With the resignation of the newly elected judge of the Constitutional Court Nikola Mugoša to the position of President of the State Election Commission (SEC), that institution is entering a de facto blockade, because none of its members has the authority to schedule a session at which decisions would be made.
This was told to "Vijesti" by a member of the SEC. Damir Suljević, warning that the blockade could be reminiscent of the one in 2021, after the dismissal of the then president Alekse Ivanovic, when the position of head of the Commission had been vacant for more than half a year.
Suljević reminds that the legal framework does not contain a "transitional or substitution mechanism" that would prevent the institutional blockade of the SEC in a situation where it is left without a president.
"From the moment the president's resignation was confirmed, the SEC has been in complete legal and functional paralysis, and the only legally prescribed way out of this situation is the election of the Central Election Commission (CEC), which will take over its responsibilities," he said.
Suljević explained that the most pronounced consequence of the blockade may relate to the handling of election complaints.
"The SEC is legally obliged to decide on every complaint within 24 hours, and it is stipulated that, if that deadline is exceeded, the complaint is considered accepted. Since the SEC is not able to decide during this period, every complaint it receives will be accepted, without considering its merits before the commission," Suljević pointed out.
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According to him, the blockade of the SEC also has institutional consequences.
"There is currently a vacant parliamentary seat in the Parliament, following the resignation of a BS MP." Admir Adrović", which, in the absence of a functional SEC, that is, until the CEC is elected, cannot be filled," Suljević added.
He also stated that, considering that the selection of the CEC is a lengthy process, as well as the fact that the procedure following the first competition was unsuccessful, there is no guarantee that this body will be elected in the second attempt.
"In such a scenario, the process could take months, which is why, in order to overcome the blockade, amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives should possibly be considered," Suljević assessed.
He said that the consequences of the blockade on the SEC service, which cannot exercise its right to earnings during that period due to the absence of an authorized person to sign payment orders, are not a secondary issue.
"This is harming around 15 employees and their families, whose livelihoods are being put in question due to institutional paralysis for which they are not responsible," he underlined.
Mugoša, who was elected as a judge of the Constitutional Court at the end of last year, resigned from his top position at the SEC yesterday.
In the resignation submitted to the head of parliament Andrija Mandić, Mugoša stated that, given that he was appointed as a judge of the Constitutional Court, he cannot, under the Constitution, hold a parliamentary or other public office, or perform any other activity. He also referred to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives (Article 121a, paragraph 2), which stipulates that the mandate of the President of the SEC, members and their deputies lasts until the election of the CEC.
The first competition for the election of four members and the president of the CEC - into which the SEC, in accordance with this summer's amendments to the law, is to be transformed - was unsuccessful, while the second, announced on January 12, will last until the end of the month.
From the Commission for the Implementation of the Election of the President and Members of the CEC, headed by the Minister of Justice Bojan Božović, on December 24th of last year, announced that they had unanimously decided that the only candidate for president, from the first competition, did not meet the legal criteria.
Mugosa, Amer Šukurica, Boško Nenezić, Veljko Vujovic and Milos Zizic In that competition, they applied for members of the Central Election Commission, while Šukurica also applied for president.
The conditions for the election of the president and members of the CEC include that candidates have at least a VII1 level of education in the field of legal sciences, at least ten years of professional experience, of which at least five in the field of elections.
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