Stojović proposes appointing five diaspora representatives to the Council for the Diaspora

Gordan Stojović, a deputy of the Europe Now Movement (PES), has proposed amendments to Montenegro’s Law on cooperation with the emigrant diaspora, as Vijesti reports, in order to correct a “technical error” in the current legal solution.

The amendments, under Stojović’s proposal, target Article 20 of the law, which defines the diaspora’s representation in the Council, and add a new Article 64b which, as Vijesti reports, obliges the Ministry for the Diaspora to announce a public call for the candidacy of five additional representatives within 15 days of the law entering into force.

Under the proposal, the additional representatives would come from the United States, Belgium, Mexico and Peru, as well as one representative for a group of Latin American states: Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Brazil.

“With the adoption of the proposed law, the observed technical error is eliminated, the legal basis for announcing the public call is secured, and the conditions are created for electing the Council’s missing members,” Stojović is quoted by Vijesti as saying.

The underlying reason, according to Stojović, is that the current law envisages proper representation of the diaspora in the Council, but does not create sufficiently clear and complete normative conditions for implementing the procedure for electing the five additional members. He stresses the need for broader territorial representation of the Montenegrin diaspora and for strengthening the institutional link between emigrants and Montenegro.

The mandate of such members would last until the end of the mandate of the already-constituted Council, while the existing provisions of the law would apply to the candidacy procedures.