The census process in Montenegro has brought a lot of dilemmas, potential problems and insufficiently explained statements and attitudes in the public, said Darvin Muric, editor-in-chief of the Raskrinkavanje portal.
He emphasized that in the past months different statistical/census terms were often used, which, although there was not always a hidden or bad intention, if used in an imprecise way in the public, they could cause negative implications for the census process, but also different political interpretations with a negative impact on citizens’ trust.
“One of these questions is the ‘census number’ or ‘serial number’, which was often cited as one of the ways to query the database, which is intended to control the entry of questions about religion, nation and language. Due to the possibility of confusion and misleading the public, the editorial staff of Raskrinkanje dealt with this phenomenon in more detail”, explained Muric.
In one of his statements, Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, explaining how the census process can be made better, stated:
“There is a lack of software that would allow anyone to check the entered data with their census number, birth certificate number and ID card number. Therefore, enumerators would not be able to abuse their position. The development of that software will begin very soon”.
According to Muric, the terms “census number”, “census service number”, “serial number of the census slip” and “numbering of the slip” led Raskrinkanje to find out Monstat’s position on this issue.
