Nikolić: Constitutional Court blocked in the interest of the ruling majority; Konatar: Parliament humiliated as an institution

Montenegro, with the current government, is becoming a dysfunctional state, said the head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Andrija Nikolić, stating that he fears that it is in the interest of part of the majority to block the Constitutional Court.

Members of the Montenegrin Parliament did not discuss the proposal for the election of Mirjana Vučinić as a judge of the Constitutional Court today, at an extraordinary session, because the agenda was not adopted.

"Montenegro under this government is becoming a dysfunctional state. The country is in a deep political-constitutional crisis, caused by a crisis of political governance. Instead of democracy, we have partocracy as the cause of the poor state of institutions. We have witnessed yet another humiliation of representative democracy and it is completely clear that Montenegro today is a problem that is being kept quiet about. The only thing that is moving the country forward is the geopolitical favor of Brussels," Nikolić said.

He said that the Constitutional Court has four judges, and the fourth is due to retire by the end of the year.

"I am afraid that the parliamentary majority or part of it has an interest in this happening," Nikolic told reporters after the Parliament session.

He stated that today is another humiliating day for representative democracy in Montenegro.

"This is a humiliation that the parliamentary majority has inflicted on the President of Montenegro," Nikolić pointed out.

As he said, due to the irresponsible and arrogant attitude of the parliamentary majority, the country is facing a potential problem with the functioning of the Constitutional Court.

Nikolić said that it is in someone's interest for the state to have a dysfunctional representative democracy and for the Constitutional Court to be placed in a new blockade.

"DPS was ready to contribute to the absence of a potential blockade of the Constitutional Court," Nikolić emphasized.

MP from the Civic Movement URA, Miloš Konatar, said that today the Parliament of Montenegro as an institution has been humiliated, and the institute of an extraordinary session has become meaningless.

"This is yet another confirmation that the circus with the current parliamentary majority continues, and if anyone really thinks that the people in this government are capable of bringing Montenegro into the European Union (EU), then they are deeply mistaken," said Konatar.

According to him, it is illogical to schedule an extraordinary session, not vote and not allow the session to be held at all.

"Who is running away from arguments in this case? They boast that they have an unprecedented parliamentary majority in order to bring Montenegro closer to the EU, and we see that they are practically running away from confronting arguments with the opposition, including the president of the state (Jakov Milatović)," Konatar said.

He said that Milatović was humiliated today by the people with whom he is in coalition, at the local level.

"Everyone says that it is necessary to elect US judges, when we have the opportunity to debate and vote on the candidate, they win. Why? So that they can agree on a new distribution of seats, to negotiate the remaining seats in the Constitutional Court," Konatar added.