The Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) practically has no mechanism to resolve the legal dispute in Kotor because the laws are not adapted to crisis situations like the current one in that city, which have become the rule in Montenegro in recent years - claim the lawyers with whom "Vijesti" spoke.
And while the MPA reiterated yesterday that the Kotor parliament should shorten its mandate because it did not elect a mayor within the legal deadline, the local government, led by the city's first man, Vladimir Jokić (Democrats) reports that the Municipal Assembly (MA) has already voted on shortening the mandate at the proposal of the opposition (rejecting the initiative), and announces that it will defend its decisions in court.
The MPA warned that anyone who does not want to implement the law will face legal liability, but they did not answer the question from "Vijesti" about what mechanisms they have if the Kotor Municipal Council does not shorten its mandate, or whether this will lead to the introduction of compulsory administration in that city, and therefore to early elections.
Lawyers the editorial team spoke to remind that the Government can make a decision on compulsory administration, but that conditions must be met for this to happen, including that the Municipal Assembly does not hold sessions for more than six months, does not execute decisions of competent courts, or does not fulfill obligations established by law, thereby preventing the exercise of citizens' rights or causing significant material damage...
However, even if the Assembly shortens its mandate, there is no one to call the elections. According to the amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, the State Election Commission should be transformed into the Central Election Commission (CEC), whose members have not yet been elected by the Assembly. The amendments to the aforementioned regulation stipulate that the CEC should call local elections instead of the President of the State, as has been the case so far.
The Kotor opposition claims that Jokić does not have the legitimacy to govern the municipality because the current convocation of the local parliament, constituted in December last year, did not elect the first man of the city within the legal deadline (30 days). The old convocation did this almost a year ago, due to the blockade of local self-government that followed the unfinished election process. After resolving constitutional complaints and announcing the results of the local elections held in the fall of 2024, the new convocation of the Kotor parliament was constituted on December 23 last year.
That is why the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), with the support of part of the local opposition, launched an initiative to shorten the mandate of the Municipal Assembly (which, according to the Law on Local Self-Government, follows if the mayor is not elected within 30 days of its constitution), but it was rejected five days ago - 12 councilors voted "for" and 19 "against".
The Ministry of Public Administration, in its administrative supervision report on the implementation of Article 56 of the Law on Local Self-Government, indicated that the Kotor Assembly was obliged to elect the mayor no later than 30. According to the aforementioned article, if this does not happen within the stipulated period, the local parliament, at the proposal of the Government or a third of the councilors, shall make a decision to shorten its mandate.
On the other hand, Article 55 of the same law stipulates that the mayor is elected for a four-year term.
Reacting to the MPA's findings, which were published on Monday, the mayor of Kotor Municipality Jokić said that officials from the Ministry and the Kotor DPS "collaborated to interpret laws for the account and in the interests of the DPS."
President of the Municipal Assembly of Kotor Soldier Batuta, told "Vijesti" yesterday that by rejecting the DPS initiative, the Kotor parliament also responded to the findings of the MPA supervision.
"I am convinced that every next initiative will go similarly. Ultimately, we will defend our decisions before both domestic and international courts," he said, adding that he hopes that the next activities of the local parliament will be the adoption of the budget and the formation of parliamentary working bodies.
Jokić recently told "Vijesti" that there are rulings of the Supreme and Administrative Courts from 2024 and 2022 that clearly state that the mayor cannot be elected before the expiration of the previous one's term. He recalled that the rulings refer to the case Ivan Vuković (DPS), who was re-elected as Mayor of Podgorica on July 5, 2022, before his term expired.
The Administrative Court, and then the Supreme Court, annulled, following a lawsuit by the Democrats, the decision of the Capital City Assembly to elect Vuković.
"The Administrative Court correctly finds that a prerequisite for the election of the mayor is the termination of the mayor's term in one of the legally prescribed ways, in order for a new election to be held," the Supreme Court ruling states.
Vuković was first elected Mayor of Podgorica on July 31, 2018, meaning his four-year term expired on July 31, 2022.
The decision to select Jokić was not contested.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", the Municipality of Kotor believes that the decision to elect Jokić as Mayor of the Municipality on March 6, 2025 was not contested, nor was a procedure initiated to assess its legality or constitutionality.
They assess that the DPS initiative requesting the shortening of the municipal council's mandate ignored Article 66 of the Law on Local Self-Government, which states that the president is elected within 30 days only after the termination of the previous president's mandate, and shortening the municipal council's mandate and/or appointing a commissioner is considered if a new president is not elected by then.
They state that since the president's term of office lasts four years and can only end in the manner prescribed by law (expiration of term, dismissal, resignation, or "by force of law"), the constitution of a new convocation of the Municipal Assembly does not in itself create an obligation to elect a new president.
A different interpretation, they argue, undermines legal certainty and would be contrary to the standards of the European Court of Human Rights, "because a change in the political majority cannot be the basis for shortening a legally protected mandate without a clear norm."
The Municipality of Kotor believes that, in this specific case, it is necessary and appropriate to "draw a parallel between the Government and the Mayor."
"The Government represents the executive power in the state, while the mayor is the executive body at the local level. The Constitution explicitly links the mandate of the Government to the mandate of the Assembly, and in Article 110 it explicitly stipulates the termination of the Government's mandate in the event of the termination of the mandate of the Assembly, while the Law on Local Self-Government did not introduce such a definition for the executive body of a municipality, and it is clear that the legislator's intention was not to condition the mandate of the mayor on the mandate of the parliamentary convocation that elected him," they claim.
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