Mikić: Quarrels within the parliamentary majority helped Montenegro's European path

The fact that the parliamentary majority gave up on adopting the controversial laws on the National Security Agency, the Law on Internal Affairs and the Law on Public Assemblies is the result of great pressure from the public, both domestically and from our international partners, which led to arguments between the constituents of the government, which increasingly acts like an out-of-tune orchestra, and not from the desire of colleagues to reach better legal solutions, said Zoran Mikić, MP from the Civic Movement URA.

He notes that the opposition, the non-governmental sector, professional individuals, numerous citizens and our international partners have been warning for days that the aforementioned laws are not in line with international conventions and international norms, that they are not harmonized with the acquis communautaire of the European Union, that they violate and limit fundamental human rights and infringe on citizens' privacy.

"Despite all these warnings from the opposition, the NGO sector, citizens, the European Commission and even the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, colleagues from the parliamentary majority intended to vote on all three laws on the last day of the summer session of the parliament, which created space for various abuses without any systemic approach," Mikić emphasized.

"We got a second chance to correct the shortcomings of these laws after the amnesty law did not have the required majority, as did the law on increasing the profit tax to 15 percent, after which there were obviously arguments within the parliamentary majority that helped Montenegro's European path yesterday. I hope that my colleagues from the government will not propose the above-mentioned laws at extraordinary sessions of the Parliament, but that they will leave room for us to reach quality norms in these areas through a broad and inclusive process, taking into account the views of the NGO sector, relevant experts and international partners," said Mikić.

"I want to believe that this time, for a change, all MPs will have a common goal: to have independent and transparent institutions, professionalization within the security sector, freedom of assembly and full respect for human rights, and that all misunderstandings and disputes within the parliamentary majority will not be resolved by trading seats, and on the other hand, by passing harmful laws," said Mikić.