Maraš: Necessary reforms to improve the control role of the Assembly

Montenegro needs reforms in order to improve the control role of the Assembly on several levels, said civil activist Vuk Maraš.

Maraš, who as a representative of the non-governmental sector has followed the work of the Parliament for many years, believes that it is urgently necessary to pass laws on the Government and the Assembly in order to more precisely define the relationship between these institutions and to regulate clear sanctions for those who violate the conclusions and other decisions of the Parliament.

"In the long term, changes to the Constitution of Montenegro will be needed, in order to enable the Parliament to be able to dismiss a minister, regardless of whether the Prime Minister wants to initiate the procedure for his or her dismissal," Maraš told the MINA agency.

According to him, the Assembly must also show a much greater degree of political will and determination to ensure the implementation of its own decisions, using the various mechanisms at its disposal.

"From the possibility of changing the legal framework, the budget of institutions, all the way to greater public identification of institutions and individuals who do not respect the constitutional and operational competences of our Parliament", said Maraš.

He said that when he started monitoring the work of the Assembly in 2007, the control of functions did not exist.

"It took years for MPs to accept that the Parliament must control the work of the Government and other institutions, especially because the representatives of the majority in the Assembly were then the second echelon of the party, and their bosses sat in the Government," Maraš said.

He also pointed out that at the same time, any control initiatives that came from the opposition were rejected without any explanation, simply by overvoting.

"Only after strong pressure from our Western partners, who witnessed the completely passive role of the Parliament, which we have documented year after year, did things start to change in a positive direction," Maraš believes.

He assessed that now, compared to that time, the Parliamentary control of roles is significantly better and that its scope is greater, but that it is still far from what parliamentary control should be in developed democratic countries.

Maraš said that the focus must be placed on the quality of the control mechanisms and the results they should achieve.

He said that, although hearings are now frequent in the Assembly, they rarely result in concrete conclusions that identify problems and offer solutions, and even less often in changing bad laws, policies and practices.

Maraš also pointed out that there is no responsibility of the Government and other institutions in cases where they try to make control mechanisms meaningless.

He stated that the frequent delays of various ministries and ignoring parliamentary questions did not result in any sanction for any minister of the Montenegrin Government.

"The institute of interpellation was most plastically rendered useless by former Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, who refused to initiate the procedure for the dismissal of ministers for whom the Parliament unequivocally determined that they no longer have the support of the majority of citizens," said Maraš.

He said that Krivokapić, as prime minister, did not bear any consequences for not appearing at a series of control hearings, nor was it the case with other officials, especially those from the prosecutor's office, who in the past ignored such requests.

Maraš pointed out that of the small number of parliamentary investigations that have been initiated in the more modern history of the Parliament of Montenegro, not a single one has resulted in anything concrete.

He believes that parliamentary investigations are a very effective mechanism, when there is political will.

"Parliaments of a large number of our Western partners exercise key control over the work of their own governments through these mechanisms, but unfortunately for Montenegro, this mechanism has not yet taken root in our country, and this needs to be changed urgently," Maraš said.

He said that the Law on the Assembly must be one of the ways to establish a system for monitoring the implementation of conclusions and recommendations adopted at hearings conducted within the framework of parliamentary supervision.

"It is he who should define the sanctions and other consequences for non-fulfillment of conclusions and recommendations", said Maraš.

He stated that it is necessary to strengthen the professional service of the Assembly, especially the committee, in order to make sector-specific and continuous inquiries to the executive power and other institutions regarding the implementation of those obligations.

"Only then, after receiving detailed information, the deputies through the committees, and sometimes through the plenum, would ensure that the positive changes that are needed in Montenegrin society in various areas take place," said Maraš.

He said that a strong political will is needed in the Assembly, but also a strengthening of the awareness of MPs that, regardless of which party they belong to, their job is not to be loyal to their party colleagues from the government.

"Rather, on behalf of the citizens, they should ensure that the Government and other institutions perform their tasks in a responsible, effective and high-quality manner, in the interest of the public," Maraš concluded.

The text was written as part of a project implemented by the MINA agency with the Center for Monitoring and Research, which was financially supported by the Embassy of the United States of America in Montenegro.