Political consultant and analyst Rudi Mersak says that the situation Vladimir Jokic ended up in shows that he personally had an irresponsible attitude towards this matter, since he was aware of his dual citizenship and of the fact that Montenegrin laws do not allow to be elected as a councillor or mayor in that case.
“Now it can have extremely large material and legal consequences for him as an individual, but also for local self-governance – since it is possible to raise a question on the election of all local bodies. I think that the state authorities must react immediately on this issue, primarily the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Public Administration. The ministries must immediately make decisions in accordance with the law. Quick decisions would not allow politicisation of this issue,” Mersak told Dnevne Novine.
Mersak has been involved in political marketing throughout Europe for over 20 years. In the last three years, he has been very active in Montenegro.
Mersak, who has achieved enviable results in many Montenegrin elections as a consultant to political parties, says that the example of the mayor of Kotor and recent developments related to “two” mayors in Herceg Novi point to the necessity of respecting and applying positive legislation in Montenegro.
“This refers to all institutions from the municipal election commission to the competent ministry. A politician must provide a good example. The Administrative Court ended the ‘comedy of the two presidents’ in Herceg Novi. The example of Kotor is not the same. The entire election process will be called into question – from establishing candidates list, election campaign, election day, forming the coalition and taking over the mayor position. It is certain that Vladimir Jokic contributed to the election result of his party. Now a solution must be found in order to avoid harming the municipality as much as it is possible,” he says.
Mersak points out that, knowing the political situation in Montenegro, all the decisions made during Jokic’s term of office may be challenged.
“Among others, those are decisions related to existential issues such as employing, the budget, etc… Either the ruling coalition or the opposition mustn’t make a ‘comedy’ of those issues, trying to win political points. Instead, the competent ministry must put an end to the situation with a prompt decision, in accordance with the Constitution and law,” says Mersak.
