Veteran political activist and former MP Muhamet Nika has urged the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly (MA) to “adhere to the law and the Constitution” and make a determination at the next session to allocate an additional council seat to the parliament.

Nika argues that the local election commission’s report, indicating that there were 20,392 registered voters on March 20 during the elections held in that municipality in 2022, suggests that the Municipal Assembly should comprise 34 councilors instead of the current 33.

In a communication addressed to President of the Municipal Assembly Ivan Popovic (Democratic Party of Socialists), Mayor Genci Nimanbegu (Forca), and the council members, Nika emphasized that the Ulcinj parliament is entitled to one additional seat, considering that over 20,000 voters were registered in the previous elections three years ago.

“According to Article 3 of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, municipalities elect 30 councilors and an additional one for every five thousand voters. The Municipal Assembly determines the number of councilors through a special decision, no later than the day of the election announcement after being informed of the number of voters. However, on the voting day, the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly, claiming a lack of quorum, did not pass a new decision to increase the number of councilors,” stated Nika, highlighting that the final report from the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly confirmed there were over 20,000 voters on the list.

This implies, he asserts, that Ulcinj should elect a total of 34 councilors, asserting that failure to make a new resolution regarding the number of councilors contradicts the interests of citizens.

“During the last Municipal Council session, I was blocked from distributing related materials to the councilors. I will ensure that this occurs at the next session,” Nika told “Vijesti”.

In the fall, he wrote to the head of state Jakov Milatović, stating that “electoral engineering” in Ulcinj poses a threat to the constitutional right to vote, a right safeguarded by election commissions, the Constitutional Court, and other relevant courts.

In his note to Popović, Nimanbegu, and the councilors, Nika pointed out that “this situation represents a limitation or violation of citizens’ freedoms and rights under electoral law,” as confirmed by Article 45 of the Constitution, which declares the right to vote as a general and equal constitutional right for all citizens.

“By recognizing 33 instead of 34 mandates, a considerable number of citizens, or electoral lists, have been deprived of legal representation in local self-government. This scenario has opened the door for the Ministry to propose a decision to the Government to suspend the enforcement of the act that certified the mandates for the elections held on March 27, 2022, in the municipality of Ulcinj,” the letter states among other points.

In addition to addressing Milatović, Nika has reached out to the Government, specifically the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Montenegro seeking intervention due to alleged breaches of voting rights and legality. Milatović’s office replied that they had forwarded the request to the relevant institutions and would provide updates once they receive feedback. The EU Delegation advised Nika to contact the appropriate state bodies responsible for elections, which he did, but he is still awaiting a response.

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