Trust in the fairness of the election process in Montenegro has been severely threatened. It has decreased after the latest accusations of the opposition and CSOs that the leading governing party has systemically misused public funds and office to affect election results. Laws governing this area need to be changed and practices improved in order to increase public trust in the most important instrument of democracy. Voter lists are still not sufficiently transparent and contain a great number of irregularities, which is why they need to be revised. State resources are still extensively misused during electoral campaigns, while institutions expressed a serious lack of capacities and will in dealing with this problem.
There are three main reasons for solving this issue as soon as possible. First of all, if irregularities are not tackled, citizens’ already shaken trust in the election process and work of state institutions will be even more decreased. Second, the regularity of the next elections would be affected, probably causing a heavy political crisis. Third, the European Union (EU) has made it clear that all cases of misuse of public funds and office must be investigated to the very end. Otherwise, Montenegro will slow down on its path towards the EU.
Against this background, MANS is proposing efficient legislative and practical changes to prevent misuses that have affected Montenegro in the last couple of months and help that the true democratic will of people is respected, while at the same time political corruption is significantly reduced.
