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Meeting: Towards recruitment based on merits

On Friday, 24 of July, the representatives of the Institute alternative (IA) held the meeting with interested stakeholders, within the project ”State Administration in Montenegro – Equal for All”, financially supported by the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica.

The event brought together stakeholders that are crucial for recruitment and promotion in state authorities, i.e. the consistent implementation of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees: representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Administrative Inspectorate, Human Resources Management Authority, the Appeals Commission and the Ethics Committee for monitoring the implementation of the Code of Ethics of Civil Servants and the State Employees.

At the meeting, we discussed the key challenges in establishing a merit based system in state authorities, identified in the IA’s monitoring report “Recruitment and promotion in state authorities“, but also in official Government’s reports and reports submitted through the IA website “My Administration“.

The result of the events is a draft of the recommendations, which will be further discussed in the framework of the amendments to the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, which is expected to be adopted by the end of the year.

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What do we want from Europe?

Šta mi želimo od Evrope?In the preface of the book written by the philosophers Slavoj Žižek and Srećko Horvat What does Europe want?, it is depicted how Croatia has become the EU member after midnight and has arrived at the party when all guests were already drunk. Other countries, primarily those from Western Balkans, therefore have no other choice but to come to the after-party, and they know very well all the bad sides of this get-together event. Does this feel as undesirable scenario already? The collection of articles by Žižek and Horvat represents a scan of the negative consequences of EU membership and impact that policies defined at EU level make on the economy and democracy in the member states. The eurozone crisis and the deterioration of the living conditions of European citizens have led to deeper dissatisfaction and again, stronger than ever, questioning the purposefulness of integration. It is exactly these internal problems in member states which show us at least two things.

The membership in the European Union does not annul wrong choices of the ruling elites. That does not necessarily mean that those elites would be accountable for the omissions, unjust enrichment, endless borrowing but it is more probable, according to the interpretations of Greeks, that the mentors will unleash the anger towards their citizens. Or, if we use the “tsiprasism”: What kind of system is that where uncontrolled banking speculation lead to bankruptcy of a country, while the austerity measures do not affect the stabilization, but the complete collapse of the economy? The truth is somewhere in-between, since the collapse of the system was caused by years-long bad governing of Greek political elites, while the appeal to their accountability is, however, the question of the internal procedures. The need to preserve the workers’ rights, insurance system and the welfare state on the one side should not exclude the interest of the banks and creditor on the other side. However, this is not the case in Greece. The newly developed post referendum state of affairs could have become a win-win situation. On the one hand, for Greeks, because the sudden decision to organize a referendum shifted the attention from the fact that due to the unpleasant debt crisis they actually do not hold the destiny of their own country in their hands and they have also recalled the bright moments of their history. On the other hand, for EU, the new negotiating circumstances could have created conditions to demonstrate the democratic capacities of finding a solution that would make it closer to its citizens. Nevertheless, this did not happen, which leads us to another problem within the Union.

Supranational Union which dictates the conditions to the countries in transition and to the member states suffers from the same diseases itself. The lack of legitimacy which had become a burden to the EU since the pre-Maastricht period is reflected in the continuous strengthening of the executive through the activities of the European Council and the Council, but also through the lack of legitimacy of the European Commission’s appointment and its way of work, as well as the limited scope of powers and influence of the European Parliament. Member states who are the initiators of the European integration process have the final say in these conditions, which is why Jürgen Habermas says that “German dictatorship” is in power. The consequence is deepening the gap between the citizens and the Union, as well as the lack of democracy in the member states. Adequate articulation of what member states and their citizens want, of course, involves transforming the organization of the Union, and the provision of new, more powerful, mechanisms for citizens’ representation. All previous attempts to democratize the Union were marginally strengthening the competence of the European Parliament and symbolic legitimisation of the Commission’s work, with further protection of most powerful EU member states’ interests.

Just as the Union and its member states are in a political trap, the candidate countries for membership in this community are struggling with their own traps, which can also be defined as the lack of democracy and accountability. In the context of Montenegro – the slow pace of reforms, unsuccessful privatizations, all-present corruption and nepotism show us that the minority’s interests are still more important than the interests of majority. At the same time, each improvement – legal, institutional, in practice, it is only the result of EU conditionality policy and pressure exerted on the candidate countries. Therefore, what we want from the EU/Europe is to continue to exert pressure on the authorities, and in parallel with the fulfillment of membership criteria, influence the improvement of the quality of life of Montenegrin citizens. EU pressure is, therefore, depending on different conditions (un)productive in different ways. However, as much as we need the Union to fulfill its mission, which could at least by the book be called a guarantor of the establishment of “high standards”, so it is needed that the EU and its driving forces regain the lost confidence its member states. That is the only sustainable modus of deepening integration.

