The only regular way out of the situation in Šavnik is to end the electoral process, and the introduction of compulsory administration would be illegal, said a program associate at the Center for Civic Education (CCE) and a member of the State Election Commission (SEC). Damir Suljević.
Commenting on the scheduling of the Šavnik Municipal Assembly (MA) session, whose agenda includes the election of the mayor, he told ''Vijesti'' that it is undeniable that the still-unfinished 2022 elections were preceded by political engineering, in which all parties participated, both the local government and the opposition parties, ''but the latter are now trying to absolve themselves of that responsibility and shift full responsibility onto the Šavnik government parties''.
He believes that the local opposition, close to the head of the Assembly (Andrija Mandić), has so far prevented the elections in Šavnik from being completed, knowingly violating the law.
"If the government had been elected then, new elections would have been held next year. Additionally, in four years, things in the system could have been regulated and similar situations could have been prevented. The question remains why there was no will to regulate it and whether something similar is planned in the future," Suljević said.
The mandate of the current convocation of the Šavnica parliament began at the end of June 2018, but has not ended after four years, because local elections in that municipality have not been completed since autumn 2022. According to the Law on Local Self-Government (Article 37), the mandate of local assemblies lasts four years, and the mayor of the municipality is elected (Article 56) no later than 30 days from their constitution, or (Article 66) no later than 30 days from the termination of the mandate of the previous mayor of the municipality. Article 5 stipulates that the mandate of members of the local parliament lasts four years, but also that (Article 14) their mandates cease on the day of confirmation of the mandate of councilors in the new convocation of local parliaments.
The Šavnik Municipal Council session is scheduled for today, and he will likely be re-elected as the mayor. Jugoslav Jakić from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), whose mandate expired yesterday. He was elected to the position on February 18, 2021, by the votes of the DPS and the Social Democrats (SD), when he replaced Vlatko Vuković (DPS) who resigned.
Minister of Public Administration Marash Dukaj yesterday, he called on the members of the Šavnica parliament to make decisions in accordance with the principles of democratic accountability and "not to give themselves more rights than the Constitution gives them."
He reminded Mandić and the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, that the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) sent information to the parliament and the government at the end of last month about the need to urgently resolve problems in the local self-government system, but that they did not receive a response, nor did they see any reaction.
"If this continues, everyone will claim the right to interpret the law to suit their own political needs," said Dukaj.
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In the information he sent to Mandić and Spajić, he pointed out that the responsibility for systematically resolving the challenges in these municipalities lies with the Assembly and the competent committee.
"The MPA has exhausted all legal possibilities to influence and act on the aforementioned negative phenomena, and the Parliamentary Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform has taken on the obligation to resolve the crisis in the municipality of Šavnik. The Ministry of Public Administration remains committed to implementing reforms," Dukaj stated in the information.
Yesterday, Mandić called on the Government to schedule an electronic session and introduce compulsory administration in Šavnik, as well as Kotor, where the elections are also not over because the Constitutional Court has not made a decision on election complaints.
He also wrote on the X network that it is "hypocritical for the responsible government minister to shift the problem to the Speaker of the Parliament or the Prime Minister" and that "it is more honest to say that there is no political strength to solve the problem."
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A source for ''Vijesti'' from the Government said that an electronic session on Šavnik has not been scheduled and that the problem cannot be solved ''overnight'', but that it must be preceded by legal procedures, such as a decision on a warning.
The government made the decision to introduce compulsory administration in Šavnik in April last year, but the president Jakov Milatovic did not call elections. He then explained that, given that the mandate of the current Municipal Assembly expired in June 2022, its dissolution by a Government Decision after the expiration of the term for which it was elected cannot result in the calling of new elections.
"Mandić presents himself as a firefighter putting out a fire he himself caused"
In his response to Mandić, Dukaj said that his Ministry, he personally, and the Government were not to blame for the blocking of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform. The committee was blocked by the opposition at the end of last year, following the conclusion of the Constitutional Committee on the retirement of a Constitutional Court judge. Dragan Đuranović.
Damir Suljević says that it is unusual that everyone, except the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, has been clear so far that the only regular way out of the situation in Šavnik is to complete the election process that has begun.
"And now he is trying to present himself as a firefighter putting out a fire, but no one has forgotten that he started that fire with his comrades, because the process of completing these elections was blocked by him and supporters of part of the ruling majority at the national level," said Suljević.
