Democratic Party official Vladimir Jokić was re-elected as the mayor of the Municipality of Kotor, at today's session of the local parliament, scheduled under emergency procedure.
He was nominated by the old Municipal Assembly. He was elected unanimously, with 17 votes "in favor". 16 councilors did not attend the vote.
The decision on temporary financing was also unanimously adopted.
Siniša Kovačević and Igor Kumburović were elected as vice-presidents of the Municipality. Their election was supported by 15 councilors each, while two councilors each abstained.
Councilor of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Željko Aprcović assessed that today's session was illegitimate, after which the councilors of that party left the hall.
In a speech after being elected, Jokić asked who could guarantee that, if the elections were repeated, there would be no new complaints.
"Whatever the decision of the Constitutional Court, we will respect it without question. I call for a Constitutional Court judge to be elected as soon as possible and this Gordian knot to be cut."
He says he is certain that, after the court's decision, he will form a majority, but also that if by some chance a "Copernican political turnaround" occurs, he and his party "will not be a barrier to it."
Jokić was the mayor for the first time from 2017 to 2019, and held the same position from 2020 to 2024. His previous term expired on October 30 last year.
Local elections were held in Kotor on September 29, 2024, 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.
The Ministry of Public Administration expressed "serious concern" earlier this week about holding a session of the Kotor Municipal Assembly, whose mandate has expired. They warned that making such decisions represents a "direct undermining of the democratic order and the principles of the lawful functioning of local self-government."
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 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 previously pointed out that there are three options for getting out of the crisis, the first of which - and the least likely - is for DPS to withdraw the constitutional appeal and then announce the election results.
The second option, as he said at the time, is to elect a judge of the Constitutional Court, 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... which is the worst thing, 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 cannot 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, Jokić said earlier, 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.
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