The Parliament of Montenegro adopted a Proposal for amending the Constitution of Montenegro, which abolishes the immunity of members of the Government for corruption crimes.
66 MPs voted in favor of the Proposal for Amendments to the Constitution, proposed by the Government, while there were no abstentions or votes against.
Deputy Prime Minister for the Political System, Judiciary and Anti-Corruption, Momo Koprivica, said that the solution is being adapted to the existing Criminal Code, but also reminded that current legislation also stipulates that immunity does not apply to criminal offenses for which the law prescribes a sentence of more than five years.
"We all need to be equal before the law," he stressed.
As he added, these amendments to the Constitution will have an impact in ten years.
Koprivica recalled the cases of former Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić's visit to Montenegro, asking "is it interference in electoral processes when he says it is time for Serbs to come into power?"
Leader and MP of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Danijel Živković, pointed out that "even when they were in the opposition, they did not have trust in institutions."
"Would you support these laws if the prosecutor was Milivoje Katnić? You wouldn't. Allow us to say that we don't trust them either. Cases are being opened on the eve of the elections in order to influence their results," he said.
Independent MP Miodrag Laković explained that immunity exists because prosecutors can also make mistakes.
Duško Stjepović (Democratic Montenegro) said that "they are not the same", because they are abolishing immunity, and former Prime Minister Milo Đukanović "used it to protect himself from accusations in Italy of cigarette smuggling".
In his closing remarks, Koprivica thanked everyone for their support for the solution.
"This is not the only one, but just one of the solutions we want to use to combat corruption," he pointed out.
He added that, by adopting these solutions, much will be done in the field of European integration.
As he said, in the run-up to the 2022 elections, an official (Rade Milošević) of the then ruling party was also arrested.
Koprivica said that he should not comment on whether he would trust the system that Katnić is the prosecutor, because the proceedings against him are still ongoing. The hearing has ended, a break has been given, after which the vote will take place.
Leader and MP of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Danijel Živković pointed out that the slogan "New Serbian Response" was coined by Svetozar Marović, which was denied by New Serbian Democracy (NSD) MP Dejan Đurović.
"Where does a party lose power and after such revanchism, become the strongest party in Montenegro, and your party, which is in power, ministers in the Government, the Speaker of the Parliament - today has lower percentages according to surveys than the Democratic People's Party of Milan Knežević, which is in opposition. Surveys come to both your and our table. Don't tell me who came up with the slogan 'New Serbian Answer'. The same one you said belonged to the DPS in Budva - Svetozar Marović. He came up with the slogan for you," said Živković.
Đurović asked if Marović was in the DPS.
"Marović didn't come up with a slogan for us, but rather the statute and the name of the party for you. You were prisoners of Svetozar Marović. He was your spiritus movens," he said.
Živković pointed out that the NSD no longer has power in Budva, which is "the most important thing".
"The most important thing is that you have no power and that you can no longer implement deals, agreements and combinations through the issuance of urban planning and technical conditions, etc. The new Serbian answer is an armchair and money," said the DPS leader.
Marović is the convicted head of the Budva crime group and a former high-ranking DPS official.
Marović was arrested in December 2015. He was released from custody after admitting to being the head of an organized crime group that caused tens of millions of euros in damage to Budva. He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, and ordered to pay 1,1 million euros in restitution and 100 euros for humanitarian purposes.
Marović then went to Belgrade, where he still lives with his family today.
In the past ten years, Montenegro has sent seven letters of request, but the authorities have not extradited fugitive Aleksandar Vučić, despite the fact that there is a final verdict from the Higher Court in Podgorica, as well as an Interpol arrest warrant.
Marović's sentence will expire on October 10th, after which he could return to Montenegro as a free man.
Vaso Obradović (NSD) said that DPS is the only warmongering party.
Chairwoman Anđela Vojinović noted the beginning of the mandate of the new Europe Now Movement (PES) MP Jelena Milanković.
She will replace Nađa Laković on the parliamentary benches.
Deputy Prime Minister for the Political System, Judiciary and Anti-Corruption, Momo Koprivica, said that a similar law on the lifting of immunity for members of the Government for criminal acts of corruption was introduced by Croatia while the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was in power in Montenegro, so they could see good practice then.
DPS leader and MP Danijel Živković said that the messages from the Speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandić about the constitutional assembly were "an attempt to rehabilitate his voting public."
He also looked back at the Meljine-Petijevići road.
