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Press release: NGO representatives in the Council for Development of NGOs are boycotting the work of this institution

Although the President of the Council for Development of NGOs Marija Vučinović scheduled the session for 12 September, the members of the Council from the ranks of non-governmental organisations will not take part in its work.

Representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) informed the Council about their decision. As the reason behind it, they stated that none of their demands was met since July 22 when they submitted them in written format to the President of this body.

They demanded from the President of the Council “to provide written assurance that the official opinions of the Council will in future primarily be sent to the members of the Council for deliberation and verification and then in such, verified format delivered to the Government.” This decision of the Council’s NGO members is in accordance with the joint assessment that the President of the Council, together with the Office for Cooperation with NGOs, have modified the Opinion approved by the Council’s majority in relation to the Report on the procedure of issuing the Decision on the allocation of revenue from games of chance for 2016, added stands and opinions which the Council did not approve, and delivered it to the Government hereby rendering the Opinion previously adopted by the Council meaningless.

Council’s NGO representatives have also requested written assurance that the press releases from the future sessions of the Council will be delivered to the Council’s members in a timely manner (before delivery to the media).

The letter with the demands is an expression of the culmination of relations between the President of the Council and the Head of the Office for Cooperation with NGOs on one side and representatives of non-governmental organisations in the Council on the other.

Council’s NGO representatives believe that the dialogue management and the decision-making process in the Council do not respect the views of non-governmental organisations.

The topic on the agenda of the scheduled session is deliberation on the Draft analysis of the effects of implementation of the 2014-2016 Strategy for Development of NGOs.

Stevo MUK
President of the Managing Board

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Panel discussion announcement: Police reform in the context of EU integration of the Western Balkans

Venue: Hotel Podgorica, Svetlane Kane Radević 1, Podgorica

Time: Wednesday, 7 September from 10:00

Regional network of civil society organizations POINTPULSE is organizing a panel discussion “Police reform in the context of EU integration of the Western Balkans ” that will be held on Wednesday, 7 September from 10:00 in the Hotel Podgorica, (address: Svetlane Kane Radević Street, no 1, in Podgorica.

The discussion will be held in Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian and English language. Simultaneous translation will be provided.

These questions will be address at the event:

  • What are expected benefits for the citizens from the application of police reform in the context of EU integration process?
  • What are the good results in the police reform so far in the region?
  • What are main challenges in developing democratic and accountable police?
  • What should be the priorities of the police reform process in the region?

Panelists:

  • Andreja Bogdanovski from Analytica, Skopje;
  • Bojan Elek from Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), Belgrade;
  • Sanjin Hamidičević from Centre for Security Studies (CSS), Sarajevo;
  • Dina Bajramspahić from Institute Alternative, Podgorica;
  • Besjana Kuci from Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), Tirana;
  • Plator Avdiu from Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), Pristine.

Moderator: Milena Milošević, public policy researcher, Institute Alternative.

This event is a part of the “Western Balkans Pulse for Police Integrity and Trust – POINTPULSE” project supported by the European Union through Civil Society Facility programme.

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Public opinion survey results: Majority of citizens trust the Police, despite their perception that the corruption is present

Six out of ten citizens trust the Police. Nevertheless, majority of citizens considers that the corruption in this institution is relatively widespread, according to results of public opinion survey presented today.

Institute Alternative has presented the results of field research, conducted in April 2016 by IPSOS Strategic Marketing, on representative sample of 1000 adult citizens of Montenegro.

“In addition to the high level of public trust, views also showed that they generally have positive associations with the average policemen and policewomen,” Milena Milošević, researcher at IA said at the presentation.

However, she stressed that these positive results are in contrast to other research findings, giving a somewhat complex picture of the citizens’ views of the police.

Citizens also believe that corruption within this institution is relatively widespread, and that the police mostly serves to particular interests. According to the citizens, employment in the police is not merit-based.

Namely, 36% of citizens believe that corruption is widespread to some extent, while over 19% believe that it is widespread to the highest level. Only 13% of citizens believe that corruption in the police force does not exist.

The perception of corruption in the police is one of the most stable results of this year’s survey compared to a similar survey conducted last year. Citizens of Serbian nationality have less confidence in the police and they perceive it as alienated from citizens. Less than half of respondents (42%) who identified themselves as Serbs say they mostly or completely have confidence in the police.

The novelty of this year’s survey was the focus on citizens’ opinions about policewomen.

“Although policewomen are mainly attributed with positive attributes, this research confirms the existence of certain stereotypes about women. Beauty, looks and charm are among the most common first associations to policewoman, while less than 1% of the respondents have had the same first association when it comes to average policeman. Also, none of the respondents considered that the average man in the police was not up to his job, while 5% of respondents expressed that view when asked to describe women in the police, ” Milošević explained.

She also pointed out that the results do not match the comparing trust of the public and the perception of corruption in them, when it comes to other institutions as well.

“For example, confidence in healthcare system is high, although citizens believe that corruption in healthcare system is also relatively widespread,” she added, pointing to the underdeveloped political culture of doubting in state institutions’ performance as one of the possible explanations for these contradictory results.

