Podgorica, (MINA) – Montenegro’s parliament elected on Thursday Jelena Ruzicic and Predrag Krstonijevic as judges of the Constitutional Court, both nominated by the President of the country, Jakov Milatovic.

 

Krstonijevic was elected with the support of 64 MPs, while five MPs of the Bosniak Party (BS) abstained. Ruzicic was elected with 69 votes in favor and no abstentions.

 

Following the election, Ruzicic and Krstonijevic took the oath of office.

 

At the beginning of the parliamentary session, Milatovic said that this decision was not only about the election of the Constitutional Court judges, but about “how ready we are to protect the constitutional order, the rights of citizens and trust in the institutions of our country”.

 

According to him, judicial institutions must not be held hostage to political calculations or agreements that are not based on knowledge, expertise and integrity.

 

He added that it was important that an agreement was reached between the government and the opposition on issues concerning the country’s European future.

 

Europe Now Movement MP (PES) Darko Dragovic said that filling the vacancies in the Constitutional Court was an obligation arising from the EU accession process.

 

DPS MP Andrija Nikolic said that completing the Constitutional Court was not a matter of European integration, nor of political agreements.

 

“The Constitutional Court is not an institution that needs to be filled, but whose full authority and trust of the citizens must be restored”, said Nikolic.

 

He added that it was important for the Constitutional Court to be competent, credible and strong enough to be the ultimate guardian of the constitutional order.

 

“That’s why we insist that judges be people whose integrity and experience leave no room for doubt that their decisions are made in accordance with the Constitution rather than current political interests”, said Nikolic.

 

Democratic People’s Party MP Milan Knezevic announced that his party would also support the election of Krstonijevic and Ruzicic.

 

“We will vote for both candiates as we did last time, and as we have voted every time so far. And we did not speak with Sattler [EU Ambassador to Montenegro], or anyone else, because it is important to us to complete the Constitutional Court”, said Knezevic.

 

Bosniak Party MP Jasmin Corovic said that this party insisted that the Constitution and the Law on the Constitutional Court be respected.

 

He said that the president of the country must take into account the religious and ethnic backgrounds of the candidates.

 

“Unfortunately, that has not been the case so far, with all due respect to the President of the country. If someone does not like the rules, they should change the Constitution and the Law on the Constitutional Court”, stated Corovic.

 

However, according to him, BS would most likely vote for one of the two candidates “because the European path is the most important”.

 

“I urge you not to vote for the second candidate, until we reach an agreement, until the issue of discrimination is resolved within the Constitutional Court. I urge you to protect the rights of ethnic minorities”, said Corovic.