Minister of Interior Affairs Danilo Šaranović (Democrats) is available to attend the control hearing before the Security and Defense Committee at any time and before June 26, when a session of that parliamentary body is scheduled for which he and the Prime Minister would Milojko Spajic (Movement Europe Now) should have answered the questions of the deputies.
This is what the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) told "Vijesti" yesterday, answering the question of what are Šaranović's obligations, given that the President of the Committee Miodrag Laković (Movement Europe now) claims that the date of the session of that body is only scheduled for the end of June due to the obligations of the Prime Minister and the Minister.
Spajić and Šaranovića should be heard because of the events at the Government session held in mid-March, at which Aleksandar Radovic elected chief of police. Bearing in mind that the hearing decision was made on March 19, the question is what is the point of applying that control mechanism more than three months later...
"The Cabinet of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Danilo Šaranović, informed the competent Committee for Security and Defense of the Parliament of Montenegro before the relevant session of the Committee was scheduled for June 26, that the minister is available to attend the said session at any time and before June 26, as and on that date", stated the MUP.
The Government did not answer the question of "Vijesti" what obligations Prime Minister Spajić has.
The day before yesterday, Laković answered a question from a member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Nikola Janović, said that the parliamentary majority showed good will and met the initiative to schedule a control hearing, but that the date was agreed with the Government, because, as he said, the committee does not determine the work agenda of the executive and ministers.
Janović replied that this situation is devastating for the parliament, and that it is not possible that Spajić and Saranović will not be in Montenegro until June 26.
"We must show more respect for the parliament, these people are elected by this house... We must respect each other more and teach the government to respect the parliament", he said.
At the session on March 13, at around three in the morning, the government elected Aleksandar Radović, the head of the Sector for Financial Intelligence Affairs, as the acting director of the Police Administration (UP).
This was done at the suggestion of Spajić, not Minister Saranović. According to the Law on Internal Affairs, the minister is exclusively competent to submit to the Government a proposal for the acting director of the UP, and the executive power as a collective body gives its consent or not to such a proposal.
Radović's appointment culminated the simmering conflict between the Europe Now Movement (PES) and the Democrats regarding staffing in the security sector. Democrats and some lawyers claim that the Government, by concluding that it authorized Spajić to propose the acting director, violated the Law on Internal Affairs. That's why they filed a complaint with the Administrative Court.
Public policy researcher at the NGO Institute of Alternatives (IA) Marko Sosic, told "Vijesti" that the president of the Security Committee allows the hearing as a control mechanism to be rendered meaningless by the fact that it is planned to be held three months after the decision on it was passed.
"In the case of this committee, it is not only a business obligation, but also a legal obligation, because their control role was further strengthened by the Law on Parliamentary Oversight of the Security and Defense Sector from 2010," he pointed out.
Sošić said that scheduling the session is often a matter of agreement between the chairman of the board and the representative of the Government, but, he adds, within reasonable limits that will not jeopardize the meaning of the initiative.
"Although this obligation to harmonize is not prescribed by the Rules of Procedure, communication with the Government in this sense is not within the competence of the President of the Board", he says.
He explains that formally and by law, the Board does not have that obligation, because they "invite the representatives of the Government to the session when they decide to schedule it".
"According to the interpretation of the current chairman of the Committee, the Committee is left at the mercy of the Government in terms of scheduling the session - if the Government had said that they would not come, he would not have scheduled it," the interlocutor said.
Sošić believes that this information is particularly worrying, bearing in mind that the right to a minority initiative for control hearings is suppressed in several committees, information from deputies that the Government does not respond to their questions and requests for documentation, or that the Prime Minister dictates when he can and when he cannot prime time happens.
The prime minister's hour was scheduled for April 30, but Spajić informed the President of the Assembly Andrija Mandić that he cannot come, because he is on an official visit to Germany at the time. According to "Vijesti" unofficial information, the session dedicated to the prime minister's hour will most likely be held on May 9.
In several cases, representatives of the government avoided holding control hearings initiated by opposition MPs, who, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, have the right to do so twice during the regular session of Parliament.
At the beginning of March, the Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget did not vote on whether to hold a control hearing of Spajić and the Minister of Finance News of Vuković on the topic announced by the program "Europe Now 2".
At the end of February, the initiative of the Social Democrats was not accepted Nikola Zirojević to hold a control hearing of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Filip Ivanovic on the occasion of the Republika Srpska Day celebration. The practice of avoiding control hearings in parliament also existed in earlier convocations.
Member of the Civic Movement URA Filip Adzic announced yesterday that, bearing in mind that Šaranović announced the announcement of a public competition for the election of the director of UP, it could easily happen that the control hearing "regarding the illegal election" of the acting director of that institution takes place after the election of a new director for a full term.
"The public is used to Spajić avoiding cross-arguing with MPs, because this is one of the most non-transparent governments since the independence of Montenegro. On the other hand, it is not surprising because he always leaves the Parliament building politically defeated", stated Adžić.
The first appearance of Prime Minister Spajić in front of the MPs during prime minister's hour, in December last year, was followed by controversies. As "Vijesti" reported at the time, he informed Mandić by phone that he would not appear at the prime minister's hour, about which the head of the Assembly informed the collegium. After the collegium session, Spajić confirmed that he would still come to the session.
Sošić reminds that Spajić recently called the prime minister's hour "a circus and a waste of precious time for essential things".
"He has the right to call him whatever he wants, but he has the obligation to show up when called," he said.
On Thursday, Nikola Janović asked Mandić if it was okay for the prime minister to say that a circus was happening in the parliament, after Mandić praised him for coming before everyone else (for the prime minister's hour). Mandić replied that there was never a circus in the parliament.
"I didn't understand that the prime minister said that the whole parliament is a circus, but we are politicians - the biggest actions in this parliament are held by the prime minister's party. That is why he is the prime minister, because he has the largest number of deputies, not because he is the most beautiful. Anyone can say what they want, the Parliament is the most important institution of Montenegro", stated Mandić.
Sošić: The government should not forget that tomorrow it can be in the opposition benches
Marko Sošić says that it is up to the leadership of the Assembly, from the Speaker of the Parliament to the head of the committee, to take care of protecting the constitutional position of the Legislative Chamber, the spirit of the provisions of the Rules of Procedure and the Law on Parliamentary Oversight.
"Deputies of the majority should also take care - tomorrow it may happen that they will be in the benches of the opposition, so it will mean a principled fight for the controlling role of the Assembly", he said.
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