By
Prof. Blagota Mitric, retired full professor of the Faculty of Law and DANU academician
The Constitutional Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro should naturally take care of every issue of CONSTITUTIONALITY, be something like the Constitutional Court, but which in line with the Constitution doesn’t have legally binding effect, so, aware of this fact, certain individuals make a mockery of certain provisions of the Constitution in their discussions, especially “whether the President of the State violated the Constitution when he didn’t propose Lekic as prime minister-designate”, while they aren’t aware (or they are) that they’re making mockery of themselves, as MPs. But that is not surprising given that over 80% of MPs don’t understand constitutional norms, that is, their interpretation.
Article 95 paragraph 1 point 5 (I quote) of the Constitution of Montenegro stipulates: “suggests to the parliament prime minister-designate after talks with representatives of the political parties represented in the parliament.” (end of quote)
It’s true that the President of the State didn’t talk to all the “prescribed” MPs because he was actually powerless since all the MPs of the Democratic Front and the Democrats of Montenegro, which is half of the parliamentary composition, refused them, so the hearing of the other three MPs from the three remaining parliamentary parties was no longer a question of constitutionality, but a question of expediency, since nothing depended on their opinion.
Therefore, six opposition MPs came to talks: three from the SDP, two from the SD, and one from the LP. These facts show that it’s not about the violation of the Constitution, but a brutal obstruction by almost the entire parliamentary majority.
As for the phenomenon of “41 MPs signatures “, it’s true that it’s not prescribed by the Constitution, but the fact is that during the election of Z. Krivokapic as prime minister-designate, 41 signatures were obtained with the consent of all MPs of the parliamentary majority and the President of the State, and facts are sometimes stronger than legal norms, which is in this particular case a fact, and all in accordance with Article 9 of the Constitution of Montenegro, defining the legal order of Montenegro.
When it comes to the appointment of Dritan Abazovic as prime minister-designate, it was a minority government, so, based on the norm of Article 95 of the Constitution of Montenegro, the signatures of 41 deputies were not even required, but 41 votes in parliament, which Dritan Abazovic got and was elected prime minister-designate, and later prime minister of the minority government.
It’s also a fact that the parliamentary majority did not manage to reach an agreement on the name and surname of prime minister-designate in thirty days, as, according to Lekic, “the most common charlatanism in the discussions” was happening among MPs of the parliamentary majority until the final day, as Lekic himself admitted.
Another fact is that the parliamentary majority couldn’t ensure 41 signatures in a “crucial moment” even though the leader of the Democratic Front was bragging about having them all, but the truth was that the three signatures of URA MPs were missing and one signature of the SNP MP, and it’s called forgery in law. So when the President of the State found out about the afore-mentioned facts, as he himself had told, he “got an impression that the proposed prime minister-designate cannot make a government”.
Finally, it’s an undeniable fact that the elected parliamentary majority was not up to the task of managing state affairs at the given moment, because after two months of the rule of the elected Prime Minister Z. Krivokapic, they ceased to believe in him, so, faced with such an experience, the President of the State made the decision not to propose prime minister-designate from such a parliamentary majority. The strongest legal argument of the Constitutional Committee from yesterday’s session (November 21, 2022) is in the title of this legal opposition of mine.
