Podgorica, (MINA) – The Montenegrin Parliament adopted on Monday the draft amendments to the Constitution of Montenegro related to the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, as well as the Central Bank (CBCG).

68 MPs from both the ruling majority and the opposition voted in favor of the amendments, while the Democratic People’s Party MPs left the session prior to the vote.

During the extraordinary session, the MPs also adopted with the same number of votes the draft Constitutional Law for the Implementation of Amendments.

Constitutional Committee Chair Jelena Bozivic said that the parliamentary body had voted on the amendments as originally proposed by the Government, and that the opinions, proposals and suggestions submitted by NGOs, individuals and the experts had not been taken into account, as the amendments in this form had been previously agreed with the European Commission (EC) and “there was simply no time to, in case we accepted some of the proposals, agree on them with the EC”.

Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) MP Danijel Zivkovic said that a legitimate question could be raised as to whether the judiciary in Montenegro is independent and autonomous.

Zivkovic argues that these constitutional amendments give enormous power to the judiciary in Montenegro, adding that the European integration process must not be devoid of remarks and criticisms regarding certain solutions that could be dangerous.

Democratic People’s Party (DNP) MP Milan Knezevic said that in Zivkovic’s address he recognized the positions that the DNP, as he put it, had been advocating since the very beginning of the debate on constitutional changes.

“You’re saying everything we’ve been saying since the very announcement of these constitutional changes. But the question is why are you voting for them? You see all the dangers, you see that the fourth branch of government has already been formed, you see that now you can’t bring either the Supreme nor the Special State Prosecutor to the Parliament or to the committees, and you’re participating in this under the alibi that it’s in line with our European path”, said Knezevic.

European Alliance MP Boris Mugosa criticized the parliamentary majority for keeping, as he said, the amendments in the drawers from mid-February to June, while at the same time accusing the opposition of obstructing their adoption.