The draft law on local self-government is an insufficiently thought-out attempt to reform the system, and as such requires a much more serious social and political consensus. The proposal does not meet the conditions for rapid adoption, without a broader expert and public debate - assessed the Force MP in the state parliament, Ilir Chapuni.
He told "Vijesti" that the proposal approved by the Government last week, instead of the "expected decentralization", envisages strengthening state control over local self-governments.
According to the proposed provisions, Čapuni claims, “historical and urban centers like Ulcinj or Kotor” may be left without city status, while municipalities like Tivat may acquire that status “solely on the basis of administrative and fiscal parameters.”
He states that, if the proposal is adopted in parliament, Ulcinj, which has been a trading center and urban core on the eastern Adriatic for centuries, would enter the European Union (EU) "as a town that does not manage its coast and does not decide on its development potential."
"This completely ignores the historical, cultural and civilizational dimension of cities in Montenegro. But that is not the only flaw in this bill - unfortunately, there are more," Čapuni said in a letter he submitted to the editorial office.
MPA does not see what (travel) writers see.
He reminded that coins with the inscriptions "CIVITAS DULCIGNI" and "SVACIUM CIVITAS" are still found throughout the Balkans, testimony, as he says, to two urban centers in the area of today's Ulcinj municipality - Ulcinj and Šasa.
Both cities, Čapuni states, were not only architectural and cultural entities, but also politically and economically organized spaces with their own coinage, fleet, and developed trade. He adds that Ulcinj was for centuries the center of trade, shipping, culture, and urban life on the eastern coast of the Adriatic.
“It enjoyed the status of a city (municipium) since 163 BC. Of particular importance are the testimonies about the democracy, judiciary and organization of this city, which it brings Augustine Pertusi in his work 'For the history of Dulcigno in the 14th-15th centuries and of its citizen statutes', published in 1973 in the journal 'Studi Veneziani' of the Institute for the History of Venetian Society and State. The famous British composer, born in Naples, Leopold de Wenceslas, dedicated a polka to this city. All famous writers and travel writers - from Johana Georga of Hana, Evliya Çelebi, Idit Daram i Edward Lira do Isidore Sekulić"They address Ulcinj as a city. Only our Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) - no," Capuni's letter reads.
It is emphasized that the draft law defines a city as a special type of local government unit, which represents an urban, commercial, economic, administrative, cultural, tourist, educational or health center, and which has more than 10.000 inhabitants.
"Although Ulcinj is all of this, this status does not belong to it according to the new draft law due to the criteria and procedure for acquiring city status. It is paradoxical that today, in the 21st century, the Draft Law on Local Self-Government calls into question precisely this historical, urban and civilizational identity of Ulcinj," claims Čapuni.
As "Vijesti" reported late last week, citing information from the Government, for now only Tivat could potentially meet the conditions to receive city status. In addition to the conditions listed by Čapuni, in order for a municipality to receive this status, it is necessary that its share of own revenues in total revenues in the last five years is greater than 30 percent, and that its bodies have no tax or other debt to the state, continuously for two years before acquiring city status.
The central government remains in charge
Čapuni said that although the law formally introduces the principle of “asymmetric decentralization”, its essence shows something completely different - strengthening state control over local self-governments. Instead, according to him, of the actual transfer of powers and the application of the principle of subsidiarity (decision-making at the lowest level of the institutional hierarchy), the law introduces mechanisms of increased supervision, the possibility of government intervention and additional subordination of municipalities to central authorities.
"The law does not provide a clear answer to one of the key questions of local democracy - does a local self-government unit really manage the entire territory of its municipality? This issue is of crucial importance for Ulcinj and all coastal cities, especially in the context of managing the coast, tourist zones and strategic spaces," the letter states.
It is alleged that the law also misses the opportunity to prescribe a real digital transformation of the administration.
"Instead of creating a single portal through which citizens could see all their relationships with the state and local self-government - taxes, urban planning, social rights, utilities, permits and other services - the proposal focuses on a system that aims to allow the state to more efficiently monitor, control and subordinate local self-governments through a centralized information system," Čapuni emphasized, assessing that a particular problem is the fact that this reform "does not have clear consent and political validation from the EU."
The European practice of decentralization, he added, implies strong local communities and even fiscal autonomy with an emphasized principle of subsidiarity, while this law, the interlocutor claims, maintains the dominant position of the central government.
"The law introduces several other novelties, without clearly stating the real need for them. Among other things, it provides for the possibility for one municipality to perform tasks within its jurisdiction on the territory of another local government unit. The question arises - is there really a real need for such a mechanism and have municipalities requested it so far? It is clear, for example, that the Municipality of Ulcinj could more efficiently serve the needs of the citizens of the Ostros Local Community. Is there a more rational solution for the citizens of Krajina, for whom the Ulcinj Municipality building is 36 kilometers away, or about a 43-minute drive, while they have to travel 44 kilometers and almost 57 minutes to reach the Bar Municipality building, with half of that route being located precisely on the territory of the Ulcinj Municipality?" asked Čapuni.
He also said that the law also allows for the merging of municipalities into a so-called association, but with a specific requirement - that there must be at least 13 of them (half the number of municipalities in Montenegro).
"Why that number? Isn't the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro enough for us? Or do we want to group municipalities according to some interesting key? The coastal municipalities, although they have common development, infrastructure and environmental interests, cannot be united in this way because there are only six of them formally. By what other key would the municipalities be grouped and is there a real need for something like that?" asked Čapuni.
Consensus, not experiment
Čapuni noted that the law represents a step backwards when it comes to decentralization.
"Instead of a substantial and comprehensive reform of the local self-government system, we have received a normative compromise and a kind of 'patched-up system framework', composed of partial solutions that do not arise from the real needs of local self-governments, nor do they offer a clear vision of the development of the state and the relationship between central and local authorities. Such an important reform cannot be passed partially. It must be implemented as a comprehensive package of laws, together with the reform of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, i.e. the issue of direct or indirect election of mayors, the territorial organization of Montenegro and the redefinition of regional development. Only then could we seriously discuss the model of modern European local self-government," the letter stated.
It is emphasized that the most successful model is one in which the local community feels the benefit of the development it creates, and that this is certainly not the case now, nor does the proposal enable it.
Čapuni assessed that after joining the EU, Montenegro will certainly have to reopen these issues and that it will then have to decide how mayors will be elected and what competencies and revenues will actually belong to local communities. In that process, as he pointed out, the issue of natural, historical and economic entities will also have to be opened.
"And finally, a special review of the case of Ulcinj, which, from a region with two cities that mint their own money, if this law is adopted, would enter the EU as a small town, which does not manage its coast, whose development is systematically hindered by policies and laws like this. How else can one explain that Ulcinj is the only city on the coast that does not have a port, and was a significant regional maritime and trade center more than a century ago, with its own money and its own fleet?" said Čapuni.
He said that local government reform must be the result of a serious social consensus, not a partial normative experiment.
"European integration must not mean the administrative weakening of historic cities like Ulcinj, but rather the opposite - strengthening their capacities to manage their own development," concluded MP Force.
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