2018 – Page 19 – Institute Alternative

03. 04. 2018.25. 06. 2020.

State of Security and Dismissal of Managers

Commentary of our researcher Dina Bajramspahić on announcements of the National Security Council, state of security and dismissal of managers for ND Vijesti

State of security is more that worrying. It is especially important to emphasise that murders that are happening are only a visible part of „commotion“ which happens underground and that is most obvious and major consequence of numerous illegal activities that are happening in the background.

Although we from IA many times announced that it is good that Police operate actively and puts pressure on criminal groups with frequent searches, confiscating weapons and narcotics; also, we emphasised many times that it is, however, crucial to initiate financial investigation and stop cash flow for financing illegal activities, including money which hired murders are paid with. Until there is no progress made on that plan, criminal groups will be consolidated and attract new members with money, so we should not be naive and hope for the war to be ended by itself.

Amid the clan wars, National Security Council has „original“ proposal to form new special teams, although there were some until now. In the announcement is not cited not even a word on what the problem is with existing Special team, nor how existing ad hoc teams for investigation are functioning, as legislature allowed that possibility until now, even without initiative of the Council. That are the reasons why this proposal seems as distraction of the public in electoral campaign and new illusion that something is being conducted. Montenegro is already five years in negotiations with the EU during which is every day repeated that we have to show results in fight against organised crime. On that Council answers with short term solutions which will not have any effects because they are not based on fundamental analysis of the problems which state authorities are faced with in detection and processing of organised crime. In other words, they are just buying time with this and the problem is delayed for the future.

The same situation is with the problem of „cooperation“ of the Police and the Prosecution. Minister of the Interior has repeated in many of his statements during last couple of days that it is necessary „more impactful and even stronger action of the prosecution and judiciary…“ (cited from the announcement of Public Relations Service of the Government of Montenegro http://www.gov.me/vijesti/183431/Ministar-Nuhodzic-Direktor-Uprave-policije-Slavko-Stojanovic-i-nacelnik-CB-Podgorica-podnijeli-ostavke.html). With this is continued multiannual practice of shifting accountability from one to the others. However, none of these authorities are interested in taking concrete action on solving this problem. The problem is being pushed under the carpet and emphasised only when public officials are forced under pressure to indicate at least on some reason for this woeful state in fight against organised crime. IA published two analysis on this subject, in 2014 and 2017 and we are very sad that this is a topic again in April 2018.

And human resources policy of the MI is seen as a bad strategy for buying time, with frequent dismissal and constant rotation of staff in circle and without significant analysis about where were the problems. I hope that new head of administrations will be appointed along detailed rationale and based on merits that will be publicly announced.

Originally published on: http://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/bakovicu-krivi-svi-osim-njega-982661

01. 04. 2018.15. 01. 2019.

Montenegro and the EU: How to Improve EU Reform Benchmarking?

Certain benchmarks in the process of EU-Montenegro negotiations are not defined clearly enough, so they are subject to free interpretation and monitoring of progress, as assessed at the panel discussion held in Podgorica.

Panel discussion “Towards Better EU Reform Benchmarking: The EU Enlargement Strategy and Montenegro” was organized by the Institute Alternative on March 29.

EU Reform Benchmarking does not confirm the frontrunner status of Montenegro in the absolute sense, if we disregard comparison with other countries in the region facing other types of problems, said Milena Milošević.

She pointed out that the new EU Enlargement Strategy practically confirms that the previous mechanisms and benchmarks have not yielded expected results. Previous mistakes should be overcome in the elaboration of future expert missions, detailed action plans and benchmarks announced in annexes that follow this Strategy.

Milošević highlighted that benchmarks, which should contribute to substantial transformation and democratization, encounter most problems.

She underlined that “Certain benchmarks are not fully developed”.

“An example is the request to adopt a joint plan for the fight against corruption at borders. The plan’s objectives and activities have never been clearly defined. This approach produces a series of documents – plans envisaging new plans and strategies. As a result, monitoring becomes more cumbersome and the details are hard to follow in a labyrinth of documents”

Poor data management by government bodies is another challenge for monitoring benchmarks which represent concrete requirements which key EU enlargement documents specifically formulate for the Montenegrin authorities, whose conditions for implementation signify further progress along the country’s path to EU accession.