Dr. Jovana MAROVIĆ
Research coordinator at Institute alternative and the member of the working group for Chapter 23

Text originally published in section ,,Forum” of daily Vijesti

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Results of a public opinion survey on perception of citizens on police integrity in Montenegro and in the region

Yesterday, on Wednesday 22 July, in four capitals in the region, Podgorica, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Pristina, were presented the results of a survey on the integrity of police, made according to the same methodology in order to be comparable.

The Surveys, for purposes of our network POINTPULSE, was conducted by Ipsos Strategic Marketing, according to the same methodology for all countries.

This activity is part of our three – year regional project, which aims to contribute to the transformation of the police in the Balkans into the professional police service that enjoys the trust and respect of its citizens. Public opinion survey should serve only as one of the indicators of the state in the police – the map of visible problems from the perspective of the citizens – and we hope it will be a good basis for further discussion.

In the following period, the Institute alternative will continue to illuminate the other aspects of police integrity, in cooperation with our regional partners, but also with the stakeholders in our country, especially when it comes to the quality of the oversight of the police, financial management in the police, human resources management, police management and transparency.

We are also interested in analysing the causes of undermined integrity of a certain number of police officers and how they are being manifested, but also how to facilitate the implementation of the highest professional standards and to encourage the police to significant results.

Bearing in mind the importance of further reform of the police, with four partner organizations from the region we have formed a network and started, at the beginning of the year, a new project Western Balkans Pulse For Police Integrity and Trust (POINTPULSE), funded by the European Union.

The leading organization in the regional network is The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), while the other partners are: BIRN Serbia, the Centre for Security Studies from Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Kosovo Center for Security Studies.

The results of the research can be downloaded on the following links:

Presentation of research results for Montenegro

Presentation of research results for the region

Here you can find the presentation of research results from yesterday’s press conference:

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There is significant scope for the fight against corruption within the Police

After unemployment, the corruption is the biggest problem that Montenegrin citizens face, and there is significant scope for the fight against that problem within the Police, as showed by the research of the regional network POINTPULSE, which is consisted of Institute alternative, Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCSP), BIRN Serbia, Center for Security Studies from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovar Center for Security Studies.

Dina Bajramspahić, public policy researcher at IA, stated that the research „Police Integrity in Western Balkans“ has been conducted from June 11th – 22nd with 1.292 respondents, adult Montenegrin citizens.

“We asked what are the most important problems Montenegro is facing at this moment. The citizens believe corruption is, after unemployment, the biggest problem in Montenegro, ” Bajramspahić said at PR Center.

She said that the second question was related to the trust in institutions in Montenegro, clarifying that the Police is in second place, after the education system.

“This represents a relatively high level of confidence in relation to the overall context, since the total percentage is 58 percent. Citizens have expressed less confidence toward the judiciary, Market Inspection and the Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative”, stated Bajramspahić.

She said that, when asked about the first association to the police, citizens mostly say that those are safety and security, while the corruption is in second place.

“While answering to the question about how they see the average police officer in Montenegro, citizens have overwhelmingly responded that they see them as arrogant, insolent and brash, while the second part of citizens believe that instill the safety and security,” said Bajramspahić.
The next question, she added, was what is the capacity that police in Montenegro operates within, where 30 percent of the respondents said that they act as a service of citizens.

“Of total number of remaining respondents, 38% say that they act either in the Government’s interest or as the mean to cover and protect political parties – 19 %, or as a mean to protect people who work at the top of Police Administration”, said Bajramspahić.

She said that the majority of citizens, 70 percent of them, believe that politics has an impact on operational work of the police, completely and excessively, while the remaining 27 felt it has was less or no impact at all.

“When it comes to employment in the police, we can see that only 32 percent believe that employment is conducted in accordance with the law – through open competition”, Bajramspahić pointed out.

She said that the views of citizens on the efficiency of the police showed that percentages are extremely high when it comes to public safety, safety in schools and traffic.

“This should explain why there is such a high confidence in the police, and that citizens also have low confidence that the police will effectively fight corruption within the police force and organized and economic crime,” stated Bajramspahić.

When it comes to the prevalence of corruption in the Montenegrin institutions, she added, the police is in the fifth place.

“The most negative opinion citizens have towards Market inspection, judiciary, Customs Administration and health, while the most positive attitude they have toward NGOs, education, the media,” said Bajramspahić.

She explained that the perception of the prevalence of corruption shows that this is not a decisive factor for the views of citizens about trust.

