Process of amending the Constitution launched, DNP voted against; Knežević: We are not in North Korea

With 74 MPs voting in favor and three against, the Parliament of Montenegro launched the process of amending the Constitution today. MPs from the Democratic People's Party (DNP) voted against.

With the same number of votes, the Constitutional Committee is obliged to vote on the proposed amendments as soon as possible at today's session.

The president of that committee, Jelena Božović, announced a session for tomorrow, while the deputies will express their views in the plenum the day after tomorrow.

Independent MP Radinka Ćinćur said that she was glad that they had reached an agreement, but also that she hoped that they would reach an agreement on the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Fiscal Council as soon as possible.

DNP leader and MP Milan Knežević said that "not everyone agreed", and that he and the other MPs of that party (Vladislav Bojović and Jelena Kljajević) are the only opposition.

"We didn't all agree and all vote, because that would be unanimity. We're not in North Korea. I hope there will be some dinner at Messrs. Johan Satler and Peter Felten's," he said.

Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić said that he wanted to vote on the judges today, but that he hopes that it will be possible as early as Friday.

After a break, MPs voted in favor of amendments to the Constitution concerning the Central Bank.

And 74 MPs voted for that proposal, and three were against.

The amendments will also be considered at tomorrow's session of the Constitutional Committee, and MPs will vote on them the day after tomorrow.

At the beginning of the session, the Speaker of the Assembly, Andrija Mandić, confirmed the mandate of the new MP from the Civic Movement (GP) URA, Mileto Radovanic. He replaced Miloš Konatar in that position.

The commission to review security violations in the police will not be established by the Minister of the Interior, but by the Government at his proposal, with the opinion of the parliamentary Committee on Security and Defense (which is not binding), and a representative appointed at the proposal of the Chief Special Prosecutor will also be a member of that body. The head of the secret service will first have to obtain the approval of the President of the Supreme Court to collect certain data or approve certain surveillance measures - for which he has not been obliged to do so until now.

According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", these are some of the most significant changes to the law on internal affairs and the National Security Agency (ANB), which were determined at last night's meeting between the government and the opposition.

Last night, representatives of the parliamentary majority and the opposition, with the mediation of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Montenegro, reached an agreement on a number of issues.

Last night, Vijesti Television reported, citing unofficial sources from the opposition, that the two sides are expected to agree on the filling and election of members of the Judicial, Fiscal and Radio Television of Montenegro Councils, as well as the election of the missing two judges of the Constitutional Court within the next 30 days.

Amendments to the highest legal act are important for closing one of the key chapters in the European integration process - Chapter 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights). Podgorica is obliged to adopt a set of amendments to the highest legal act relating to strengthening the independence of the judiciary (including the Minister of Justice no longer being a member of the Judicial Council), lifting the immunity of members of the Government for criminal offences against official duty, and addressing the issue of the independence of the Central Bank.

In order to amend the Constitution, three steps are necessary - first, a proposal is submitted to change the act, then a draft of amendments is prepared, and the final stage is the adoption of these proposals. The support of 54 members of parliament is required to “check” each of these items.

After the meeting the day before last, the EU Delegation announced that the meeting represented a step towards strengthening political dialogue and building mutual trust between the parliamentary majority and the opposition, especially in the context of reaching agreement on amendments to the Constitution and other decisions that require a qualified majority in parliament, all in the interest of Montenegro's European future.