"For me, there is no dilemma, the Commercial Court has made a decision, the decision of the Court of Appeal is awaited. What will happen when the Court of Appeal rules that the state has been damaged by four and a half million euros? Milojko Spajić was the minister at the time when the contract with the concessionaire for the Meljine-Petijevići road was terminated. What happens if that is a judicial ruling? Does the government fall in that situation?", Živković said.
Deputy Prime Minister for Political System, Judiciary and Anti-Corruption Momo Koprivica said that the changes were not due to the Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Montenegro, Johan Sattler, or the European Commission.
Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) MP Jevto Eraković said that the problem is that this solution is part of a package that suits the majority and the levers of power it creates.
He pointed out that in the parliamentary majority "everyone falls silent when asked about a single municipal president", but also told the deputy speaker of parliament Nikola Camaj (Albanian Forum - AF) that he "needs to be politically consistent".
"Justice must be the same for everyone, unless you are in the majority. If a majority official glorifies a war criminal or abuses his official position, then the law does not apply to him," he said.
As he added, the integrity law would best be applied to representatives of this, but also "some previous governments."
"Someone who deceived the citizens - does he have the integrity to be prime minister? Does someone who has the citizenship of another country to be a minister or prime minister? Someone who bought a degree?" he asked.
Camaj replied that he was "consistent."
"I am consistent because I cannot support something that comes from a party that does not know how to distance itself from what was done to Albanians a few months after the referendum. I am consistent because I cannot support something that comes from a party that punished a guy who put an Albanian flag on the house he was building and that punished high school graduates from Shkodra who came to celebrate their graduation and took pictures with the Albanian flag on the beach," he said.
Eraković said that Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani expressed gratitude to the former Prime Minister and President of Montenegro and former DPS leader Milo Đukanović, because he saved her and "hundreds of thousands of Albanians from Kosovo" during the war.
Camaj said that he "appreciates certain steps taken by DPS."
"The crime we are talking about today (the Srebrenica genocide), which makes every normal person shudder, was greatly helped by some of your political predecessors, and you must know that. You must know that in order to distance yourself and give yourself the right to suggest that," he said.
Eraković pointed out that "a large percentage of Albanians vote for DPS."
"If we were to measure ourselves, there would be many more on our side. Given that fact, you cannot be the exclusive representative of Albanians," he said.
Socialist People's Party (SNP) MP Bogdan Božović said that "as a responsible parliamentary majority, we do not want immunity to serve as a shield from responsibility."
Boris Mugoša (European Union - ES) said that the proposal has been in a drawer for five months, and that "once again the Constitution is being changed at the last minute due to European integration."
"I have always voted to lift the immunity of my party officials, twice, because they need to present their defense before the competent authorities. But the majority, which is lecturing us today about how it is making certain strides, did not want to lift the immunity of any official from the majority - first an MP, then the Deputy Prime Minister," Mugoša said.
Leader and MP of the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, asked "whether EU Ambassador Johan Satler could be sent on vacation at his expense."
"I will remind you that Mr. (Sergej) Sekulović and Mr. (Bojan) Božović were here and I announced that the first checks on political integrity would take place. I posted on Facebook that every Serbian household has a Ratko (Mladić). The prosecutor's office reacted immediately. The president of the Zeta Municipality received a criminal complaint because he did not comply with the systematization act, and he received it because Zeta recognized Kosovo and because he led that battle regarding the collection. We are entering the phase of eliminating political opponents and that the prosecutor's office will lead politics," he said.
He explained that, under the new laws, even if he wins enough votes, he cannot be prime minister because "they would declare him to have no integrity."
"The prosecutor's office has ordered that it monitor our posts on Facebook. Everything is becoming forbidden to us and integrity is being called for. Prime Minister Spajić says that he has information that high-ranking officials from two neighboring countries are waging a hybrid war and is alarming the public. President Jakov Milatović convenes the Defense and Security Council, Spajić says that he cannot due to previously undertaken obligations and goes to Exit. We invite him to say which high-ranking officials from Serbia are waging a hybrid policy against Montenegro. And I claim that there is no greater walking atomic bomb than Milojko Spajić. He is Hiroshima and Nagasaki in one person and there is no greater hybrid threat to Montenegro than this Government," he said.
"Explain tomorrow that someone will win 100.000 votes tomorrow, and that some revolutionary guard from the prosecutor's office whose summer vacations were paid for by the people of Kavča and Škalja will tell him 'you, maestro, can't be in the government'. These kinds of changes remain. Everything can be changed, except language and citizenship," he said.
The head of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, Boris Bogdanović, said that many "entered politics as ordinary people, and today their banks, companies, and penthouses can be seen next to the butter."
