The Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform will be blocked until the parliamentary majority stops working against the Constitution and the state, said the deputy of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and co-chairman of that parliamentary body, Nikola Rakočević.
He said that the Constitutional Committee of the Assembly has taken over the competences of the Constitutional Court, and then the question arises as to when the regular substantive procedures will begin.
"The moment when all political parties, in this case the parliamentary majority, return to respecting the Constitution. Until then, work in the Electoral Reform Committee was suspended," said Rakočević in an interview with the MINA agency.
Asked to comment on the announcement by the other co-chairman of the Committee, Vasilija Čarapić, that the Europe Movement will now look for another model of the functioning of that parliamentary body if the opposition does not stop the boycott, Rakočević replied that it is a message that the anti-democratic behavior in Montenegro is continuing.
"The moment someone sends a message that the electoral reform will be carried out as the government does and with all other decisions, behind closed doors, within the circle of the parliamentary majority, it is a message that anti-democratic behavior is continuing in Montenegro," Rakočević said.
Asked whether the opposition will allow the Assembly session to be held on January 21, whose agenda includes the budget proposal for this year, Rakočević replied that they will not, because, as he stated, they are preventing regular political life in the parliament until the Constitution is respected.
He recommended the parties to think about how to correct all the unconstitutional, undemocratic and anti-state attempts of the current parliamentary majority through dialogue, as this is a prerequisite for returning to the work of the Committee.
Speaking about the political will to implement the electoral reform in Montenegro, he reminded that he encouraged the public that there is a will in the Committee itself, but also warned that there are elements in the parliamentary majority that do not care about European values and integration.
"So they will use every possible training ground to frustrate and slow down our European path, and the electoral reform is the ideal terrain for that kind of obstruction, and that's exactly what happened," Rakočević pointed out.
According to him, a significant part of the parliamentary majority is taking steps that slow down all European processes, including the reform of the electoral legislation.
"The political will to reform the electoral legislation will be reflected in how much the parties in the parliament are ready to respect the Constitution, laws, European values and their own country," added Rakočević.
Asked how international partners see the blockade of the Committee for Electoral Reform, he said that they should refer to the reactions of the European Union (EU) and the embassy of the United States of America (USA) regarding the violation of the Constitution, as two key partners of Montenegro.
"The EU has assessed that respect for the Constitution must be restored. Pay attention to the statement by the European Commission (EC) in which it expressed its concern about the events at the Constitutional Committee, and the US did the same," Rakočević said.
As he stated, this confirmed what the opposition claimed - that the Constitution was violated, violated and thrown at the feet of the parliamentary majority.
"And that the only way we can return to regular political life and further reforms on our path to EU membership is to withdraw the unconstitutional decision," added Rakočević.
He warned that it would be extremely irresponsible to continue such a collapse of the legal system of Montenegro.
"We expect that they will still understand those messages and that we will return to the table, continue regular political life and the adoption of reform laws, because Montenegro needs the unity of both the authorities and the opposition, so that they do not adopt such important standards as are necessary for the country to take advantage of the opportunity that is open in front of her," Rakočević said.
He emphasized that this opportunity is not open because of the great setbacks in the last four years, but because of the EU's need to show its relevance on the global map by keeping the enlargement policy alive.
"And Montenegro, as a small country that neither demographically nor economically affects the contours of the EU, is an ideal example with, of course, the achieved results, that it can become a member of the EU," Rakočević added.
Speaking about the key challenges on the European path, he said that, apart from Montenegro's reform efforts to adopt laws in accordance with the EU acquis, two key problems are the completely threatened international image of the country and the security sector.
"We had a note of protest from BiH, a quarrel with Croatia, we have a quarrel with Kosovo, we threatened our good neighborly relations. At the same time, we also threatened the international image of Montenegro, because we have not been a credible NATO partner in the last four years," said Rakočević.
He said that Montenegro is no longer a country that has a harmonized policy with the EU, even though it is on paper.
"We are working to demolish the painstakingly built substance - for Montenegro to be a credible partner, to be the West in the Balkans, the leader of European democratic processes in the Western Balkans. That's not Montenegro anymore," emphasized Nikolić.
