of Finance, until the budget is voted, will monthly approve "up to one twelfth of actual expenditures in the previous fiscal year" to spending units.
That act does not prescribe how long temporary funding can last, but the Constitution (Article 110) stipulates that the Government's mandate will end if it does not propose a budget by March 31.
The state entered 2021 with temporary funding, because the then government, headed by Zdravko Krivokapic, she did not have time to prepare a budget proposal because she was elected at the beginning of December of that year. The temporary financing then lasted for half a year.
At yesterday's session, Mandić called on the opposition to help the authorities "to enter the European Union (EU)".
"... This tolerance of ours as a parliamentary majority, I think should have a positive effect on you. Colleagues, we see you as the closest. Montenegro is small, we have no one closer than you, and we are close to the EU. Help us get into the EU. Gentlemen from Ura (Civil Movement URA), as a civil party, as the biggest Europeans in this parliament - help your colleagues from DPS (Democratic Party of Socialists) to enter the EU together...", he said.
On Tuesday, the opposition demanded, among other things, that the government withdraw the conclusion of the Constitutional Committee, according to which Đuranović was terminated, and that they sign an agreement guaranteeing that changes to the Constitution and the Law on Dual Citizenship will not be adopted without "absolute consensus."
Yesterday, "Vijesti" tried to get an answer from several high-ranking officials of the opposition about its next moves, but most of them did not answer the journalists' calls.
A source from the DPS told "Vijesta" a few days ago that the opposition will not allow the holding of sessions even if Mandić imposes a measure of removal on them. He stated that "pressure from outside the institutions" could follow in January, alluding to the protests, adding that they hope for the possibility of early parliamentary elections.
When asked how many people would protest because of the events in the Constitutional Court, that interlocutor replied that they would not be gatherings only because of that institution, but also because of the events in the Podgorica gymnasium, because of the issue of the Spatial-Urban Plan of Podgorica (PUP), etc.
He claims that many DPS voters would take to the streets, stating that the opposition is "unified" and that it "means a lot".
The head of the caucus of that party Andrija Nikolić, said yesterday that the opposition will be "in the institutions and outside them". He claims that none of them are happy to participate in session interruptions, but that "there is no other way to deal with people who trample on laws, on the Constitution, on citizens."
"On one side, you have the Association of Lawyers, professional organizations, former judges, and on the other, 'Twitterers' and people who threaten women." The message for the citizens of Montenegro is that we will not back down before the constitutional destroyers, whatever the cost. An attempt to stop political life, to rule without elections - none of the EU members sees that as a good practice...", he said after the conclusion of yesterday's session.
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Head of the GP URA club Milos Konatar, he stated that the parliament is blocked due to the decisions of the ruling majority.
"It could have been easily solved - for them to cancel that decision (of the Constitutional Committee) and for us to continue the regular work of the parliament... Violation of the Constitution is a red line that we could not cross," he said.
Mandić can call a new session until the end of the year
Although "Vijesti" sources claim that there will be no more sessions in 2024, the head of the parliament can schedule a new session by the end of the year.
According to the Rules of Procedure (Article 85), if the materials proposed for the agenda of the session are delivered to the deputies 15 days before the day set for holding the session, the convocation can be sent within seven days before the day set for the session. However, Mandić can, based on the agreement of the president's collegium, convene a session within a period of less than seven days, and propose the agenda at the session.
How the opposition members will be "punished"
Mandic did not announce yesterday how he would "punish" the opposition, and last week he did so by taking away the floor from the representatives of those parties.
In the Rules of Procedure (Article 106) it is written that due to a breach of order at the session, the president can issue a warning, take away the floor or remove deputies from the session.
In that document (Article 110a) it is also stated that the measure of removal from the session is applied for the day of the session when the incident occurred and for the next 15 days of the session. As an exception to that position, a deputy who is removed from the Assembly session has the right to attend the vote.
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