PM Krivokapić sent a letter to members of the Security and Defence Committee

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić sent a letter to members of the Security and Defense Committee, who scheduled a control hearing of the Prime Minister at the session held on 31 May. We publish his address in its entirety.

"Dear Chairman of the Committee,

Distinguished members of the Committee,

I have been informed that the Security and Defense Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro, at its 11th session, held on 31 May 2021, made a decision on the control hearing of the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Minister of Finance and Social Welfare, Acting Director of the National Security Agency, Acting Director of the Police Administration and Director of the Revenue and Customs Administration, on the resumption of cigarettes smuggling operations through the port of Bar and cogarettes black market in Montenegro.

Let me inform you, right at the beginning, that I will not respond to your call for a control hearing, for several reasons.

First of all, I express my regret that I must draw your attention to the fact that the decision of the Committee on the control hearing of the Prime Minister is not based on the Constitution, the Law, or the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Montenegro. Therefore, it does not oblige me in any way.

Specifically, Article 9 paragraph 1 of the Law on Parliamentary Oversight of Security and Defense Sector, on the basis of which the Committee adopted the mentioned decision stipulates: "Control hearing is organised and implemented in order to obtain opinions and collect information within the scope of the Committee's work  and when there is a need to remove ambiguities, dilemmas, principle related disputes and clarify current issues in the implementation of policy and law or other activities of the Government and state administration authorities in the field of security and defence". The third paragraph of the same article stipulates: "Responsible representatives of the Government or another state administration body are invited to the session, as well as other persons whose presence is necessary to clarify the matter in question".

The scope of work of the Committee is defined by Article 3 of the Law on Parliamentary Oversight of Security and Defence Sector and Article 41 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Montenegro, and includes parliamentary oversight of: Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces of Montenegro, National Security Agency, Police Administration, Ministry of Interior, as well as other bodies and institutions dealing with security and defence affairs.

The relationship between the Parliament and the Government, i.e. the Prime Minister, in the absence of a law on the Parliament and the Government, is regulated by the Constitution of Montenegro and, much more precisely, the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Montenegro. These provisions nowhere prescribe the obligation of the Prime Minister, which the Committee tried to impose on him by a majority of its members.

Furthermore, Article 75 of the Rules of Procedure, paragraphs 1 and 2, stipulate: " In order to obtain information or professional opinions on specific issues within its scope of work, and specific issues related to establishing and implementing of the policy and law or other activities of the Government, state administration authorities and other bodies and organisation which, in accordance with the law, report to the Parliament on the work and situation in certain areas, which cause obscurity, dilemmas or principle related disputes, the responsible Committee may invite the accountable representatives of these bodies and organisations to the control hearing  and ask them to express the position with regard to such issues."

In accordance with the above, "responsible representatives of the Government" from the Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces of Montenegro, the National Security Agency, the Police Administration, the Ministry of Interior, as well as other bodies and institutions dealing with security and defence affairs may be invited to the session of the Security and Defence Committee at which the control hearing is conducted, in accordance with the Committee's competencies.

Thus, the Prime Minister, in terms of the cited provisions, is not a representative of the Government that may be invited to the control hearing.

Therefore, your decision to conduct the control hearing of the Prime Minister, as well as the invitation sent to me, as a consequence of that decision, are completely unfounded.

Additionally, I confirmed earlier my presence at the Constitutive Session of the Committee for the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, which will be held on 2 June 2021, starting at 11:00.

Dear,

If any Prime Minister has conscientiously, responsibly and very patiently answered to all the questions of MPs and public, then it is this Prime Minister. In that sense, I remind you that in half a year of the mandate of this Government, I patiently and in detail answered the questions of all interested MPs at 3 PMQs. Often, which culminated at the last special session of the Parliament dedicated to the Prime Minister's Questions, I was exposed to ruthless and unfounded insults by certain MPs. To make matters worse, the most brutal insults and huge untruths against me were said by some MPs and political entities that constituted the electoral list that I led on 30 August last year.

Despite all that, I would be ready to consider responding to unfounded and unlawful invitation of your Committee, if I did not have the above-mentioned obligation whose time coincides with the time of the Committee session. Because I have great respect for the MPs, as citizens' representatives, and the highest legislative and representative house of citizens, which I have shown countless times so far and on every occasion.

The questions raised and the accusations leveled against me, as well as the unfounded hearing that has been attempted, are greater untruths and nonsense even than an insatiable appetite for power of ones who make such nonsense. Immoral and disgusting accusations that Zdravko Krivokapić is engaged in any kind of smuggling are bigger lies even than the amount of worship that the one who tells such a lie once showed towards the President of Montenegro and the head of the former regime.

Zdravko Krivokapić will not be blackmailed in order to satisfy someone's hunger for power. I see your invitation to this session of the Security and Defence Committee as an attempt at political blackmail, as well as all the scandals that have been tried these days, with the aim of harming the Government I am heading and me personally. Fortunately for Montenegro and its citizens, and unfortunately for those who decided to fabricate the mentioned scandals – without success," the Prime Minister's letter reads.