MPs will vote on the election of both candidates for head of state at today's parliamentary session. Jakov Milatović for the judges of the Constitutional Court, and according to unofficial information from "Vijesti", there is a serious chance that they will receive a sufficient number of votes this time to take office.
MPs will vote on the judge of the Podgorica High Court Predrag Krstonijević and a Supreme Court judge Jelena Ruzicic, who were proposed by the President of the State as judges of the Constitutional Court.
The election of judges to the Constitutional Court requires a qualified majority, i.e. the support of two-thirds of all deputies (at least 54 votes) in the first round, while in the second round the support of three-fifths of deputies (49 votes) is required. The Constitutional Court currently has six judges, out of the prescribed seven. Filling the institution is one of the key conditions for closing the chapters in the negotiations with the EU related to the rule of law.
"Vijesti" sources from the opposition said that the European Union will probably support both candidates, while the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) will decide on this today, ahead of the vote. According to the editorial office's information, support from the ruling majority is also certain, because now everyone from the Prime Minister's Europe Now Movement (PES) could also vote for the judges. Milojko Spajić.
In order for Krstonijević to be elected, he needs the votes of three-fifths, or 49 MPs, because in the first round he did not have two-thirds support, while the election of Ružičić was not yet on the agenda, so she will need 54 votes in the first round.
The election of Constitutional Court judges is part of the agreement signed by the government and the opposition on July 7. This agreement, reached with the mediation of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, enabled the start of the procedure for amending the Constitution, and the signatories of the agreement also committed to intensifying efforts to elect two Constitutional Court judges, through political dialogue and in continuous communication with Milatović.
"The signatories of the document commit to conducting an inclusive dialogue on all appointments carried out through procedures in the Assembly, which will be implemented with the broadest consent of the parliamentary majority and the parliamentary opposition," the document states.
At the end of June, Milatović's office told "Vijesti" that the EU had set a deadline for the completion of the process of selecting judges for the Constitutional Court by the end of July. They said that the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos in one of her recent conversations with Milatović on the topic of the election of the missing judges, she said that Brussels expects the procedure to be completed no later than the summer break in the Parliament session, or rather - by the end of July (by the end of the spring session).
As "Vijesti" wrote, the parliamentary majority is responsible for the lack of a full Constitutional Court, which not only did not want to work with the opposition to ensure "passage" for Milatović's candidates, but is also obstructing the decision-making process - by sabotaging the sessions at which voting should take place and by keeping the president's proposals "in a drawer" for months, without putting them on the agenda.
Milatović first proposed, in May 2025, for the judge Mirjana VučinićFour months later, in September, representatives of the ruling majority did not allow the adoption of the agenda of the parliamentary session with the proposal that the lawyer be elected to the Constitutional Court.
After that, in October and November last year, Vučinić did not have enough votes to pass in two rounds of voting.
The President then nominated Krstonijević as the candidate in early December 2025. In the first round of voting, in late December, Krstonijević did not receive the necessary support. At that time, 25 MPs supported his election, while 20 abstained. Krstonijević was supported by the majority parties, including the New Serbian Democracy, the Democrats and the Socialist People's Party, and some PES MPs. The Bosniak Party abstained, as did some PES representatives. Two independent MPs also voted for Krstonijević.
The opposition did not participate in the decision-making, nor did the Democratic People's Party, which was in power at the time, but has since left it.
Since then, there has been no second round of voting on Krstonijević. Although it was supposed to be held on February 17, MPs did not vote on the proposal because, as “Vijesti” reported at the time, Parliament Speaker Mandić asked for more time to continue discussions on the candidate.
Krstonijević should replace a judge at the Constitutional Court Desanka Lopičić, whose mandate expired, but the Assembly extended it until the election of a new judge.
When it comes to Ružičić, the head of state proposed her for judgeship in early March, but the highest legislative chamber has not yet decided on the matter.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
