Some of the ruling parties have proposed that the text of the request to the Venice Commission for an opinion on developments regarding the Constitutional Court be prepared by the Minister of Justice and an official of the Europe Now Movement (PES). Bojan Božović, while the opposition has yet to agree on who will do the job on their side - "Vijesti" has learned unofficially.
According to the agreement that the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic (PES) signed on Saturday evening with part of the opposition, the text of the request to the "Venetians" should be prepared by one representative from each side. After they agree, the agreed request should be sent to the Venice Commission by Spajić.
The deadline to write to the "Venetians" is no later than seven days after the initialing of the agreement, which means - by Sunday.
An interlocutor of ''Vijesti'' from one of the ruling parties said that Božović needs to obtain the consent of everyone from the parliamentary majority in order to prepare the text of the request.
Some political actors from the government claim that the agreement is non-binding for them, because, they say, not all entities that make up the majority and the opposition participated in its creation.
The newspaper's source states that two questions will likely be addressed to the Council of Europe body. The first, he claims, will relate to the procedure that preceded the determination of the termination of the judge's office. Dragani Đuranović in the Constitutional Court, or whether it was done in accordance with the Constitution, and secondly - whether judges of the Constitutional Court should retire in accordance with the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (PIO) or the Labor Law.
A part of the opposition, which returned to parliament after the agreement was signed, told "Vijesti" that they have yet to define who will write the text of the request on their behalf.
On December 17 last year, the Parliament declared the termination of Đuranović's office, with strong opposition from the opposition. These parties prevented the sessions from being held, claiming that the Constitution had been violated because, without the mandatory notification of the Constitutional Court, the termination of Đuranović's judicial office was declared due to the fulfilment of the conditions for retirement under the Pension and Disability Insurance Act. The Constitutional Court judges, by a majority vote, took the position that they would retire in accordance with the Labor Law, and not under the Pension and Disability Insurance Act, like judges of other courts.
In the agreement that, with the mediation of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Podgorica, Spajić signed with the leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Danijel Živković, one of the leaders of the European Union Damir Šehović and leader of the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) Adrian Vuksanović, it is written that the signatories agreed to take all necessary steps towards the full implementation of the opinion of the Venice Commission, and that until it is received, the further procedure for the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court according to the competition announced by the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament will be suspended.
The second article states that, after adopting the document, the parties commit to normalizing the political situation and restoring the functionality of the Parliament, to supporting EU reforms and legislative initiatives prepared in consultation with EU institutions, with the aim of completing EU accession negotiations by the end of 2026, as well as to continuing the work of the parliamentary committee on electoral reform.
DPS and PES debate what the agreement refers to
Although the DPS claims that it was agreed not to raise "issues that polarize the Montenegrin public, without a previously established general political consensus in the country," there is no mention of this in the agreement.
This was discussed yesterday in the Parliament by DPS MPs. Nikola Rakočević and Vice President of the Assembly Boris Pejović (PES).
Rakočević said that the agreement puts out of focus "the attempt of the parliamentary majority to endanger the national interest and European perspective by destroying the European character of this country, through amendments to the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship and changes to the Constitution."
Pejović replied that the agreement only refers to the request for an opinion from the "Venetians" and the functioning of the Assembly, and that the parliamentary majority offered the same request to the opposition a month and a half ago, and it rejected it.
Rakočević said that Pejović is the "godfather of the agreement", but that the deputy speaker of the legislative house does not have a problem with him, but with the EU ambassador. Johann Satler "who said that an agreement was reached to focus on fulfilling the EU agenda, and that without a general political consensus, issues that divide the public will not be proposed."
Pejović said that they believe that their decision at the Constitutional Committee was correct, and that is why they accepted the agreement.
DPS has repeatedly insisted that the government sign an agreement with the opposition that would introduce a moratorium on amendments to the Constitution and the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship, because it believes that this is not discussed precisely enough in the government's "Barometer 26" platform, which it offered for signature.
Although the agreement provided for the suspension of the procedure for electing one judge of the Constitutional Court, it continued on Monday.
President of the Constitutional Committee Jelena Božović (New Serbian Democracy), said at the session of that body that until the opinion of the "Venetians" arrives, one judge could be elected, and possibly another after the opinion.
She recalled that this was a proposal from the majority from earlier, but that "it was obvious that DPS needed an explanation as to why they were returning to parliament, because they saw that they had made a big mistake and that it had cost them a lot politically."
After the agreement was signed, the opposition decided to return to the Parliament. The opposition MPs' suspension order imposed by the Speaker of Parliament expired last week. Andrija Mandic (New Serbian Democracy) because they have been preventing the holding of sessions since the end of last year.
Spajić: We welcome the opposition's decision to accept "Barometer 26"
Spajić published the text of the agreement on Facebook yesterday and stated that Montenegro is moving even faster towards the EU.
"Although we have had an unnecessary delay, we welcome the opposition's decision to accept European institutions as partners and 'Barometer 26'," said Spajić.
The Prime Minister presented this platform “on common obligations for completing negotiations with the EU” at the end of last year. However, he did not offer the document to anyone for signature, and some constituents of the executive branch said that they would not initial it. Mandić once indirectly said in parliament that he would not do so either.
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"Barometer 26" states that all signatories commit to supporting the fulfillment of obligations from the "European agenda", to promoting "a political atmosphere of dialogue, cooperation and compromise", to leaving "polarizing issues" ("identity issues and other issues that may cause ethnic or religious tensions or destabilize the national security of Montenegro") to a "special mechanism for resolving these issues", which includes working groups, as well as parliamentary committees where the given topics will be addressed with expert support from the academic community...
Spajić reminded yesterday that the agreement with part of the opposition defines the method of consulting the "Venetians" on the issue of the termination of the mandate of Constitutional Court judges.
"In a divided Montenegro, every sign of consensus is significant! Thank you for everything, let's move on," he said.
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