"It's no wonder that 13 members of the Government were prosecuted," he pointed out.
He added that the Ministry of Defense, during the previous government's mandate, employed 55 people in one day and 447 in a year.
Jelena Nedović (PES) said that Abazović "has repeatedly told untruths, such as the one that EPCG will be sold."
"Another thing, we could also see from the media that a fellow MP (Abazović) boasted that he was an honorary citizen of New York, so they denied it. Vijesti wrote about it, a credible media outlet. RTCG too, also a credible media outlet," she said.
Abazović replied that "he protected EPCG".
"About the honorary citizen - I am proud and I came to the media with that. And the media that you pay for and who are your allies because you sold them the lie that you will help them so that someone doesn't buy them, they have the task of attacking me. I don't hold it against them, these are people who fulfill their tasks just like they did five, ten or 20 years ago," he said.
He pointed out that "there was a question about whether the Prime Minister was a member of the Serbian Army, so Vijesti did not give it a front page."
"And they deal with it when the question is whether someone is an honorary citizen," he added.
Abazović said that some members of the current government were officials in his.
The leader and MP of the Civic Movement (GP) URA, Dritan Abazović, expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in Danilovgrad, but also condemned the graffiti on the house of BS MP Kenana Strujić Harbić.
He added that "every 15 days there is an initiative to amend the Constitution."
"The Constitution is rarely intervened in. Regardless of the fact that we support this, I have not seen this, that in 15 days we will have another session where the Constitution will be changed," he said.
Abazović pointed out that "this majority has not wanted to adopt the anti-mafia law for three years."
"You came with a solution that is no better and my colleague (Zoran) Mikić will propose 19 amendments," he said.
He pointed out that Wales is introducing a law according to which an official who tells a lie can no longer hold office, and that in Montenegro the majority would not be able to hold the same position if such a law were introduced.
"When it comes to integrity - I don't think there is a person in Montenegro who doesn't know how many times untruths and fantasies have been told. We have yesterday, not directly related to the topic, that the Government is preparing a team to invest in airports. Prime Minister Spajić convinced us for three years that a concession was needed, when that failed, he is repeating the story we told. When it comes to the Meljine - Petijevići road, that is a done deal. All that remains is for the Court of Appeal to confirm what the Government signed. That probably won't happen, because there is political influence on the courts," he said.
Abazović said that the EU is seeking such provisions because in Albania, the Deputy Prime Minister cannot be tried, due to immunity.
"Iceland voted in a referendum not to continue negotiations with the EU. That is integrity. I don't think we would be less valuable if we said we had different opinions on a proposal. Laws are coming, we don't vote on them. When we explain to citizens that changing the Constitution is no problem, we open Pandora's box that may not come crashing down on us in a year, but in five or six," he pointed out.
Bosniak Party (BS) MP Adel Omeragić announced that they have no dilemma regarding the vote.
"Corruptive acts and the job of a government leader do not go hand in hand," he said.
He stressed that his party would support amendments to the Constitution.
Koprivica said that "DPS did not lift the immunity of its MP Husnija Šabović."
"We did not propose lifting the immunity of MPs. And it is sensitive, because they are directly elected. If an MP is arrested, the balance is disrupted. The government can function without one or two ministers. The Constitution prescribes the number of MPs, but not the members of the Government," he explained.
Koprivica pointed out that for employment in the civil service, a certificate of integrity is required.
Nikolić asked Koprivica why he did not call on Delić to resign, or rather why the president of the Mojkovac Municipal Assembly (Marko Janketić from the Democrats) did not acknowledge it.
The head of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) parliamentary group, Andrija Nikolić, said that as the parliamentary opposition, they have no interest or need to oppose the lifting of immunity for the prime minister or minister for bribery, corruption or any other abuse of official position that is prosecuted ex officio.
He emphasized that none of the state officials need immunity to do their state work honestly.
"I mean the prime minister, the minister, and the MP. Let's not make a show out of it today in which you are fighters against corruption, without fear that the prosecution can prosecute you on any grounds, so you have no problem revoking your immunity, and we, on the other hand, in the opposition, are someone who would protect ourselves with immunity," said Nikolić.
As he stated, both the government and the opposition had many opportunities to prove their position on the issue of immunity, when the prosecution requested that the immunity of people sitting in political ranks be lifted.
Nikolić cited the example of the President of the Municipality of Nikšić, Marko Kovačević, where the higher state prosecutor's office requested that a procedure be initiated to lift immunity in order to initiate proceedings, and that after that, that request "languished" in the parliament's drawers and that there were various procedural and technical reasons for not complying with it.
