The number of women participating in the executive power in Montenegro is still significantly below the European average. There are no official data on those who belong to national minorities, but it is evident that, despite the legal obligation, they are represented only symbolically - the research showed Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG).
The Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms formally guarantees the proportional representation of members of minorities in public services, state and local government bodies, as well as their right to effective participation in the exercise and public control of government, which is taken care of by personnel matters authorities in cooperation with councils minority. Given that there are no basic data on the representation of minorities in state and public services, this obligation does not produce any effect, so for the time being, the authorities do not have to worry that someone will call them to account.
The insufficient representation of women in government bodies, regardless of nationality, is confirmed by the Gender Equality Index from 2019, a document that was prepared according to the methodology of the European Institute for Gender Equality, and was published by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights in cooperation with the UNDP Office for Montenegro.
According to the Index, power (political, social, economic) is rated as the worst domain, and its value for Montenegro is 35,1. The European value of the same domain is 51,9. In both cases, the index value for the power domain is lower compared to other domains, such as health, work, money, knowledge, time.
"An important element in the implementation of policies on the equality of women and men is the availability of data. Montenegro is committed to the development of policies based on statistical indicators and analyses, and this is precisely the key prerequisite for achieving equality," concluded Zoran Pažin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government, in the introductory text of this research. and the Minister of Justice.
As part of the research on the representation of women at various levels of government, it is the most difficult to find relevant and recent data, and there is no data at all on the participation of female representatives of minority nations.
"Although the number of women in influential executive positions is increasing, there is still concern that women are being appointed to so-called soft portfolios," the European Institute for Gender Equality found.
The publication "Women and Men in Montenegro" from 2018, published by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights in cooperation with Monstat, contains the latest available data. According to them, in the structure of the Government of Montenegro, in addition to the President and the Vice President, there were 14 ministers and only four ministers. The public administration sector is headed by Suzana Pribilović, economics by Dragica Sekulić, science by Dr. Sanja Damjanović, while Marija Vučinović does not have a portfolio. She is also the only minister from among minority peoples.
In the Cabinet of the Minister of Science, two of the four members are women. Vučinović has an adviser as the only cabinet member. There are three women in the nine-member team of the Minister of Public Administration. The most numerous is the Cabinet of the Minister of Economy, where six of the 14 members are women. There are no members of minority nations in any of these cabinets.
Minister Suzana Pribilović, in a statement for CIN-CG, nevertheless observes encouraging trends.
"Research shows that the visibility and participation of women in public affairs is increasing, so we have them in managerial positions. In total employment in state bodies, 55 percent are men, while 45 percent are women. In the Ministry of Public Administration, we have a greater representation of women and especially I would also like to praise the higher percentage when it comes to senior management staff. Of course, we should strive for the largest possible participation of women in jobs in public administration, but we should also actively work to implement policies that ensure gender equality. According to the available data from the central personnel of the information system, we can be encouraged: in the highest positions in ministries, administrative bodies and other state bodies, out of 195 positions (high management staff + heads of bodies), women cover 83 positions or 42 percent," Pribilović assessed.
In the prime minister's office, out of 11 advisors, four are women, one of whom is a member of a minority nation.
It would be expected that there would be a woman from this national minority in the top management of the ministries managed by the Bosniak Party. In the Cabinet of Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Kemal Purišić, however, there is only one woman from minorities. There are eight advisers in his cabinet, four of whom are women. The Cabinet of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs, Osman Nurković, has 13 members, six of whom are women, and three of whom are members of minority nations.
Three women work in the cabinet of the Ministry of Education, headed by Damir Šehović from the Social Democrats, which has seven members, two of whom are members of minority nations.
Nataša Pešić is the Secretary General of the Government of Montenegro. As a rule, other decision-making positions, such as the post of President or Vice-President of the Government, are reserved for men.
When it comes to heads of independent administrative bodies and senior management staff appointed or appointed by the Government of Montenegro, 33 women perform the function of general directors, or 44 percent of the total number. There are six general secretaries out of a total of 14. There are four women among the heads of independent administrative bodies (secretariats, administrations, institutes, agencies and directorates). Most of them hold the positions of assistant elders of the independent administrative body, 16 out of a total of 28.
Three women in the Government are assistant to the general secretary, three of the seven advisers to the prime minister are women, and four of the total twelve are employed by the vice president.
These are the last official data held by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.
"Publication about women and men in Montenegro Gori it comes out every other year, so at the end of this year at the latest, we will have the latest edition with updated data", Emin Ljuljanović from the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights explained to CIN-CG.
There is no data on the representation of members of minority nations in the Government of Montenegro. There is no register according to which records of the nationality of employees in the Government are kept, and that would be legally problematic.
The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights conducts research on the representation of minority peoples in state bodies, bodies of state and local administrations, courts and the State Prosecutor's Office, but none of the employees are required to declare their nationality.
According to the latest data, from 2015, "Information on the representation of minority peoples and other minority national communities in state bodies, state administration bodies, local government bodies, courts and the State Prosecutor's Office", in the 141st state body, out of a total of 13.900 completed questionnaires , 8.650 (74,76 percent) declared themselves Montenegrins, 1.301 (11,24 percent) Serbs, 291 (2,51 percent) Albanians, 650 (5,62 percent) Bosniaks, 285 (2,46 percent) Muslims, Two Roma (0,02 percent), 88 Croats (0,76 percent), and 49 opted for the answer "other" (0,42 percent). The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights says that the collection of data for the new research is underway, but that the exact publication date is not yet known.
According to the same survey, as of 2011, Montenegrins were 79,03 percent, Serbs 8,59 percent, Albanians 2,80 percent, Bosniaks 4,14 percent, Muslims 2,39 percent, Roma 0,01 percent, Croats 0,89 percent. and other 0,42 percent.
There is no data on how many of them are women and how many are men.
In the same document from 2015, it is concluded that the participation of minority peoples in state bodies and state administration bodies is higher than in the earlier period when it comes to Bosniaks, as well as Croats, Serbs and Roma, but that work should still be done on this. in order to implement in practice what is foreseen by the legislation regulating the issue of representation of minority peoples.
Only one female prime minister in the Balkans
Serbia is currently the only country in the Balkans whose government is headed by a woman, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.
Women are most represented in ministerial positions in Kosovo, 31 percent, followed by Serbia with 23 percent. Montenegro and North Macedonia have 21 percent of female ministers in the governments. Croatia 20 percent, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 17 percent.
In the new Government of Kosovo, five women were appointed to ministerial positions - in the departments of economic development, justice, education, culture and local self-government. A woman was also elected as the new president of the Assembly of Kosovo. At the same time, this is the highest percentage of women in the past two decades.
In the Government of Serbia, there are four female ministers of transport and infrastructure, justice, European integration, while one covers that position without a portfolio, but is in charge of demography and population policy.
In the Government of Croatia, there are four female ministers who take care of agriculture, social policy, education and culture. In the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are three women in ministerial chairs, in the sectors of finance, culture and sports, and the environment and tourism. One of them is the deputy prime minister.
There are four female ministers in the Government of North Macedonia - justice, defense, finance, while one without a portfolio is in charge of foreign investments. The woman also holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs.
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