“This is best illustrated by the failure of institutions to comply with legal obligations on data collection and systematization of discrimination cases, which should be the key source for assessing progress in achieving antidiscrimination benchmark,” said Milošević.

Institute Alternative pointed out that proliferation of different data sources can create vast room for manoeuvre – for both the European Commission and the government, as to how to interpret and present progress in meeting benchmarks.

Jelena Burzan, Director General in the General Directorate for the Accession to the EU in the Ministry of European Affairs, said that the key message of the EU Enlargement Strategy is confirmation of membership perspective.

She added that accession is both political and technical process, and pointed out that despite significant achievements during five years of accession negotiations, there is still much work to be done and there is a need for engagement and devotion of the whole society.

Burzan reminded that there are 83 interim benchmarks in total in Chapters 23 and 24.

“We consider these benchmarks to be fulfilled in one part. Good results have been achieved in regard to legal and institutional framework and we are now devoted to further track record. Bearing in mind that these are areas where the results need to be shown in the period prior to the membership, but also afterwards, I believe that some of the interim benchmarks will become closing ones”, she explained.

Burzan recalled that Montenegro, by recent adoption of laws on state aid and competition, fulfilled the last of the 22 opening benchmarks set by the EC in 13 chapters.

She added that Montenegro has been continuously and responsibly working to fulfill 73 closing benchmarks in the chapters to which they refer to, recalling that Chapter 30 – External Relations was closed last year after fulfilment of pertaining closing benchmark. She further noted that all departments are devoted to fulfilling their commitments and in that context she expressed her expectation for reform results to be verified through provisional closing of the negotiating chapters.

During the discussion, civil society representatives pointed out their unsatisfactory status in working groups for negotiation in certain chapters, as well as the fact that it is difficult to monitor the fulfilment of benchmarks and indicators, which are often reduced to numerical expression of certain activities.

Panel discussion gathered over thirty representatives of state institutions, non-governmental sector, foreign embassies and international organizations.

It was held in the framework of the project “Benchmarking EU Reform – How Effective (BENCHER)”, with the support of the European Fund for Balkans, Think and Link Regional Program and the Open Society Initiative.

The project is implemented by the Think for Europe Network (TEN), in cooperation European Policy Center– CEP in Serbia, the European Policy Institute in Macedonia, the Group for Legal and Political Studies in Prishtina, the Foreign Policy Initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation in Albania, which together with the Institute Alternative comprise TEN Network (Think for Europe). The project’s objectives are to explore the effectiveness of the EU’s benchmarking system for the Western Balkans.

28. 03. 2018.07. 05. 2020.

Corporate Governance in Western Balkans: Far from Good

Need to strengthen competence in managing the internal audit of public companies in the Western Balkans was highlighted at a regional conference “How to Improve Good Governance of State Owned Companies?” on 26 March 2018, in Sarajevo.

The regional conference was organised by Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The event brought together representatives of public enterprises and institutions in the Western Balkans, as well as Croatia and Turkey, civil society organisations and parliamentary institutions in the region.

The participants of the conference talked about the issues of the shortcomings of the existing legal framework in their countries, management in public enterprises, openness to the public in business operations of public enterprises, fight against nepotism and corruption, over and uncontrolled employment (which is especially characteristic of public companies in Serbia, companies abuse temporary and occasional business contracts on for this purpose), but also about consumer rights and the quality of services these companies provide to citizens.

The conference emphasised the need to adopt plans for integrating public companies as mechanisms to combat corruption. As a particularly burdensome problem, participants identified an excessive number of employees in public companies.

This issue is also characteristic for Montenegro and was highlighted in the March 2018 preliminary findings of employees of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Montenegro. In addition, by reducing the number of employees, it is necessary to reduce the wages in the public sector, which includes public companies, and to introduce stricter employment controls, the IMF recommended. The framework for public-private partnerships should be strengthened in order to ensure that public companies do not impose budget outflows, ie, that they do not result in public sector obligations.