As he stated, the second problem is the security sector, because every credible member of NATO and the EU must have a stable security sector aimed at the defense and protection of the national interest of the state that is part of the collective security system of the West.
"Today it is not Montenegro, today the security services are threatened from all sides by the interests of other anti-European forces, anti-European systems," emphasized Rakočević.
He said that because of this, if Montenegro wants to move forward and truly achieve the results required for EU membership, it must strengthen those two pillars - security and international seriousness, as well as continue to reform laws in accordance with the acquis. EU.
Speaking about the Draft Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, Rakočević praised the efforts of members of the Committee, from the government and from the opposition, who worked on that law until, as he stated, the anti-constitutional actions of the parliamentary majority.
He reminded that the drafting of that law was supported by good advice and recommendations from international addresses, which they requested as a Committee.
Rakočević stated that the draft should have gone to a short public discussion, which was not even necessary, but they wanted to organize it as a measure of full transparency, after which it should have been sent to Brussels for approval and finally for adoption by the Montenegrin parliament.
"A great chance was missed. I warned that a part of the parliamentary majority may make radical moves that will push the opposition to defend the fundamental values of Montenegro and the Constitution, in such a way that they will block not only the Committee for Electoral Legislation, but also the regular holding of the Assembly sessions," he said. Rakočević.
He emphasized that they cannot pretend that everything is fine "while the Constitution is burning", because that would not be responsible behavior.
As Rakočević stated, the Constitution "burns more than those who promised to burn" if they are part of the parliamentary majority.
"What is happening is that all the basic program tasks and goals of part of the parliamentary majority, which were written down even before the restoration of Montenegrin independence and which conflicted with all our strategic, national and international goals, are being implemented," said Rakočević.
He said that the Electoral Reform Committee will be suspended until the parliamentary majority finally decides to stop before the Constitution and start respecting citizens and Montenegro.
"I believe that we will then continue our work and the first task would be to complete the little work that remains regarding the law on financing political entities and election campaigns, so that we have at least one positive step forward in the work of the Committee," Rakočević added.
Speaking about the potential holding of local elections in one day, he assessed that such a solution could greatly contribute to stabilizing the political climate and calming political tensions.
"Without political stability, there is no economic, no social, no long-term progress of any country, including Montenegro," said Rakočević.
That is why, according to him, local elections in one day would be one of the prerequisites to not raise political dust and political tensions every two or three months.
"I believe that there is a political majority in Montenegro to adopt such solutions," said Rakočević.
He emphasized that such a solution would imply that the mandates of certain local governments must be shortened, because they cannot be extended.
"Some corrections would have to be made on the basis of a political agreement, so we wouldn't be able to hold local elections in one day," Rakočević said.
He believes that then it would be expedient to think about a step towards open lists, which is the fate that awaits Montenegro when it enters the EU.
"I believe that we should think about it, the opposition is open and ready for dialogue on all these issues. Regardless of the fact that we may have our own view on certain aspects, we accept that there are other opinions and we are ready to make compromises," said Rakočević.
He assessed that it is important for citizens to have open lists and direct election of municipal presidents and mayors, as well as to have local elections in one day.
He emphasized that the Montenegrin opposition is not boycotting the parliament, but that it will be in the parliament and that it will defend national interests and the Constitution both institutionally and extra-institutionally.
"So, until the end of this mandate, as long as it lasts, the Montenegrin opposition will not boycott the Assembly, because by boycotting we leave it to the parliamentary majority, which has shown its irresponsibility in relation to the citizens. We will not leave them alone in the parliament," Rakočević said.
He explained that it was not a boycott, but an action to protect the Constitution, which the parliamentary majority trampled on as a prelude to all other actions to change the highest legal act and the character of Montenegro.
"That is why we are preventing regular political life in the parliament, until the Constitution, which has been trampled on by the parliamentary majority, is respected. "Therefore, there is no adoption of the budget at the parliamentary session scheduled for January 21," said Rakočević.
He emphasized that the responsibility for this lies with those who trampled on the Constitution.
"And now they are trying, through unskillful manipulation, to raise the question of whether the adoption of the budget is more important, or whether the state, democracy and the Constitution are more important than that. And we answer - the state, the Constitution, democracy and the state budget are important," said Rakočević.
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