The session of the Tivat Municipal Assembly, which had only one item on the agenda - the report of the Commission for the Analysis of the Operations of Arsenal FC in Tivat, could not be held because the working bodies of the local parliament did not have a quorum to consider this material before it was forwarded to the plenum.
Unlike the parliamentary committees, which did not require a majority to work, the plenum had a quorum even though 12 out of 17 councilors from the ruling coalition boycotted the session. The remaining six councilors from the government from New Serbian Democracy, DSS, Tivat Action and independent councilor Sandra Sindik had a quorum, while 14 councilors from the opposition parties DPS, SDP, DSD, LP and HGI were allowed to attend the session. However, since the procedural conditions for the start of the discussion were not met because the Commission's report had not passed the previous "filter" of the parliamentary committees, the Speaker of the Parliament Miljan Marković (Nova) stated that the session could not be held and announced that he would subsequently schedule a new date for this session.
"However, citizens must be aware that the Tivat Municipal Assembly could not hold its 30th session today, and until it does, the Municipal Assembly cannot hold its 31st or any other subsequent session, which means that the parliament would be blocked. Let the citizens judge this and who is responsible for it," said Marković.
Before that, however, he said that he and fellow Nova councilor Milanka Brajković would certainly not participate in the discussion and vote at the municipal council session on Arsenal in a situation where most of their colleagues from the ruling group decided not to attend, and Dejan Risančić (DSS) also announced the same. Risančić stressed that the representative of that party in the Commission signed its final report and that in DSS "we want this agony over Arsenal to come to an end."
Marković said that the initiative of 11 councilors from the civic list People Win, Democrats, PES, DNP and Krtoljska Lista to postpone the municipal session on the report of the Commission on Arsenal because the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) has in the meantime launched an investigation into the relations between the Municipality and that club over the past few years, "has no basis in the Rules of Procedure, which is why it cannot be voted on," but he still called on the councilors present in the hall "to speak up procedurally" and, within that framework, to announce what they have on this topic.
"New Serbian Democracy does not want anything to be decided here today without our colleagues from the government. We do not want to vote and discuss without them. However, we believe that the issue surrounding Arseal is such that it should have been discussed at the Municipal Assembly session and that this topic should have been put to rest once and for all. The SDT's request to provide them with some documentation from the Municipality in a situation where the SDT has not initiated, nor is it at all certain that it will initiate, an investigation is not a reason to delay holding this session," Marković indirectly rebuked his colleagues from the majority of the ruling coalition.
Vatroslav Belan (LP) believed that this was a "deliberate obstruction" of the work of the parliamentary committees and the local parliament itself on this topic, calling out the People Wins, PES and Democrats "who swore to transparency" for "now running away and trying to hide the unpleasant findings of the Commission that the ruling majority in Tivat itself formed to investigate the operations of Arsenal FC". He acknowledged the members of the Commission who signed the report, which five out of eight of them did, and similar acknowledgements were also received by the Commission from Igor Petković (SD).
"Of course, as the body that owns Arsenal FC, we have the right to discuss the findings of the Commission established by this Municipal Assembly. Its members, although they are from the government, should be commended for their good work and courageous conclusions. However, the other, larger part of the local government clearly wants to avoid this topic, precisely because of what the Commission found," said Belan, while Ćazim Lisičić (SDP) noted that "the government today fled from the Parliament and from facing the truth, because it does not want this to be discussed."
"The boycott of the authorities is a precedent in the political life of Tivat. This is a scandal and a major affair surrounding the work of the management and the Assembly of Arsenal FC, and there is also responsibility for the Football Association of Montenegro," said Ilija Janović (HGI), who emphasized that "it is good that the opposition did not get involved in the work of this Commission, because only then would various political stories be constructed around its findings." Adrijan Vuksanović (HGI) emphasized that it is "unheard of for a part of the authorities to boycott an Assembly session that the authorities themselves convened," and that everything that happened with Arsenal FC "has both a legal and political dimension and that must be discussed."
Independent councilor Sandra Sindik pointed out that as a member of the Commission, she "stands behind every word written in the report" and that the initiative of 11 colleagues from the ruling benches to postpone the municipal session at which the report would be considered "now makes her a bit sad."
The President of the Commission, a member of the Tivat Action Sanja Vuković, thanked her colleagues who worked in it and signed the report, emphasizing that in the meantime "many untruths have been spread to the public with the aim of discrediting them and the Commission". She said that, however, "without all the members of the government, this topic should not be discussed" and rejected the Commission's responsibility for the non-payment and delay of salaries to employees of Arsenal FC and for the failure to implement previously planned activities with the club's youngest categories in the meantime. She emphasized that the Commission "did not investigate the cash flows or its operations", and criticized the club's management for the management's attitude towards the members of the Commission. Referring to the article published by "Vijesti" that there is no decision of the Tivat Municipal Council that ever declared the Municipality of Tivat the founder and owner of the local football club, Vuković attributed that text to Mayor Željko Komnenović (The People Win).
"Since we see - here is a new text published today, that the Mayor of the Municipality insists on the information that Arsenal FC is not a municipal club, and in my opinion with the aim of discrediting the Commission and the justification of its establishment, I want to say the following: The Commission was formed by the Tivat Municipal Council, giving it a mandate to do the job that the Commission completed. If Arsenal is not a municipal club, then that opens up another issue that we can discuss in more detail at the Municipal Council session, which I hope will be held in the coming days," said Vuković, reading a pre-prepared speech.
The commission she chaired at the end of January concluded that "systemic failures, irregularities and indications of illegal actions have been identified in the operations of Arsenal FC, particularly in the management of the club, financial operations, calculation of salaries and wages, keeping financial reports, cash flows and use of municipal property". They submitted a report to the Tivat Municipal Assembly, signed by five of the eight members, stating that such a situation carries "increased management and financial risk and opens up space for further institutional action".
The Special State Prosecutor's Office is investigating how the Municipality of Tivat financed the local football club, and they are also seeking information on whether the Mayor of the Municipality Željko Komnenović ceded to Arsenal an 11.000 square meter municipal plot in the area between the Great City Park and Porto Montenegro, where the city's football stadium is located.
The order signed by special prosecutor Ana Perović Vojinović, which "Vijesti" has access to, requires, among other things, a decision from the Municipality of Tivat to establish a Commission to conduct an analysis of the football club's operations, as well as their report.
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