Marko Sošić, IA Associate, noted that the public opinion survey, based solely on perceptions of citizens, will be complemented by in-depth qualitative research on the integrity of the police, which will be presented in a separate publication.

The research was conducted within the project “Western Balkans Pulse for Police Integrity and Trust”, which aims to contribute to building confidence in the police by promoting accountability and strengthening the integrity of the police.

POINTPULSE network, formed for this purpose, consists of seven CSOs from the region: Analytika from Skopje, Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCSP) and Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) from Belgrade, Center for Security Studies (CSS) from Sarajevo, Institute alternative (IA) from Podgorica, Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) from Tirana, and Kosovo Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) in Pristina.

Below you can see the presentations of today’s event:

 

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Research findings presentation announcement: How much do we trust the Police?

Institute Alternative (IA) and Regional CSO Network POINTPULSE are organising presentation of results of the public opinion survey „How much do we trust the Police” that will take place on September 1st in PR Centre, starting at 11h.

At the presentation special focus will be dedicated to following issues:

  • How much do we trust the police?
  • How citizens percieve average male and female police officers?
  • How much corruption there is within the police and how to fight it?
  • To what extent politics influences the police?

The perceptions of citizens of Montenegro will be presented and compared to the perceptions in Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo.

Research findings will be presented by Milena Milošević, Public Policy Researcher at IA, and the moderator will be Marko Sošić, IA’s Associate.

Presentations on the same topic will be simultaneously organised in Belgrade, Tirana, Sarajevo, Skoplje, and Pristina, where the results will be presented by project partners: Belgrade Center fo Securuty Studies, Institute for Democracy and Mediation, Center for Security Studies, Analytica, and Kosovar Center for Security Studies.

You can also follow the discussion on Twitter using hashtags #BalkanCops and #POINTPULSE.

Project is funded by the European Union through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance. The content of the project is the sole responsibility of the POINTPULSE members and the expressed views do not necessarily reflect those of the EU.

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MPs or civil servants? Put an end to violation of the law and work in parallel tracks

The news that the MP from the ruling party held a position at the local self-government while simultaneously serving as the Member of the Parliament and that he left the position of the local civil servant with severance pay is an indication of extremely blurred lines between private, party and public services in Montenegro.

According to the Daily Vijesti, Radovan Obradović, MP of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), received severance pay amounting to 15 000 EUR in 2015 after leaving the function of the advisor in the Municipality Bijelo Polje.

Namely, Obradović’s employment relationship in the Municipality had been temporarily suspended allegedly according to the Labour Law which allows for the suspension of employment in the case of election or appointment to a “state function” until the expiration of one term of office.

Application of the law as in the Obradović’s case is controversial due to several reasons.

Primarily, provisions of the Labour Law regulating suspension of employment can not be directly applied to the state and local civil servants.

On the contrary, their rights and labour relations are governed by special laws – the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees and the Law on Local Self-Government, which do not recognise the suspension of employment of servants on the ground of election or appointment to a “state function”.

The logic that applies to employees in the private or non-governmental sector can not be applied to employees in the state administration and local self-governments. The nature of the job and the authorities of public servants place them in a particularly vulnerable position, both in terms of politicisation, as well as from the standpoint of conflict of interest.

The second reason lies in the constitutional division of powers, as well as the very principle of political neutrality of civil servants.

Employees in local and state administration are obliged to refrain from political beliefs, while their expression in the performance of tasks is considered to be a severe violation of official duty.

Obradović’s case, unfortunately, is not alone.

Namely, the case of MP Zoran Jelić gained public attention recently. Simultaneously to performing his parliamentary function, he was hired as a consultant in the Employment Agency of Montenegro where he received an additional salary.

Institute Alternative, therefore, urges relevant authorities, primarily the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and the Administrative Inspection, to take appropriate steps in ending such practices whose actual proportions are unknown.

The narrow interpretation of the Law on Prevention of Corruption which implies that the public officials who perform tasks in state and local administration are the only ones who can not simultaneously be MPs and councillors must not serve as an excuse for the violation of the law and the neglect of separation of powers and the principle of political neutrality.

Milena MILOŠEVIĆ
Public Policy Researcher

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IA at the Workshop “Civil Monitoring of Public Procurement” in Tirana

Public Policy Researcher at Institute Alternative (IA), Ana Đurnić, participated at workshop “Civil Monitoring of Public Procurement”, organised by Albanian Institute of Science (AIS) on 29 July in Tirana, with financial suport of National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Radionica: Civilno društvo i monitoring javnih nabavki, Tirana

Workshop brought together 20 civil society representatives from Albania, Romania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, to exchange knowledge and experience in monitoring of public procurement and jointly contribute to the system of public procurement in these countries to be more transparent.

IA researcher presented Montenegrin public procurement institutional and legislative framework, key research findings of IA’s monitoring of public procurement as well as content and the way of functioning of Montenegrin Public Procurement Portal.

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