“Almost identical number of citizens have confidence in the police and believe that corruption is widespread, on the basis of which it can be concluded that the citizens decide on the trust based on other factors, not upon the prevalence of the corruption,” Bajramspahić said.

Responding to the question of who is most corrupt in the police, the research showed, as she said, that one third of citizens believe that those are people at top positions in the police, rather than ordinary police officers, inspectors and police officers dealing with economic crime.

“When asked who were the most common forms of corruption, 35 percent of citizens responded that it was taking bribes from criminals, while 28 percent of them considered that it was accepting bribes from citizens,” said Bajramspahić.

Speaking about the bribe, she said that five percent of the respondents who admitted that they have had that kind of experience, 73 per cent of them said that they had only offered a bribe; while 19 percent think it was at the request of police officers.

“Their response was that the most frequent value of bribe was amount of ten Euros,” she said.

Marko Sošić, public policy researcher at IA, explained that the identical questions which were responded by Montenegrin citizens were posed to the citizens of Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I have to say I was surprised with the degree of overlapping results in these countries. For most questions, the results are almost identical. The only country that stands out is Kosovo, which is characterized by an attitude towards the police which is much more positive than in other countries, “he said.

Stevo Muk, President of the Managing Board at IA, considers that there is significant scope to further work on integrity and accountability of police officers and police organizations.

“A lot of space remains for the police to fight against corruption and organized crime in general, but within their force as well. We believe that there is ample room for further work to reduce political influence on employment and the work of the police, as well as on other aspects of integrity, “he said.

The survey was conducted within the regional project „Balkan Pulse For Police Integrity and Trust – POINTPULSE”.

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Who Will be Held Accountable for Misuse of State Funds?

More than a month ago, with our four partner organisations, we have submitted an initiative to the Supreme State Prosecutor, requiring him to answer our question – What has Prosecution done with the reports that State Audit Institution (SAI) has officially submitted to the State Prosecutor’s Office?

So far, SAI has submitted audit reports to the State Prosecutor’s Office in eight cases: the Institute of Textbooks and Teaching Aids, Center for Contemporary Arts, Center for Vocational Education, Radio and Television of Montenegro (public service), University of Montenegro, Montenegrin National Theater, Democratic Party and the audit report on state guarantees.

We have received a response that in each of these cases the investigative actions have been carried out, but most of them were dismissed and no charges were brought.

In five out of eight cases, the Prosecution decided that there are no grounds for initiating criminal procedure. In three cases, the investigation is ongoing – the report on state guarantees, the Institute of Textbooks and Teaching Aids and Democratic Party from Municipality of Ulcinj.

This response confirms our doubts – the Prosecution’s work when it comes to determining accountability for inappropriate and illegal management of public funds is slow and inefficient.

It indicates that there are some problems in the cooperation between the Prosecution and SAI and some undefined procedures, but also that the Prosecution isn’t familiar enough with the nature of work of the state audit. The State Prosecutor’s Office is wasting time in the investigation requiring additional documentation not from the audited entities themselves, but from the SAI.

We will continue to follow these cases and put pressure on competent authorities to determine accountability for abuses and misuses of the taxpayers’ money.

 

ia-who-will-be-held-accountable-for-misuse-of-state-funds

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Perceptions of citizens on police integrity – Presentation of results of a regional public opinion survey

Regional network of civil society organisations POINTPULSE organises the presentation of results from the public opinion survey „Police Integrity in the Western Balkans” that will take place on Wednesday, 22 July 2015 at the PR Center in Podgorica starting at 11.00 h.

At the presentation citizens’ perceptions on the following issues will be discussed:

  • What is the level of citizens’ trust in the police?
  • How corrupt are the police?
  • What is the role of the Internal Affairs Sector?
  • To what extent politics influences police work?
  • What are the priorities in the police reform process?

At the presentation the perceptions of Montenegrin citizens on the police accountability will be discussed, as well as the comparative perceptions in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Panellists:

  • Stevo Muk, president of the Managing board of Institute Alternative,
  • Dina Bajramspahić, researcher at the Institute Alternative,
  • Marko Sošić, researcher at the Institute Alternative.

Working language of the presentation is Montenegrin. Simultaneous translation to English will be provided.

Due to a limited number of available seats, please confirm your attendance by Tuesday, 21 July 2015, via email at info@institut-alternativa.orgor via phone at 020/268-686.

Three separate presentations will be organised on the same day by the regional project partners in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Pristina – Centre for Security Studies BiH, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, Kosovar Centre for Security Studies.

This presentation is organised within the framework of the “Western Balkans Pulse for Police Integrity and Trust – POINTPULSE” project supported by the European Union through Civil Society Facility programme (EuropeAid/136-034/C/ACT/Multi).