The census is still being postponed?

Does the deletion of "year 2021" from the title and text of the draft law on the census of population, households and apartments in 2021 mean that there will be no census this year? Those who suggested it answer in the affirmative.

"We hope that this means that, because in the year 21, the census, which is according to the statistical standards and procedures and EU rules, really cannot be held, it is too short a time. It is not only about the training of enumerators, there it's primarily about the Law, the key thing is that it needs to be adopted, and it has to go through some procedures in the parliament," said the executive director of the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT), Dragan Koprivica.

It has not even reached the parliament, where more than 60 acts are pending.

The public discussion ended 15 days ago, and the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare (MFSS) notes that the Government's work program foresees that the draft law on the census will be determined in the fourth quarter, that is, by the end of this year. Previously, the solutions will be reviewed in Brussels.

"Now the process of harmonizing the Draft Law with the accepted proposals and suggestions from the public hearing is underway, so that the final Draft would be sent to the European Commission for its opinion, and then to the Government of Montenegro for the determination of the Draft Law. After that, the Parliament of Montenegro will express its opinion on the Draft of the law. When the law is adopted by the Parliament and enters into force, the Directorate for Statistics will propose the optimal date for conducting the census, which will be defined by a by-law," stated the MFSS.

During the twenty-day public debate on the Draft Law, comments, objections and proposals were received from nine addresses, including NGO groups and public opinion research agencies - that questions about ethnicity, religion and mother tongue should be omitted from the list. considering, as they stated, an extremely unstable socio-political situation and a lack of trust in institutions. The Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare did not accept that proposal.

"Omitting questions about ethnicity, religion and language would lead to mutual inconsistency and disconnection with other laws in the legal system of Montenegro, which would be contrary to the legal and technical rules for drafting regulations," the department points out.

This explanation for a group of non-governmental organizations and agencies is unacceptable

The reasoning of Monstat and MFSS is not correct and we see it as, shall I say, a kind of cowardice on their part. Instead of telling us that they politically want to list those three parameters, which is politically legitimate, they find us some non-existent reasons. They decided that way, and they will be responsible for all the future that such enumeration of citizens will bring in such a political moment," says Koprivica.

In addition to the parties in power, with the exception of the Civic Movement URA, but also the Democrats, the list that includes the categories of nation, religion and language includes all the parties of minority peoples in Montenegro.

The Ministry and Monstat, during the public hearing, rejected a total of 53 proposals, remarks and suggestions, and accepted 15, including the Unicef ​​Office to include a set of questions related to people with disabilities in the census questionnaire, and certain proposals of the Association of Disabled Youth.

The Democratic Front previously announced that they would overthrow the Government if there was no census this year. The census is conducted every ten years, and the last and only one since the restoration of independence was carried out in April 2011.