The Constitutional Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro, with the support of the government and the opposition, has nominated the former President of the State Election Commission (SEC), Nikola Mugoš, as a judge of the Constitutional Court.
He was supported by 11 board members, while one abstained.
The committee members expressed their opinions on the candidates Nataša Bošković, Muhamed Đokaj, Milva Prelević, Jovan Kojičić, Nikola Golubović, Katarina Peković and Pavle Ćupić, while the ninth, Miodrag Pešić, had earlier withdrawn his candidacy.
Bošković, Golubović, Đokaj, Kojičić and Prelević did not receive any votes for or against, but nine MPs abstained during the vote.
Ćupić had four votes in favor from the government and opposition, and Peković had one vote of support.
A qualified majority, i.e. a two-thirds majority of all deputies (at least 54 votes) is required to elect a judge of the Constitutional Court in the first round. If this majority is not achieved, in the second round of voting, after 30 days, the judge can be elected by a three-fifths majority (at least 49).
Bosniak Party MP Jasmin Ćorović, ahead of the vote, said that he would not support any of the proposed candidates, because the Constitutional Court will not have a judge from the Bosniak people.
"It's a matter of principle. We cannot allow... that for the next 10-12 years there will be no member of the Bosniak people in the Constitutional Court, and in the previous period we had several candidates apply for the positions of judge of the Constitutional Court."
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