Another International Day of Free Access to Information Montenegro welcomed it without significant changes in this field, that is, in a position where the sharing of information that institutions are legally obliged to do depends on the goodwill of individuals, the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) announced.
"Journalists and the civil sector, whose job it is to control the government and publicize what is being tried to hide from the public, say that in Montenegro, but also in the region, there is no policy of openness, but quite the opposite, a policy of hiding information," the CDT press release points out.
Journalist "Vijesti", Ana Komatina, says that she has often witnessed the lack of transparency of ministries, indicating that documents such as draft laws, public invitations to participate in public debates on draft laws, work reports, and strategic documents are often not found on the official website of the Government. ..
"There is an illustrative example from a few years ago, when I asked a ministry for information that the public was informed was in their possession. After 15 days of sending the request, I received a notification from that government department to eliminate the deficiencies in the request and submit the employer's power of attorney that I could submit SPI requests on his behalf, which I did. After that, within the legal deadline, they informed me that they did not have the requested information and that I should contact another institution. That other institution refused my request, explaining that performed a harm test and that providing that information would cause harmful consequences. Waiting for a positive solution, we lost two months, without even getting the information we needed," Komatina said.
CDT added that the situation is not any better in the neighborhood either.
Kristina Kalajdžić from the organization Partners for Democratic Changes Serbia said that there are problems with free access to information on all sides - from the judiciary to budget issues.
What's worse, he says, is that certain documents are being declared classified.
"With us, the problem is information about the work of public companies like Telekom. There is an institution called "Metro" that does practically nothing, and we have information that average salaries are above 1.000 euros. We have no insight into international agreements, we don't know what they oblige us to, very often it's about loans, and we don't have information. We don't have enough information about public procurement," Kalajdžić points out.
The CDT said that the data of the Regional Index of Openness, which is conducted by the CDT on an annual basis, show that the issue of openness in the executive power depends on the individuals who deal with these issues within the institution.
CDT deputy program director Milena Gvozdenović explains that there is no well-designed and organized policy of openness and transparency in Montenegro.
"The issues of openness and transparency have not had adequate political support until now. Instead of the promised improvement of transparency and better legal solutions, we continue to witness the arbitrariness of the institutions," said Gvozdenović.
She points out that it is particularly difficult to get information about the availability of budget funds and the salaries of public officials.
"However, we have examples that it is not only important what information you are looking for, but also in the possession of which institutions. So some institutions would not even respond to you with a "good day", and they do not bear any consequences for that," she said.
The CDT notes that this is the third government to announce changes to the Law on Free Access to Information (FIA), but it will never be adopted.
"In practice, the degree of respect for the current law is decreasing, and I remind you that the right to free access to information was degraded by the changes from 2017", added Gvozdenović and clarified that all previous attempts to systematically regulate the issue of government openness with the participation and support of civilians sector - failed.
The Minister of Public Administration, Maraš Dukaj, says that, if there is no improvement, the Law on Free Access to Information should not be adopted, but also that it is necessary and suggests a common approach.
"Public administration must be open, present and tailored to the citizens. I will give the maximum contribution to the adoption of the SPI law. However, the ministry cannot do it alone, everyone must contribute. I invite the entire public to get involved, because we need concrete proposals" , said the minister.
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