In the first half year of the Parliament’s work, a significant disparity in the engagement of MPs and the amount of their earnings is recorded, especially among those who have not spoken in the plenary, as well as the increase in official travel expenses; the President of the Parliament, for now, has shown a more responsible approach to resources compared to his predecessor, as indicated within some of the key findings of the summary of the activities and earnings of MPs of the 28th convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro, compiled in the publication „MPs and Interns must perform much better – first six months of the 28th convocation of the Parliament activities in the plenum and official travels,” published by the Center for Civic Education (CCE).
The CCE has been monitoring the work of MPs of the 27th convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro through their activism in plenary sessions, comparing it with their earnings, periodically informing the public about the most and least active MPs. The complete overview was provided in the publication “Well-Paid Extras on the Parliamentary Stage.”
The same approach has been taken to monitor the work of the 28th convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro, with the first summary being made after the first half-year of the Parliament’s work. Specifically, the data covers the period from 27 July 2023, the day of the constitutive session, to 1 February 2024.
The current parliamentary convocation has brought a new parliamentary majority, and a significant number of new faces both in both the government ranks and the opposition. The PES, as a new parliamentary political entity, entered with initially 24 MPs, almost all of whom (except for the MP of the United Montenegro who obtained a parlamentary mandate through their list) effectively had a parliamentary premiere. On the other hand, the list led by the DPS significantly rejuvenated and diversified its team, with over 40% of new MPs. However, alongside new faces, there is a lack of experience among MPs of this convocation, who, besides not having parliamentary experience, in some cases had no work experience at all or had it limited.
The youngest MPs are Bojana Pićan from the coalition ZBCG-NSD and Sonja Milatović from the DPS, aged 25 and 26, respectively.
In the activities of MPs of the 28th convocation in the plenary, the first half year was marked by the dominance of more experienced ones, while it seems that the new forces were “eaten up” by stage fright.
As many as five MPs never spoke in the plenary. These are Uglješa Urošević, Seid Hadžić, Gordan Stojović, and Nađa Laković from the PES, and Artan Čobi from the Albanian Alternative, with the note that three out of these five MPs started their mandate in mid-November 2023 (Stojović, Laković, Čobi). The list of the least active MPs is overwhelmingly dominated by MPs of the parliamentary majority, primarily PES, followed by the NSD.
Following the five MPs who remained silent in the plenary throughout their current mandate, the next in terms of passivity is Vladimir Bakrač from the PES, and after him, interestingly, just a second less active, Boris Pejović, a MP from the PES and Deputy President of the Parliament of Montenegro, whose earnings and plenary activities indicate the largest disparity. With only two recorded speeches, one of which was a 27-second address at the inaugural session, he spoke a total of one minute and thirty-two seconds, while his February earnings amounted to €2,171.79.
On the other hand, among the most active MPs are those from the opposition – Andrija Nikolić, Ivan Vuković, Jevto Eraković, and Danijel Živković from the DPS, then the parliamentary club of URA with Dritan Abazović, Miloš Konatar, and Filip Adžić, as well as Ervin Ibrahimović from the BS. The position of the parliamentary majority, in this context, is held by MPs Milan Knežević and Vladislav Bojović from the ZBCG-DNP.
Regarding the official travel of MPs of the 28th convocation, three events stood out during this monitoring period. These include visits to European institutions in Brussels, participation in the sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and attendance at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
Twelve MPs from twelve parliamentary clubs visited European institutions in Brussels, and the Parliament disbursed €7,296 for their travel expenses and per diems, while accommodation costs were covered by the organizers. The participation of five MPs in the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg cost nearly €8,000, and the travel of six MPs to the January National Prayer Breakfast in Washington cost almost €15,000.
When comparing the accounting period during 2023, i.e., from 27 July to 31 December 2023, when €10,263.94 was spent for these purposes, with the accounting period in 2024, a significant increase is evident – over €30,000 was spent just for the first month of 2024, three times more for a five times shorter period compared to 2023.
In summary, for the first half -year of the 28th convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro, official travel expenses of MPs amounted €41,298.98. This figure includes expenses for per diems, airfare, accommodation, transportation, fuel, insurance and visas, but not expenses covered by the organizers.
The duration of the speeches by the President of the Parliament, Andrija Mandić, was measured separately because it mainly related to chairing sessions, so his hours were not included in the comparison with MPs, and in speeches outside the chairing sessions are not distinctive. Mandić officially travelled twice during this period, to Ankara (Turkey) and Budapest (Hungary). For the trip to Turkey, he used the Government plane, while the airfare for Hungary amounted to €199.26, with accommodation costs covered by the organizers. Mandić waived his per diems for both trips. In response to the inquiry about the expenses of the official card of the President of the Parliament, the Parliament responded to the CCE that Mandić does not possess one. These data indicate that, for now, the President of the Parliament has a more responsible approach to taxpayers’ money than his predecessor Danijela Đurović, who stood out with travel expenses and expenses on the official card, especially in the period after the dissolution of the Parliament.
The publication „MPs and Interns must perform much better – first six months of the 28th convocation of the Parliament activities in the plenum and official travels” was produced with the support of the Core Grant of the regional project SMART Balkan – Civil Society for a Connected Western Balkans, implemented by the Center for Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD), the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPM), and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of the CCE and does not necessarily reflect the views of CPCD, CRPM, IDM, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
Nikola Mirković, Programme Associate