Municipal employees in Kotor have yet to receive their salaries for January, jeopardizing the ongoing key projects, neglecting social benefits, and pushing the municipality closer to the “Savnica scenario”.

This scenario indicates that, despite the final election results from September 29 still pending, the old Assembly will reconvene, appoint the mayor, approve a temporary financing decision, and carry on until the results are officially announced.

The President of the Municipality of Kotor, Vladimir Jokic (Democrats), whose term expired on October 30 of the previous year, informed “Vijesti” that it is unreasonable to allow the city to remain paralyzed for this long despite repeated assurances to avoid the Šavnica scenario.

“The pressure from citizens and anyone connected to local governance has become immense, compelling us to take action,” stated Jokić.

He noted that the municipality has failed to issue January salaries because there is no document authorizing any payments.

“There’s no temporary financing decision, no budget passed. We lack the necessary approvals to disburse funds.”

Local elections took place in Kotor on September 29, but due to complaints concerning two polling stations (Mirac and Dom kulture Prčanj), the official results have not been declared, the new government remains unformed, and the budget for this year has yet to be adopted, along with the decision on temporary financing.

On October 11, Jokić lodged two complaints with the Constitutional Court concerning the deadlock in the Kotor election commission.

However, as of October 24, the Constitutional Court had yet to reach a decision on Jokić’s appeals, resulting in a tie vote of 3:3. The court indicated in a statement that three judges believed they had the authority to address the essence of the election dispute, while the other three maintained that the electoral process is strictly formal, only allowing examination of procedural inconsistencies in the election commission’s operations.

At the end of October last year, Jokić retracted his constitutional appeals to expedite the election process.

The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) also filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court in November of last year against the State Election Commission’s (SEC) decision rejecting their complaint regarding the elections at the two Kotor polling stations. The Constitutional Court has yet to make a ruling on this matter.

Jokić mentioned that the Municipal Company, functioning as a separate entity, is managing minimal city operations, but all other activities are stalled.

“There are no social benefits, and the operations of a kindergarten co-funded by the Municipality are at risk. There is not a single euro available, despite the Municipality’s account holding five million euros,” Jokić emphasized.

He highlighted that a significant project worth 33 million euros, funded by KWF Bank, aiming to establish a water and sewage system in Kotor through the construction of the Prčanj-Stoliv-Risan-Perast network is under threat.

Of the total 33 million, over 13 million is a grant from the EU via the Western Balkans Fund (WBF), and they were warned that failure to sign a contract with the contractor, for which preparations are complete, poses a serious risk of forfeiting the grant.

Jokić outlined three potential solutions to the crisis, with the first – and least likely – being for the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) to withdraw their constitutional appeal and subsequently announce the election results.

The second option involves the selection of a judge for the Constitutional Court, allowing it to convene, make a ruling, announce the election results, and reestablish the government.

“This may occur, but it could take two or three months… The troubling part is that neither I, nor anyone from the DPS, harbor any doubts about the outcome of this appeal, which will certainly be dismissed as there is substantial legal precedent and rulings indicating it cannot proceed as such,” he noted.

The Constitutional Court has been unable to reach a decision regarding the DPS appeal across two sessions, and following the retirement of two judges, further sessions to ascertain the merits of the appeals cannot take place until new judges are appointed, which is currently in progress.

According to Jokić, the third option would involve the old Assembly reconvening, electing a new mayor, approving temporary financing, and continuing operations until the election results are declared.

Preliminary election results from Kotor on September 29 indicated that both DPS and the coalition PES-Democrats secured ten mandates each, while the “For the Future of Kotor” alliance, Grbljanska lista, and Democratic Alternative acquired three each, the European Alliance two, and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and Kotor movement each obtained one mandate. If elections are repeated in the two disputed polling stations, DPS could potentially seize a mandate from PES and the Democrats.

Jakić’s Term Ends Next Week

The Šavnica parliament, established seven years ago, may soon select a new leader as the current mayor, Jugoslav Jakić, will see his term conclude in February.

Jakić was elected on February 18, 2021, with votes from his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and Social Democrats (SD), succeeding Vlatko Vuković (DPS) who resigned, marking the end of his four-year term on Wednesday.

Conversely, the current term of the Šavnica parliament commenced at the end of June 2018 but has not concluded even after four years due to the local elections in that municipality remaining unresolved since fall 2022.

Nadežda Kotlica, head of the Šavnica parliament, did not respond to inquiries from “Vijesti” regarding when a new mayor might be elected and whether Jakić would be reappointed.

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