At two polling stations, in the Municipality building and in the village of Kruševice, where 541 voters are eligible to vote, voting took place nine times, the last time on December 18, 2022, when the elections were again interrupted, because representatives of the coalition For the Future of Šavnik did not allow newly registered voters to vote. The State Election Commission (SEC) regularly holds sessions at which it acts on complaints regarding the elections in Šavnik and issues the same decision (there are over 150 of them) ordering the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) Šavnik to make a decision on repeating the elections. However, when the MEC president schedules a session, the result of the vote on repeating the elections is such that a decision cannot be made - four votes in favor and four abstentions.
So far, dozens of people have been prosecuted before judicial authorities for events related to the elections in Šavnik, which included numerous incidents, including physical clashes.
Suljević believes that Dukaj's reaction, although more well-founded than Mandić's, sends a public message that there are serious dissonant tones within the ruling majority, but also that they do not have a coordinated strategy, goals, and even less a mission.
"We could already hear announcements earlier that illegitimate assemblies in Šavnik and Kotor would elect municipal presidents, and all institutions remained silent about that, except for the Ministry of Public Administration," he added.
He notes that there is a clear need for local self-government to ensure regular functioning and servicing of citizens' needs by granting a mandate to the key executive figure - the mayor.
Kotlica: Dukaj does not interpret the law equally for everyone
President of the Municipal Assembly of Šavnik Nadezhda Kotlica (DPS) Dukaju yesterday said that everything in that municipality is done according to the Constitution and the law and that nowhere, like in Šavnik, "has the state trampled on the citizen as the bearer of sovereignty and prevented him from exercising his right to vote and elect the government at the local level through directly and freely elected councilors."
She, as reported by RTV Nikšić, said that after Dukaj's statement yesterday, it is clear that Mandić and Spajić do not answer him when it comes to the term of office of the Assembly, because according to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, the term lasts until a new one is elected.
"Why the election process has not yet been completed does not depend on us, but rather on state institutions," said Kotlica, adding that it seems that the minister is not interpreting the law equally for everyone.
The minister, she said, was sometimes able to recognize this "in order to protect the public interest", such as in Plužine.
She also stated that Dukaj used double standards when interpreting local dilemmas and that he had one opinion for the capital and Plužine, and different statements and interpretations for Šavnik.
The Ministry of Public Administration responded to Kotlić that the opinion was given to the Capital City of Podgorica regarding a completely different legal situation and that in this specific situation the election process was completed, in the sense that the municipal election commission announced the election results, and that in the period until the confirmation of the mandate, there was a need to hold a session of the Capital City Assembly.
In December, the MPA sent the Government a proposal to convene a session of the newly elected Assembly of the capital with one item on the agenda - the election of the President of the Assembly.
In their response, Kotlica states that the goal and purpose of implementing the provisions of Article 14 of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives is not to ensure an unlimited duration of the councilors' mandate, as she interprets it, but rather to create conditions for the smooth functioning of local self-government in a short period of time, when specific circumstances require it.
DPS announced yesterday that the solution to the crisis in Šavnik and Kotor is to complete the election process in both cities and announce the final election results.
Member of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Vasilije Carapić He assessed that the election of the president of the municipality of Šavnik by an illegitimate municipal assembly via, as he said, the Zoom application would represent an unprecedented act of collapsing the constitutional and legal order, which would open the door to political anarchy, the consequences of which are difficult to imagine.
The Coalition for the Future of Šavnik announced that the problem was caused by the DPS Municipal Board in Šavnik and their headquarters in Podgorica, and "without prosecuting them, there is no solution to this problem."
In Kotor, the situation is more complicated, but the solution is more certain
Suljević points out that the situation in Kotor is somewhat different, but also significantly more complicated, with the proviso that it has some potential to be resolved through the election of the missing judges of the Constitutional Court, where DPS's constitutional appeals are currently pending.
"However, bearing in mind that the selection of Constitutional Court judges is always a matter of political agreement, it remains to be seen whether the political views of the new judges will spill over into their legal judgment," he said.
He believes that the solution is not to introduce coercive administration and that instead of trying to maintain or seize power at the local level through force and repression, the parties governing the majority at the national level should focus their efforts on ensuring the completion of the electoral processes that have begun, but also on eliminating those problems that could lead to the blockage of these processes in the future.
The mandate of the Mayor of Kotor, Vladimir Jokić (Democrats), expired at the end of October last year. Due to complaints regarding two polling stations, the final results of the September elections have not yet been announced, and therefore a new government has not been established.
Jokić recently said that there are three possible solutions to the crisis: for DPS to withdraw its appeals before the Constitutional Court, the election of a new Constitutional Court judge, or the activation of the "old" convocation of the Municipal Assembly, which was constituted in 2020.
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