Political will is key for electoral reform to be successful, open electoral lists are needed in Montenegro, representatives of the government and the opposition agree, and the basis of local self-government reform is a good electoral system, which should ensure the legality and legitimacy of institutions.
These are the assessments from the panels "How to launch electoral reform?" and "Local elections and amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government" as part of the conference "Electoral reform in Montenegro: How to make the electoral process functional?", organized by the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) with the support of the British Embassy Podgorica, according to the PR Center.
Co-chairman of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, Vasilije Čarapić, believes that the Agreement on Unblocking the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform is very important for the socio-political moment.
"He is returning the opposition to Parliament, which was desired by the entire parliamentary majority. I am convinced that this will normalize the political situation in the country, that we will not have any further consequences of the boycott, and that the Electoral Reform Committee will continue working where it left off, which is primarily the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns, but also work on other laws," said Čarapić.
The Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, he believes, can address many important issues, but it is important that everyone agrees on the model they consider to be the best.
"It is best when we have consensus and the will to concretely implement what we have agreed upon. Party interests and daily politics should be removed from the work of the Committee, because this is an important prerequisite for its success," believes Čarapić.
When it comes to open lists, he believes that a bold step needs to be taken.
"If political parties cannot find common ground regarding open lists, a referendum should be held and citizens should be asked whether they are in favor of open lists," said Čarapić.
Co-Chairman of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, Nikola Rakočević, believes that it will be very important in the coming period to focus on all issues that bring Montenegro closer to the European Union and that democratize Montenegrin society and emancipate it from backward policies.
"The signing of the Agreement should be good news for the citizens of Montenegro, as well as the return of the opposition and the busy and dynamic work on the reform of electoral legislation, but we are receiving messages from the authorities that the Agreement does not bind them. This must be worrying, but we must also know that in the Electoral Legislation Committee and in the Parliament we have a serious qualified majority of those who present themselves as European actors through actions and rhetoric," Rakočević pointed out, according to PR Center.
The first thing that will be done when the Committee resumes work, as he said, is to check whether all technical aspects of the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns have been resolved and submit the Law for adoption.
"After that, we will pay attention to comprehensive electoral reform and treat other electoral laws, such as the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, at the same time. We should ask the European Commission experts for their opinion on all accompanying aspects and on the electoral reform of the parts of the system that rely on it, in order to get a roadmap and an obligation on how to treat electoral reform," is Rakočević's opinion.
He pointed out that political will is crucial for electoral reform to succeed.
Rakočević believes that Montenegro needs open lists.
Member of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, Ana Novaković Đurović, believes that the halting of work in the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform was not a targeted strategy by the opposition, but a consequence of the actions of the parliamentary majority.
"The agreement does not bind us, because we did not sign it, but it is also a fact that by signing this agreement, the majority accepted the mediation of the Venice Commission, i.e. the resolution of the problems surrounding the constitutional and parliamentary crisis, which we welcome. After it has been confirmed that the Constitutional Court has taken over the jurisdiction and after the violation of the constitution has been defended, the URA will be in all places that are important for the further process of European integration and the reform of our society," said Novaković Đurović.
She emphasized that the reform of electoral legislation is a reform of institutions and a decision to abandon politicized institutions.
Novaković Đurović believes that it is not only important to knit recommendations, but to return to the essential questions, which are "what kind of electoral system do we want, what kind of institutions do we want, can we really restore citizens' trust in political entities and our institutions?"
According to her, electoral legislation is not a problem for Šavnik, but rather politics and the inaction of institutions.
"Could it have been resolved through a political agreement, yes. But it wasn't! Where we don't have legal solutions, there is a question of the highest degree of political responsibility and agreement," said Novaković Đurović.
Nikola Rovčanin, a member of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, is pleased with the fact that the opposition will return to parliamentary life.
"Electoral reform is a test of the maturity and ability of political elites to reach consensus through dialogue on issues that go beyond a single mandate of the Government or the Parliament. Electoral reform is an indicator of the ability of the entire Montenegrin society to bring solutions of general interest and ignore particular interests," Rovčanin explained.
He hopes that there will be no more delays in the work of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, that there will be an effort to overcome all daily political disputes.
"It is important that we take into account the recommendations of international partners, but we must stick to our electoral experience. Montenegro is extremely rich in various electoral experiences, especially in the area of electoral manipulations, which have marked political life in previous decades, and we need to prepare a response to all of that," said Rovčanin.
He believes that elections in one day are the best possible solution from all angles and aspects.
"I believe that there is nothing better than open lists in those societies that have zero or low rates of organized crime and corruption, but I also believe that there is nothing worse in societies that have increased rates of organized crime and corruption. Montenegro is currently struggling with these social scourges," said Rovčanin.
At the panel "Local Elections and Amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government", the Acting Director General of the Directorate for Local Self-Government at the Ministry of Public Administration, Nina Blažić, said that the local self-government system in Montenegro is centralized and that it is considered one of the most centralized countries in the region.
"Montenegrin municipalities exercise a very narrow range of competencies. On the one hand, we have the problem of continued centralization of the system, and on the other hand, the analysis has shown that there are large differences between local government units in Montenegro," said Blažić.
She pointed out that the decentralization process is very complex and that it is a serious reform that will not only target local governments, but also the state administration.
"Our intention is to create decentralization in a way that suits the needs of Montenegro and the current moment. Our goal was to propose asymmetric decentralization, which will include the introduction of cities as units of local self-government, whereby the status of a city will be granted to local self-government units that meet certain criteria," explained Blažić, according to the PR Center.
According to her, the direct election of municipal presidents would lead to greater accountability of the president towards the vision he presents to voters.
"Local elections in one day should contribute to the affirmation of local issues. Local elections in each municipality are a story in themselves. Local elections should not be preoccupied with issues concerning national politics," Blažić is certain.
Dean of the Faculty of Government and European Studies and member of the Civic Council, Prof. Dr. Đorđije Blažić, said that partitocracy is a cancer of the Montenegrin state and Montenegrin institutions.
"Until we resolve the issue of the electoral system, we cannot talk about the state, the rule of law, or anything else. For me as a citizen and lawyer, elections are the least important thing because they are not the essence of the story. The essence of the story is the legitimacy and legality of institutions, which Montenegro does not have, because it does not have the electoral system that it should have. The legality and legitimacy of institutions should be ensured through the electoral system," Blažić believes.
The chance is to start the process and, as he said, first establish the state, to establish legitimate and legal institutions, because "that is the premise of everything else."
"The basis of local self-government reform is the electoral system," is Blažić's message.
In order for one-day elections to function, it is necessary, as he said, for there to be a fully defined constitutional system.
"The bodies that conduct elections must agree. It is not possible, a priori, systematically for state bodies to enter and encroach on the jurisdiction of local self-government units, except in situations where this is exclusively prescribed by law and when the nature of that legal matter allows and requires direct intervention by a state body. State bodies have their own affairs, local bodies have their own affairs," Blažić is clear.
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