Podgorica, (MINA) – President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic, has promulgated a set of electoral laws and expressed expectation that the competent parliamentary committee will take key steps in order for the electoral reform to become comprehensive as soon as possible.

According to the press release from his cabinet, Milatovic promulgated a set of laws, including the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and MPs, the Law on Amendments to the Law on Local Administration and the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns.

He welcomed the beginning of the electoral legislation reform process, but also pointed out that, in the process of preparing a set of electoral laws, it was both justified and appropriate to seek the opinion of the Venice Commission.

“Also, it was necessary to conduct an adequate public discussion in order to further improve the quality of individual legal provisions”, stated Milatovic.

Milatovic also emphasized that the key issues of the comprehensive electoral reform remain unresolved.

“These include the introduction of open lists, enabling independent candidates to participate in the elections, direct election of mayors and municipal presidents, completion of the election process in Savnik and Kotor, prevention of abuse of state resources for election purposes, enhancement of the electoral rights of persons with disabilities, as well as voter registry revision”, said Milatovic.

The press release states that Milatovic expects the Comprehensive Electoral Reform Committee, with the support from the EU partners, to continue its work even more intensively in the coming period.