He said that local elections in Tivat are an excellent opportunity for all those participating to test the election rules, the new system of electronic identification of voters, and their own party structure in the field.
As he said, it would be logical for everyone to have a general rehearsal in order to prevent mistakes on the parliamentary elections.
“If local elections in Tivat are cancelled, that would create opportunity to prolong the mandate of the representatives outside of the 4 year frame, and it would mean introducing a dangerous precedent that would legitimize the right of parliamentary majority on the national level to prolong the mandate of representatives in the local parliament, which would enable long-term abuse of such an act“, Vujović said in his statement to MINA agency.
This would introduce a practice that can change legal acts retroactively. „We must never forget that the citizens had chosen representatives for 4 years, and it is a serious matter who can change citizens’ decision“.
“In the case that such a solution is passed, after the 4 years that citizens decided, further mandates would not reflect the will of the citizens of Tivat, but that of representatives of Montenegro’s Parliament. Who would they represent then – Montenegrin representatives that ‘’gifted them with prolongation” or citizens of Tivat“, Vujović asked.
According to him, this would be a wrong move that would endanger system of representatives’ democracy.
“Eventual decision of the Montenegrin Parliament would drastically endanger the rule of law, and bring forth legal unease. As much as this can mean a good solution for the opposition at the moment, it is creating long-term possibilities for abuse“, Vujović said.
Boycott of these elections would make sense for some parties only if the research showed drastically worse results on the Tivat elections than on those at the national level.
“Opposition’s boycott makes sense only if they are united in it, which is hard to expect, seeing that some parties are already in the process of campaigning. Partially boycott of the opposition could turn out very bad for those boycotting, while those who participate could have better chances compared to the rest“, Vujović thinks.
If SPD were to boycott the elections, their voters would be an easy prey for Social-Democrats, and the situation is similar with SNP and Democrats, and DEMOS and Democratic Front.
“They need to look at the problem from many different perspectives, because there are too many ‘unknowns’“, Vujović added.
He thinks that the cancellation of the election means cancellation of vote of confidence to the President of the Parliament, and it is serving DPS to further cancel the negotiations.
Vujović said that clear messages are coming from Brussels, both to the leadership and to the opposition, and that they must continue with the negotiations and reach an agreement. „Hesitation from both sides is noticeable, because everyone is looking for their best chances in the grey zone“.
“Time is in DPS’s favor, and they are aware of it, which is why they are not rushing to continue. They are using time to replace Ranko Krivokapić on one side, and on the other they are carefully sending messages to the international audience that they are without problems themselves“, he said.
According to him, the opposition got tangled around the request that the leader of SDP remain as the President of Parliament, which is a weakness for their position and opens a lot of space for DPS to maneuver.
Statements from DPS collaborators, Vujović added, speak to that effect. „To postpone the vote of confidence to the President of the Parliament means that DPS is postponing the negotiations. Opposition should change their strategy and take initiative“.
“Opposition should focus on the quality of requests, and not on the position of Parliament’s President. They need to put forward requests that are not for one use only, for these elections, but that can sustain the prevention of abuse of national resources and electoral process in the long-term“, he said.
Vujović thinks that the political control of Agency for Fight against Corruption should be minimized, as well as the influence of parties on decision making in the National Electoral Commission DIK.
“DIK should instead behave as a neutral administration, and not serve as a platform for pushing forward party interests. These two institutions should become independent in the long-term“, he added.
According to Vujović, it is realistic to expect that the direct failure of negotiations will get increased involvement from international partners, primarily European Union.
“The postponing works for DPS until a certain point, but they take a risk of this problem going international. It is to expect that after Krivokapić’s replacement they will speed up this process. Obviously, Krivokapić himself is looking for procedural possibilities to postpone his replacement“, he said.
He thinks that short-term use of mechanisms for preventing the abuse of power decreases their effect, which is not favorable to the opposition. „We should wait and see who plays this complicated puzzle better“.
Vujović said that the accusations between DPS and SDP do not have the basis in reality, because neither of parties wants to discuss serious matters, concrete cases of abuse and criminal, and they are wasting the time of the public with their blame game.
“If they want to deal with their former coalition partners, they should notify the State Prosecution of concrete cases of abuse“, he said.