"Unlike us, specifically, who have every time, on principle, even when we suspected selectivity and political persecution, lifted the immunity of our colleagues and enabled unhindered proceedings against them," Nikolić said.
He asked why, if immunity is such a big obstacle to the rule of law that the Constitution is being changed because of it today, the government was bothered by immunity when it was necessary to protect a man from the parliamentary majority.
"Don't talk to us about principles, don't talk to us about European values, and don't talk to us about commitment to the rule of law," Nikolic said.
As he stated, the second case is the President of the Municipality of Mojkovac, Vesko Delić.
"I have not yet heard from any of you, including Koprivica, that you have called on the president of the Municipality of Mojkovac to resign from that position, because the law eliminates him, as he was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence for abuse of office," said Nikolić.
He stated that he would support a solution that removes unjustified protection for those in power, but would like citizens to see the entirety of the changes in the state system.
"The Constitution has been amended in the part of the prosecution. The prosecution has gained its constitutional position. Immediately after that, new laws on the state prosecution and the Special State Prosecutor's Office were passed, where, in line with the constitutional changes, individual powers in both cases are increasing. The instruments for confiscation of property are being expanded, which is what we will also discuss today. The Criminal Procedure Code and the powers of the repressive apparatus in criminal proceedings are also being changed," said Nikolić.
He stated that today the immunity protection of the highest holders of executive power is being removed, and immediately afterwards, at an extraordinary session, they will discuss the introduction of integrity and an integrity check for the future prime minister-designate and members of the government.
"Each of these solutions, if viewed in isolation, could be treated as part of a legislative reform to bring the country closer to the EU. But if we look at the package and connect everything to each other, then a logical and democratic question arises that we repeat from session to session. Have we, who vote on it or not, or have reservations about certain solutions, created a strong enough counterbalance to the enormous power that we are step by step giving to the police-prosecutor and security apparatus in Montenegro," Nikolić emphasized.
Speaking about the integrity check, he said the question is who can be a candidate for power tomorrow.
"Let's imagine the simplest situation - the current parliamentary majority loses the citizens' trust in the elections next year to continue and govern the country. The opposition wins, which structures a new parliamentary majority and provides a mandate for the composition of the future government. And then some institution or some body, whoever has the so-called moral license, says "you are not suitable enough and you have no integrity," Nikolić said.
He asked what the point of elections is then, if the democratic will of citizens can be changed by anyone's decision.
"No one questions whether anyone who has broken the law should be brought to justice and arrested, including politicians, but the question is who controls those who have that kind of repressive power," Nikolić said.
New Serbian Democracy (NSD) MP and President of the Constitutional Committee Jelena Božović said that "the parliamentary majority is ready to give up political influence on the judiciary and prosecutor's office", but also to "enact changes to the Constitution that will lead to them being held accountable for criminal acts, when it comes to the work of ministries".
The head of the PES parliamentary group, Vasilije Čarapić, said that "someone who does not have a vested private interest in office will not be burdened with amendments to the Constitution."
"The context of these amendments to the Constitution is that we are not burdened with immunity. We accept that higher standards are set... It shows our citizens that we are not the same, that this generation of politicians is implementing reforms. Some previous governments were more stable, but there was no will to implement reforms," he said.
He also said that previous governments were more stable, but that there was no will to implement reforms.
Deputy Prime Minister for Political System, Judiciary and Anti-Corruption Momo Koprivica, as a representative of the proponents, said that today the issue being discussed is whether Montenegro should have an executive function that represents an obstacle to accountability for criminal offenses with elements of corruption.
"We are not proposing that a member of the Government be prosecuted for making a political decision that someone disagrees with, but rather that no executive function should be a shield from liability for criminal acts of corruption," he stressed.
He said that "there should not be a double standard - one for citizens, the other for officials."
The session began with a minute of silence in memory of the tragedy in Danilovgrad.
Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić has announced the resignation of Europe Now (PES) MP Nađa Laković.
Members of Parliament are discussing amendments to the Constitution of Montenegro. The proposal for amendments to the Constitution of Montenegro, which will be discussed by the members of Parliament, envisages the abolition of immunity for the President and members of the Government for criminal offences against official duty. The explanatory memorandum to the proposal states that criminal offences against official duty, such as abuse of office, accepting and giving bribes and other related offences, directly threaten the integrity of public authorities, citizens' trust in institutions and the basic principles of the constitutional order.
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