The failure to pass the new law on the election of councillors and MPs will not jeopardise the legitimacy of either presidential or local elections in Montenegro, said Miodrag Vukovic, DPS MP and a member of the Working Group for the Adoption of OSCE Recommendations, who drafted the election bills.
At the end of last year, the Parliament of Montenegro did not adopt amendments to the Law on the Election of Councillors and MPs, since it did not receive the two-thirds support of MPs. DF representatives left the session ahead of the vote on the law, so the support of the deputies of the ruling coalition was not enough to adopt this act.
The Parliament passed amendments to the Law on Electronic Media, the Electoral Register and the Financing of Political Entities and Electoral Campaigns, since their adoption did not require votes of the two-third majority.
The Working Group adopted 18 OSCE recommendations for improving the electoral process. Her work was largely open to the public. It was done without the participation of the opposition, although its representatives were invited to join the working group. They could do so anytime until all laws were amended.
Opposition sees the changes to the law as “cosmetic” ones that would not change anything. According to its representatives, the amendments would only increase the chaos in the electoral legislation. They also say that the elections will not be legitimate due to the non-implementation of the umbrella electoral law.
However, OSCE/ODIHR representatives affirmatively evaluated the activities of the Working Group and the laws enacted.
Vukovic pointed out that all elections would be “absolutely legitimate” and that almost 90% of OSCE suggestions are embedded in electoral legislation.
