At the Collegium of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro held today, the conversation was continued on the forming and the manner of work of the parliamentary body which would deal with improvement of electoral legislation. Meanwhile, the Democratic Front, the Social Democratic Party and the Social Democrats presented their proposals.
It was agreed, among other things, that representatives of parliamentary parties that did not form MP Groups would be invited to the next meeting of the Collegium, so that they could voice their opinions and suggestions. We remind that, according to the Rules of Procedure, the Collegium of the President is attended by the vice presidents of the Parliament and the heads of MP Groups.
The members of the Collegium also agreed that in October, the Parliament would adopt a decision on the forming of a parliamentary body which would deal with electoral legislation.
In a statement following the meeting, President of the Parliament Mr Ivan Brajović said that it was obvious that, between the two Collegium meetings, there was greater mood for involvement of as many MPs as possible in this process and for providing their contribution.
- I have to say that, out of the six MP Groups that operate in our Parliament, five of them actively participate in the Collegium meetings. The only non-participating are representatives of the Democrats, who, as you know, very strongly advocate the forming of this body. I would say that they should take practical steps as soon as possible so that all of us in the Parliament can start working on these basic conditions for, as we say, rendering both electoral legislation and electoral environment even more favourable. Today we have elaborated the organisational structure and the scope of work of this parliamentary body, we also discussed the model of inclusion of parties that do not have MP Groups, because our dominant position is that the MPs be represented in this working body through their MP Groups. Next Thursday, I plan to talk with and invite all the presidents of parliamentary parties, meaning even those who do not have MP Groups, to hear their opinion about the future work of this working body.
President Brajović denied speculations that the NGOs would not be involved in this process:
- Of course this is not true. The MPs will be entitled to vote, however, relevant NGOs and the academic community will be entitled to participate, as well as everyone who, with their professional capacities and knowledge, can help us to get the best possible electoral legislation and the best possible electoral environment - concluded the President of the Parliament.
VIDEO Statement by President Brajović
