The proposal to form an Ad Hoc Working Group for further upgrading and amending electoral and other legislation was discussed yesterday at the Collegium of the Assembly’s President of Montenegro. It is envisaged that all solutions must be adopted by consensus and without any separate opinions.
"Bearing in mind that it is a working body that will be composed of representatives of all the delegation clubs or parties represented in the Assembly, as well as the importance of issues to be discussed by the working group and ultimately the qualified majority needed to amend certain legal solutions, all the results of the work should be a product of consensual decision-making without separate opinions," states the proposal by Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), which was submitted to the presidents of the delegation clubs yesterday.
It is also stated that the expert, administrative and technical affairs would be in charge of the secretary of the Working Group, appointed by the Collegium. In the proposal, it was stated that the sessions could be attended by representatives of state authorities, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, universities, as well as experts and consultants from certain areas. The formation of the working group was sought by Democratic Montenegro and URA, boycotting the parliament's work.
President of the Parliament, Ivan Brajovic, said that the authority that will be engaged in electoral legislation should be elected in the Assembly. He stressed that an important process has been initiated with the aim of improving electoral legislation and ambiance.
"It is a long process, but luckily for us, we have been deprived of electoral competitions for the next two years. I expect next year to create all the necessary conditions for the Assembly to adopt laws and to improve the electoral legislation and the environment," Brajovic told to the journalists.
He explained that the members of the Collegium would have a deadline to submit their own suggestions or possible changes to the DPS proposal. Brajovic said that a new session of the Collegium will be held next week, and then a meeting with representatives of all parliamentary parties is planned. Brajovic pointed out that the members of the working group with the right to vote are delegates. "NGOs, international institutions and others who will be further involved will not have the right to vote, but the sessions of the Collegium will be open for their presence and suggestions. We will see in what format they will be present but will not have the right to vote," said Brajovic, stating that there is no reason to avoid talking about any matter related to electoral legislation reform.
Democrats claim that DPS has falsified their plan
The document discussed by the Collegium is not acceptable because "DPS has proposed a falsified plan by the Democrats and the URA movement," the two parties argue. These parties reminded that the NGO involvement obligation was necessary for the success of the process. "When it comes to electoral legislation, it is not necessary to build it because it is bad, but it needs to be significantly changed. By falsifying the Democrat’s Action Plan and URA Movement, DPS sends a message that it is prepared only for cosmetic changes, and the plan deals with essential changes to the electoral legislation. So, we stick to the Plan and DPS can do the cosmetic changes with its coalition partners and other partners," they argue.
Text by Samir Kajosevic, on September 18th, 2018, read more at Vijesti
