The draft amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption not only do not guarantee that the Council of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (AKP) will be independent and protect the public interest, but even allow for continued political influence on AAKP, the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) assessed.
Deputy Executive Director of the CDT, Milena Gvozdenović, said that independence and impartiality in the work of the ASK is a key and essential prerequisite for results in the fight against corruption.
"However, we have a long way to go towards establishing an institution whose work would contribute to increasing trust and creating integrity for controlling those in power, as exists in developed democracies," said Gvozdenović.
Therefore, as she stated, this issue required better treatment in the draft law and specific proposals for combating political influence on the work of ASK.
Gvozdenović recalled that the final benchmarks for negotiating chapter 23 require that ASK be politically independent, acting efficiently, impartially and proactively in cases within its jurisdiction.
It is required, she added, that the appointment and employment of ASK management and employees be based on the meritocratic principle.
"Therefore, we believe it is crucial to improve the criteria for selecting members of the ASK Council and expand the Council's powers and obligations regarding oversight of the work of ASK, including reporting to the Assembly," the statement said.
It is stated that the ASK Council should be an independent, expert and supervisory body, not a formal body without substantive power.
According to Gvozdenović, members of the Council are still elected through political agreements, and this body is still treated as a political instrument at the service of the current government.
As she said, proof of this is the fact that loud and justified criticism of the method of election and composition of the Council and the director of ASK fell silent when the persons holding those positions were replaced.
"And the announcements of a thorough reform of anti-corruption mechanisms aimed at increasing the independence, professionalism and accountability of the ASK have been reduced to minor linguistic changes to the law, which the Venice Commission pointed out to us during the process of adopting the IBAR law," Gvozdenović stated.
She said that the criteria for selecting members of the Council allow for people with political connections to join it, and not necessarily experts in the fight against corruption.
The CDT, as stated by Gvozdenović, therefore believes that the law needs to strengthen the criteria of expertise and guarantees of party and political impartiality, as well as enable a transparent procedure for checking conflicts of interest.
"Furthermore, we need a Council that will not only elect the director, but also conduct in-depth oversight of his work, monitor the implementation of policies, propose changes and demand accountability," said Gvozdenović.
As she said, apart from electing and dismissing the director, the ASK Council has few real powers, which are mostly limited to the formal adoption of documents at the proposal of the director.
Gvozdenović said that it is therefore important to expand the powers to enable the Council to effectively conduct independent audits and review individual decisions of the Agency.
She pointed out that ASK cannot operate effectively as long as its leaders are elected based on political preferences and not their competencies.
"In this context, the Council is not only ineffective, but is directly responsible for the selection of directors who are unable or unwilling to implement substantial changes and improve the work of the Agency," the statement said.
Such a system, as Gvozdenović said, does not enable true control, but rather perpetuates political control over the Agency, creating a vicious circle in which political corruption persists.
"Montenegro needs strong, both normative and institutional preconditions for the fight against corruption, and we will not achieve success by maintaining the existing system that lacks the strength and will to fight political corruption," Gvozdenović emphasized.
Montenegro, she said, must establish truly independent and efficient institutions that will fight corruption.
"Otherwise, institutions will remain susceptible to political influence, and the fight against corruption will continue to be important only in the election slogans and promises of parties that want to come to power," said Gvozdenović.
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