Municipal employees in Kotor have not received their January salaries, the continuation of important projects is at risk, there are no social benefits, and the municipality is getting closer to the "Savnica scenario".
This would mean that, although the final results of the elections held on September 29 have not been announced, the old Assembly will meet, elect the mayor, adopt a Decision on temporary financing, and continue to function until the election results are announced.
President of the Municipality of Kotor Vladimir Jokic (Democrats), whose mandate expired on October 30th last year, told "Vijesti" that no matter how many times they said they would run away from the Šavnica scenario, it is unserious to leave the city completely blocked for such a long period.
"The pressure from citizens and all people who are in any way connected to local government is so great that we will have to do something," said Jokić.
He said that the January salary was not paid by the municipality, because there is no document on the basis of which any payment could be made.
"There is no decision on temporary financing, no adopted budget. There is no cover to pay out the money."
Local elections were held in Kotor on September 29, but due to complaints regarding two polling stations (Mirac and Dom kulture Prčanj), the final results have not yet been announced, the new government has not been established, and the budget for this year has not been adopted, nor has the decision on temporary financing.
On October 11, Jokić filed two complaints with 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.
At the end of October last year, Jokić withdrew his constitutional appeals in order to end the election process.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) also appealed to the Constitutional Court in November last year against the decision of the State Election Commission (SEC) to reject their complaint regarding the elections at two polling stations in Kotor. The Constitutional Court has not yet ruled on this.
Jokić said that the Municipal Company, as a separate entity, somehow functions and minimal city functioning can be carried out, but that everything else is not functioning.
"There are no social benefits, the work of a kindergarten co-financed by the Municipality is at risk. There is not a single euro there, and the Municipality's account today has five million euros," said Jokić.
Jokić said that a large project, worth 33 million euros, financed by KWF Bank, which is now to be implemented in Kotor, through the construction of the Prčanj-Stoliv-Risan-Perast water and sewage system, is at risk.
He said that of the 33 million, over 13 million is a grant provided by the EU through the Western Balkans Fund (WBF), and that they received a warning that if a contract is not signed with the contractor, for which everything is ready, there is a serious risk of losing the grant money.
Jokić pointed out that there are three options for getting out of the crisis, the first of which - and the least likely - is for the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) to withdraw the constitutional appeal and then announce the election results.
The second option, he said, is for a Constitutional Court judge to be elected, for the court to sit, make a decision, announce the election results, and form the government again.
"That will happen, but in two months, three... What's worst is, neither I nor the people from DPS, no one has any doubt about how this appeal will result, in the sense that it will be rejected, because there is so much legal practice and Constitutional Court rulings that say it can't be done that way."
The Constitutional Court was unable to reach a decision on the DPS appeal in two sessions, and after the retirement of two judges, the session to decide whether the appeals are well-founded cannot be held until the election of new judges, which is underway.
The third option, said Jokić, is for the old Assembly to convene, elect a mayor, adopt a decision on temporary financing, and continue to function until the election results are announced.
According to the preliminary results of the elections in Kotor held on September 29, 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 in two polling stations, DPS can "seize" the mandate from PES and the Democrats.
Jakić's term expires next week
The Šavnica parliament, constituted seven years ago, could soon elect the first person of that municipality, because the current mayor, Jugoslav Jakić,'s term expires in February.
Jakić was elected on February 18, 2021, with the votes of his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and Social Democrats (SD), when he replaced Vlatko Vuković (DPS) who resigned, meaning his four-year term will end on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the mandate of the current Šavnica parliament began at the end of June 2018, but has not ended after four years, but is still ongoing because local elections in that municipality have not been completed since autumn 2022.
The head of the Šavnica parliament, Nadežda Kotlica, did not respond to calls and messages from "Vijesti", in which they asked when they would elect a new mayor and whether it would be Jakić again.
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