The conference presented a summary of a study conducted by Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina entitled “Good Governance in Public Enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina – An Analysis of the Transparency, Accountability and Integrity of Public Enterprises”.

According to the findings of this organisation, citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina still don’t have enough information on how public companies operate. Public companies mostly don’t have their own website, so communication with the public is difficult. “Generally, transparency regarding organisational structure, information of the overall operations of public enterprises, ownership and management structures is at a very low level,” is one of the conclusions of the analysis. On the other hand, when it comes to accountability – clientelism, nepotism, great political influence and lack of professionalism are characteristic of the management of public companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Ivana Bogojević,

Public Policy Researcher

27. 03. 2018.24. 04. 2018.

Insufficient Citizens’ Participation in Policy Planning Process

Local self-governments in Montenegro reduce strategic planning to a wish list without measurable results, and citizens’ participation in the policy-making process is almost completely disregarded, as concluded at the panel discussion “Governance for Results in Local Self-Governments”

Our researcher, Aleksandra Vavić, participated at the closing event of the Center for Democratic Transition, which was organized in the framework of the same project through grant program provided by the regional WeBER project, and implemented by six research centers in the Western Balkans, including Institute Alternative.

The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) project “Governance for Results in Local Self-Governments” aims at enhancing transparency, accountability and efficiency of two local self-governments – Kotor and Nikšić, through increased citizens’ participation in policy making affecting them directly and in controlling its implementation.

The research showed that citizens are not sufficiently involved in the policy planning process at the local level. This is also confirmed by the results of the public opinion survey conducted by IPSOS agency for the needs of Institute Alternative, within the framework of the project “Civil Society for Good Governance: To Act and Account!”. The results showed that 60% of Montenegrin citizens are not at all informed about public consultations, which represent one of the basic forms of civic participation. About 34% heard of at least one public consultation, and out of those, only 2% participated in it.

“We know that the situation is not good at the central level or at the local level, but the poor situation at the local level should maybe worry us more as it concerns public policies at the decision-making level closer to us physically. At this level of democracy, a real, direct dialogue between citizens, civil society and political representatives is created and maintained,” said Aleksandra.

She also reminded that the Government of Montenegro set as the main objective of the Strategy for the Public Administration Reform establishment of administration characterized by growth of citizens’ trust.

But the trust is not growing at all. Citizens of Montenegro generally have no trust in state or local administration. Data from the above-mentioned survey show that only 12% of citizens have great trust in state administration, while slightly more, 13% of citizens have great trust in local self-government.

“Tendency to not consult citizens on topics of crucial importance is a reflection of undemocratic work of the administration, which is completely contrary to good governance practices. If the government “does not listen” to the citizens and if this is constantly repeated, a vicious circle is made which leads to alienated institutions and decline of trust in the administration, “she added.

The possibilities are enormous, and the administration cannot consider sufficient to publish a public call on its web site or in one of the newspapers with low readership. Administration, whether state or local, is the one that has the resources and capacity to involve citizens in the decision-making process, ranging from discussions in local communities and broad consultations to targeted use of information technologies.

IA Team

27. 03. 2018.04. 04. 2018.

Ministry of Culture violates the Government Regulation and continues Clash with Unsuitable NGO activitists

We call upon Ministry of Culture to publish the Decision on appointment of representative of NGO in the working group for Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on National Public Broadcaster Radio and Television of Montenegro. Ministry should have published this decision more than 15 days ago, and the working group for drafting this regulation held its first meeting already last week.

Candidates of NGO for membership in the working group were Kristina Cetkovic and Goran Djurovic. On 2 March, Ministry of Culture has published a List of candidates of NGO for membership in the working group, and a group of non-governmental organisation requested the Ministry to annul the list and repeat the procedure of selection of representatives of NGO on the basis of submitted candidacies.

Ministry ignored this call and continued the process of development of the Draft Law with no participation of NGO who fulfil conditions prescribed by the Government Regulation on manner and procedure of exercising the cooperation of the state administration organs and NGO. Namely, the Regulation, in Art. 11 clearly states that:

‘Candidate of a non-governmental organisation for member of the working body may be a person who:

– is Montenegrin citizen, with residence in Montenegro;
– possesses experience in relation to the task of the working body;
– is not a member of organs of political party, civil servant, state official, or employee.’

