Yesterday, the Constitutional Court rejected one appeal regarding the recent parliamentary elections, after which a new one was submitted to them, from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which, along with possible new objections, could further extend the deadline for announcing the final election results.
The Constitutional Court, as told to "Vijesti", at yesterday's session rejected the appeal against the election process submitted by Bozidar Vujicic from Budva.
"The Constitutional Court unanimously decided to reject Božidar Vujičić's appeal against the decision of the State Election Commission (SEC), No. 787/3, dated June 13, 2023, as unfounded," the Constitutional Court announced.
On June 13, the SEC announced the provisional results of the elections, and according to its calendar, it should determine the final results by midnight on June 26. However, it is certain that this will not happen by then because the deadlines for objections and appeals have not expired.
Vujičić's complaint was the first to reach the Constitutional Court, and yesterday one was also submitted by the SDP, to which the SEC rejected by a majority of votes the objections they requested to repeat voting in some polling stations in Cetinje, Bijela Polje, Rožaj... According to the provisional results, the SDP below the census.
According to the law, the Constitutional Court is obliged to act urgently on appeals related to the elections.
President of the SEC Nikola Mugoša, told "Vijesti" that all objections that were submitted were considered before the Commission, bearing in mind that the SEC decides within a short period of 24 hours.
"I do not rule out the possibility that more objections will be submitted, since the election commissions in Podgorica, Pljevlja and Herceg Novi have passed resolutions rejecting the objections, and the submitters of those resolutions have not yet submitted an objection to the SEC," said Mugoša.
The deadline for objections to municipal election commissions was 72 hours from the end of voting in the parliamentary elections on June 11.
Mugoša pointed out that the submitters of electoral lists mostly used the last deadline for filing objections, which, he said, is their indisputable legal right, while some also demanded delivery by mail, which further prolongs the time for completing the election process. The SEC decided on each complaint within the legal deadline of 24 hours.
After the SEC delivers the decision to the complainant, he has 48 hours to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court. After that, as explained by Mugoša, the Constitutional Court requests a statement from the Commission.
The court does not have a prescribed deadline in which it requires this. After doing so, the SEC is obliged to respond within 24 hours. When the requested documentation is submitted to the Constitutional Court, that institution decides within 48 hours.
Nikola Mugoša reminds that the final results of the election are published in the Official Gazette within 15 days of the election, and states that it is practically impossible to comply with that deadline in the specific situation, because the submitters of electoral lists use the rights defined by the law and the deadlines for objections and appeals are running.
He assessed that this issue should also be treated by the announced electoral reform, so that the urgency of the electoral procedure and the obligations of the electoral administration, as well as the rights of the submitters of electoral lists, would not be in conflict.
After the Constitutional Court has ruled on all appeals against the election process, the SEC will be able to announce the final results. The period of 15 days for the constitution of the Assembly starts from the date of announcement of the final election results.
From that moment, the president of the state has a month to consult with the parliamentary parties, after which he proposes a representative who, within 90 days, should assemble the cabinet and the work program of the future executive power.
Last Saturday, the Commission rejected the objections of the candidate and authorized person submitting the "Private for All" election list. Vladimir Leposavić to the decisions of the municipal election commissions of Kolašin, Nikšić, Bar, Budva, Berane, Bijelo Polje and Andrijevica.
"Decided based on narrow party interest"
The SDP states that after the 2017 elections, the Constitutional Court annulled the elections at the polling station upon the objection of the Democrats. In 2017, after the elections in Tuzi, the Constitutional Court passed a decision accepting the appeal of the Democrats, canceling the decision of the SEC, canceling and ordering a repeat of the election procedure at polling station number 123A in the Vranj Local Community.
"Our attempts to reach justice in front of the competent institutions, municipal and state election commissions did not bear fruit, because the party representatives in the commissions decided on this matter not according to justice and law, not according to the needs of democracy and regularity of election processes, but according to narrow party interests. in violation of the clear legal norms that oblige to repeat the elections in five electoral places", it was announced yesterday from the SDP.
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