The new Decision on Local Communities, the draft of which is open for public discussion from today, will represent a significant step forward in the development of democracy at the micro level in our city, the President of the Capital City Assembly said at a press conference. Jelena Borovinić Bojović.
She pointed out that the key thing in the draft of the new decision is that it restores the right to direct election of local community bodies, through the organization of citizens' assemblies, "without any party influences and interests".
"The local communities in Podgorica have been almost completely dysfunctional since at least the beginning of this century, and probably a little earlier. It has become commonplace to talk about them as party cells that live only during the election process. When we were a little over a year ago took over power, we tried to change that and, thanks to the local self-government secretary Slađana Andušić, conditions were created for the gradual return of functions to local communities. This decision, which we are presenting today, should provide a quality legal framework that will enable that work is rounded to the end," said Borovinić Bojović, as announced by the Assembly of the Capital City
The draft decision, they remind, was worked on by the working group formed by the mayor Olivera Injac, whose members were the heads of all committee clubs, both the government and the opposition. Representatives of the opposition, according to Borovinić Bojović, only participated in the first meeting of that body, and "they did not participate further, not offering an explanation for their decision."
"The decision on local communities from 2021, which is now in force, provides that local community bodies are appointed by the Assembly of the Capital City. In addition, this meant depriving citizens of the right to direct democracy, which goes from the base to the top, and not the other way around, it turned out that the current decision was not enforceable, that is, that its provisions failed to take effect. best recognize and articulate their needs. In the future, local communities should be points of direct communication, i.e. exchange of information with citizens in order to more efficiently solve their problems and meet their needs," said Borovinić Bojović, inviting the wider public to participate in the public debate and provide contribution to proposals and suggestions.
Secretary for local self-government Slađana Anđušić said that the drafting of the decision was preceded by citizens' consultation through a survey, noting that their suggestions were "largely incorporated" in the text of the decision.
Presenting the Draft Act, she stated that it is foreseen that local communities adopt their own statutes, that the president of the council and the council are elected directly, while the deputy president of the council is elected by the members among themselves. Each local community will have its own giro account.
"When it comes to the publicity of the work, the novelty is highlighting the content on the website of the local community, cooperation with the media and local public broadcasters, said Anđušić.
Member of the Working Group, councilor of the Europe Now Movement Vasilije Carapić, stated that the decision represents a major reform in the functioning of local communities.
"We are expelling party activities from local communities. We may propose amendments that no party leaflets can be found in local communities," said Čarapić.
Second member of the Working Group, councilor of Prava Montenegro Stefan Vesovic, assessed that the greatest value of the new decision is that the council and president of the local community will be elected at the assembly.
Member of the New Serbian Democracy Mitar Susic, also a member of the Working Group, reminded that the key promise to the citizens was that the local communities would return to them and "revitalize the system that served nothing".
"After we have recovered the spatial and technical capacity of local communities in the last year, the legal part of the work has come. In this way, we are removing politics that affected local communities, and we are stimulating citizens to participate in micro politics," said Šušić.
The central public hearing on the Draft Decision on Local Communities will be held on August 5.
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