We are not familiar that Kristina Cetkovic has, in public appearances or in her activities, dealt with amendments to the Law on National Public Broadcaster, or that she was giving suggestions and proposed amendments to this regulation. On the other hand, candidate whom we have proposed, Goran Djurovic, has participated in previous working groups with the same task formed by Ministry of Culture and has been proposing concrete amendments to this regulation and other laws from the media area for years, of which there is record in reports and documents in possession of the Ministry of Culture. Only if a candidate fulfils the previous condition, i.e. possesses experience in relation to the task of working body, it is possible to count the support of NGOs which, also, should fulfil conditions prescribed by the Article 10 of the Regulation.

Our objective is for the process of amending the law to be conducted on as better and more quality level as possible. Thus, we believe that there can be no one’s interest for working group to be one more in a series of formal bodies, without substantial influence on the process of development of the Law. A quality representative of NGO should contribute to the substantial role of the Working Group, who is proposed to membership of this body by organisations engaged in the area of media regulations’ reform.

Simultaneously, while the Ministry of Culture is violating this Government’s Regulation, the Ministry of Public Administration is calling upon NGOs to give their suggestions and comments for improvement of provisions in this regulation. We convey to the Government and Ministry of Public Administration that consultations on amendments of regulations have no sense when the existing regulations are being violated by ministries themselves. It is clear that consultations with NGOs are being used as expression of alleged will for cooperation, while in the practice the decisions about the representatives of NGO are not made in line with the law and regulation, but apparently by will of ministers and his associates.

We invite the Ministry of Culture to publish the decision on appointment of representatives of NGO for member of working group for amendments to the Law on RTCG so that, due to obvious violation of this regulation on all aforementioned grounds, we could initiate the proceedings before the Administrative Court.

Daliborka Uljarevic, Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
Ana Novakovic, Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organisations (CDNGO)
Milka Tadic Mijovic, Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIJ MNE)
Ivana Vujovic, NGO Juventas
Zlatko Vujovic, Centre for Monitoring and Research (CEMI)
Ruzdija Strujic, NGO Bonum
Milena Stanojevic, NGO Active Zone
Mustafa Canka, Ul Info
Stevo Muk, Institute Alternative
Zeljko Djukic, Multimedijal Montenegro

26. 03. 2018.27. 04. 2018.

The new law on administrative procedures: long-lasting goodbye to the service counter

The study analyses the expected benefits of the new Law on Administrative Procedures (LAP). Some of the novelties it brings are appointments of duly authorized officials for the implementation of administrative procedures as well as the official duty to exchange information. For these to be implemented, however, a number of further conditions have to be met.

Our analysis of 11 ministerial guidelines that have been discussed in Government meetings in the course of 2017 in order to align them with the LAP shows an uneven trend of implementation of the rule to appoint a duly authorized official for decisions concerning the general administrative procedure. Six ministries have implemented the rule in its entirety, while the other five only delegate the administrative procedure to appointed officials, leaving the decision-making powers to the management. In addition to making the procedure less efficient and increasing the burden on the top management, this approach also adds to the politicization of the procedure. According to the information we collected from almost 40 local administrative bodies, the same trend is evident at the local government level.

The official duty to exchange information is introduced as a principle, with the objective of relieving the citizens of the obligation to collect a pile of papers before they can access a public service. The risk is that it may remain but a good intention, especially as the gap between various public registries has been very difficult to bridge. At the moment, public administration bodies are in charge of 153 different electronic registers, but there is no unified record of all registers managed by the public administration.

All electronic registers should be integrated by 2020. However, there is no indication of a strategic intention to digitalize registers that remain available only in the paper format. Although comparative practice suggests that central guidelines for due information exchange would be required, the Government has failed to adopt a binding guideline for public administrative bodies to which the obligation applies.

Public administration bodies should make more use of the possibility to appoint officials duly authorized to make decisions in general administrative procedures. The Government should adopt binding guidelines on due exchange of information and facilitate effective exchange of information between the bulk of registries managed by public administration bodies.