The elections that have been going on in Šavnik since October 2022 should be completed.
Yesterday, the Delegation of the EU, the US Embassy and the British Embassy in Podgorica announced this to "Vijesti", answering the question of their position regarding the Government's decision to dissolve the Parliament of Šavnik and introduce forced administration in that municipality.
The ambassadors of the Quinte countries (USA, France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy) and the EU Delegation talked about the events in Šavnik the day before yesterday with the representatives of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), who, as it was said from that party, "warned them of unforeseeable consequences introduction of anarchy in Montenegro".
From the EU Delegation headed by him Oana Cristina Popa They told "Vijesti" that the election process in Šavnik "has been suspended for too long" and that it "must be finished as soon as possible".
"It is up to the Montenegrin institutions to decide the best way to achieve this, respecting the current legislation and the rule of law," they said.
Almost the same assessment was given by the British Embassy.
"The electoral process in the municipality of Šavnik has been suspended for too long and we hope that it will be brought to an end as soon as possible. It is up to the Montenegrin authorities to decide on the best way to achieve this, in accordance with their valid legislation", they stated.
The US Embassy told "Vijesta" that the country supports the search for a solution "for the blocked local elections in Savnik in accordance with the applicable laws and legal procedures of Montenegro."
"It is important to emphasize that the citizens of Montenegro deserve a functional local self-government that is based on the rule of law," they announced.
Neither the EU Delegation nor the two embassies answered "Vijesti" whether a meeting with the Prime Minister was planned Milojko Spajić about events related to Šavnik.
"We will not comment on the communication with the Montenegrin authorities," said the EU Delegation and the British Embassy.
"Vijesti" has learned unofficially from diplomatic circles that there were discussions with Spajić about organizing a meeting about Šavnik with several ambassadors at the beginning of next week. However, "Vijesti" could not officially confirm this.
The DPS threatened to withdraw from the Parliamentary Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform if the Government introduces forced administration in Šavnik, saying that it will only be the first in a series of steps to respond to "that obstruction", and that the "repertoire of actions is wide".
Last week's government decision to dissolve the Šavnica parliament came into force on Monday, but the executive power has not yet sent a committee of commissioners to that municipality, which should perform the function of the municipal assembly (SO) until a new one is elected. The government still does not answer the questions of "Vijesta" about whether, and if so - when, the board of commissioners will be sent to Šavnik.
As "Vijesti" announced yesterday, the question is what purpose would the arrival of the commissioner have if new elections are not called and if, as things stand now, it is likely that those that have lasted for almost a year and a half will not be completed, as the election participants say.
The previous Thursday, the government dissolved the SO Šavnik, but on the same day in the evening, the councilors of the ruling coalition of DPS and Social Democrats (SD) voted to shorten the mandate in an electronic session, in order to avoid forced administration. However, on Friday, the executive authority unexpectedly withdrew its decision "from the procedure of publication in the Official Gazette". The reason, as unofficially explained to "Vijesti" at the time, is that the decision of SO Šavnik to shorten the mandate came into force on the day it was adopted, while the Government's decision was supposed to come into force on the day it was published in the Official Gazette.
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After the Government's move, the option of introducing forced administration was out of the question, and the decision of the DPS and SD councilors, which could lead to the calling of elections, remained valid. Then the President of Montenegro spoke Jakov Milatovic and refused to call elections, so that the Official Gazette would publish the Government's decision on forced administration on Monday evening. However, the president did not call for elections even after that. He claims that the decisions of the Šavnik Municipal Council and the Government do not provide a legally valid basis for calling elections.
The elections in Šavnik began on October 23, 2022, when they were held in 13 other municipalities, but they have not yet ended because the members of the election committees from the opposition coalition "For the Future of Šavnik", led by the former Democratic Front, did not allow part of the newly registered voters to vote because they , they claim, were written to support DPS.
At two polling stations, in the Municipality building and in the village of Kruševica, where 541 voters have the right to vote, voting was held on nine occasions, the last time on December 18, 2022, when the elections were interrupted again, after which the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) there cannot arrangements to repeat them.
So far, dozens of people have been prosecuted before the judicial authorities because of the events related to the elections in Šavnik, which included numerous incidents, including physical conflicts.
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