The ruling majority requested a change in the way of nominating candidates for the vice-president of the Assembly from the minority parties because those parties could not agree on who should cover that position, "Vijesti" has learned unofficially.
According to the information of the newspaper, the opposition Bosniak Party (BS) proposed at the end of last year that their MP and Vice-President should be in that position. Damir Gutic, while the candidate of the minority parties that are part of the government is a representative of the Albanian Forum Nikola Camaj.
According to the claims of one interlocutor, BS believed that it should have a vice president because it is the strongest minority political actor, and the minority parties from the parliamentary majority thought that it belonged to them and that the issue was regulated by the coalition agreement on power.
Yesterday, BS did not want to comment for "Vijesti" on the proposal that vice-presidents from minority parties do not have to be nominated by all MPs of those parties. On the other hand, the ruling majority unofficially told "Vijesti" that the aim of the changes is to "unblock" the process of electing the vice president.
The Rules of Procedure of the Assembly in Article 19 paragraph 2 prescribes that candidates for vice president from minority parties are proposed by all MPs of those parties. However, the parliamentary majority proposed yesterday a solution that does not require unanimous support - that a candidate can be nominated by a deputy of a minority party, a club of deputies of those parties or a minority party.
In the explanation of the proposed changes, it is written that their adoption could be "legally justified by the need to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all deputies, by promoting democratic principles and by harmonizing with international standards for the protection of minority rights." They claim that voting on the proposal could contribute to "greater efficiency and pluralism in the work of the Assembly, which is in the ultimate interest of all citizens of Cme Gora".
The proposal was signed by Camaj, Vasilije Carapić (Europe Now Movement), Slaven Radunović (New Serbian Democracy), Boris Bogdanovic (Democrats), Milan Knezevic (Democratic People's Party) i Bogdan Božović (Socialist People's Party).
At the end of 2020, the ruling parties amended the Rules of Procedure and introduced a decision that the unanimous support of their deputies is required to nominate vice-presidents from minority parties.
According to the Rules of Procedure, the number of vice-presidents is determined by the Assembly, on the proposal of its head. The current convocation decided to have four. Apart from the one from the minority parties, at least one vice-president is elected from the opposition (on its proposal) and at least one from the less represented gender (women).
The Assembly, headed by him Andrija Mandic (New Serbian Democracy), currently has two vice-presidents - Boris Pejović, who was proposed to the position by his Movement Europe Now, and Zdenka Popović, which was nominated from among women by her Democrats.
The opposition has not nominated a candidate yet, but the strongest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), said they intend to do so.
"Of course we will propose a vice president and use the right that belongs to us as the strongest opposition party. We will soon inform the public about the candidate," the head of the DPS parliamentary club told "Vijesta". Andrija Nikolić. Deputies of that party were unofficially mentioned as potential candidates of the DPS for vice presidents Nikola Rakočević i Aleksandra Vuković Kuč.
Mugoša: Vice President according to the "taste" of the majority
Boris Mugoša, the head of the parliamentary group of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), criticized yesterday the proposal to amend the Rules of Procedure, saying that it represents "a continuation of the demonstration of the 'bare force' of the parliamentary majority".
"The vice-president of the parliament from among the minority parties will not be the one who is supported by the deputies of the minority parties (as is the current solution), but the one who is to the 'taste' of the majority," he wrote on the "Iks" network.
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