Seven Montenegrin municipalities, which constitute almost 60 percent of the electorate, in July and August tripled spending on local infrastructure in comparison with the first six months of this year, which were non-election months, according to data analyzed by MANS Investigation Center and the daily “Dan.”
These municipalities are Podgorica, Niksic, Pljevlja, Herceg Novi, Tivat, Kotor and Cetinje, while the data for a substantial portion of the remaining Montenegrin municipalities are not available.
Infrastructure works and investments in previous election cycles are often used for political promotion and realization of political advantage in the field.
According to official documents to which MANS Investigation Center and “Dan” had access, in the period from January to June, the aforementioned seven municipalities spent around four million, or an average of €670,000 a month, on the basis of expenditure for various works of local infrastructure.
On the other hand, in July and August, the two election months, these seven municipalities, for the same purpose, allocated close to €3.8 million, or an average of €1.9 million a month, which is almost a threefold increase compared to the average from the first six months of this year.
Most of the money was spent in the capital city, where the local infrastructure works in the first half of the year took around €700,000 a month, while the local government in Podgorica, during the two election months, spent significantly more, or €2.3 million, which is in average €1.1 million a month.
In Niksic, since the beginning of the year, local works were taking €40,000 thousand a month, while the sum more than quadrupled to €180,000 a month July and August, as the total sum amounted to €360,000. It is interesting that the municipality in Niksic spent the whole €174,000 in August, with the additional €51,000 for works on the Trg Slobode.
In Herceg Novi, a sevenfold increase was recorded – in the first six months €38,000 thousand was spent each month, whereas in July and August the total sum was half a million, or an average €250,000 a month during the election period. The money was spent for the reconstruction of roads, maintenance of public spaces, while the promenade in August cost nearly €230,000.
The budget for local roads, streets and parks in Pljevlja, in a non-election period amounted to the average €22,000 a month and in July and August, the total sum spent was €115,000 or €57,000 a month, which means that the sum was doubled. In Tivat, the local infrastructure in non-election period cost €34,000 a month, and during the election period the average expenditure was €110,000, or three and a half times more than earlier.
When it comes to Kotor, the data show that the average monthly expenditure in the non-election period was €75,000, while in the two electoral month the total sum of €211,000 was spent. Thus, the average monthly expenditure was €105,000, which makes an increase of 25 percent. Finally, in Cetinje, until the beginning of September there were almost no payments on this basis. However, after that, the municipality allocated €65,000 for the local infrastructure.
According to official data of the Ministry of Interior, on 20 September 2016, there are 310,674 registered voters in those seven municipalities, nearly 60 percent of the total electorate.
MANS Investigation Center and the daily “Dan” have published earlier that the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, on the eve of the October elections, increased their expenditures related to investments in local infrastructure and buildings, and on that basis €2.3 million was spent during the two months of elections.
According to MANS’s earlier findings, infrastructure works are one of the most common mechanisms in election periods used for the exercise of political promotion and to influence the electoral will of the voters, especially in the north of the country, which is a very underdeveloped area.
Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic announced the elections for the Parliament of Montenegro on July 12, to be held on 16 October.
No data due to server malfunction
It is not known what the expenditures of Bijelo Polje for local infrastructure were In the period from April to the end of August, because the local government does not submit data and thus not only violates the Law on Free Access to Information, but also the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Electoral Campaigns.
The Municipality of Rozaje insists that the data cannot be submitted because of the “server malfunction.” There were data From Ulcinj and Kolasin either, so that the public does not know how much those municipalities spent for local infrastructure works.
In these four municipalities, according to the latest data of the Ministry of Interior, there is the total of 88,965 voters, which is over 16 percent of the electorate.
Government’s directorates assist
Apart from the money allocated by Montenegrin municipalities for local infrastructure, the “aid” in the election months has been significantly provided by the Directorate of Transport and the Directorate of Public Works, as the two government directorates which carry out the capital budget.
Thus, for example, since the beginning of the year, the works related to kindergarten in Zagoric, water supply systems in Tuzi, as well as investments for repaving road sections in Podgorica, Pljevlja, Kotor, Berane, have been financed by these directorates.
The money from the state budget in Pljevlja has been used for financing infrastructure in the local community Bukovica, as well as for the reconstruction of urban roads. It is interesting that the Municipal Board of the DPS in Pljevlja, during the election campaign, made a promotional video that uses scenes of those works, with the message that they “continue to help developing the urban infrastructure.”
Authors:
Marko Vesovic
Ines Mrdovic
This text is created with the support of the European Union and the U.S. Embassy Podgorica. Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector – MANS is solely responsible for the contents of this article, and the views taken herein shall not in any case be considered as those of the European Union.
