MANS will certainly accept the invitation of the Parliamentary Committee on Anticorruption to attend a consultative examination of the Finance Minister, leaders of Tax Administration, Land Register and the Council of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data regarding problems with deleting identification numbers from publicly available registers and real estate companies, although we believe that the meeting should be scheduled much earlier, not a few days before the New Year holiday.
In this regard, we think that the Parliament since August of this year, when the identification numbers are removed from the sites of the Central registry of business entities and Real Estate Administration, had enough time to get familiar with all relevant facts relating to the new policy, and it could much sooner open discussion on this issue, regardless of MANS.
However, bearing in mind that the data about identification numbers and companies are globally recognized as the most effective tool for determining the existence of corruption and links between subjects of organized crime, detection of embezzled income and assets over which money laundering circulates, so their deletion from the publicly available registers is certainly the subject that the Committee on Anticorruption needs to address.
As one of the key challenges of Montenegro on its path toward the European Union just fight against corruption and organized crime, limiting assets to data that may indicate the existence of corruption is a step back in relation to officially determined policy of the state that in coming period seriously address these problems.
The Government has implemented this practice despite the fact that the results in the fight against corruption and organized crime, are more than insufficient for continuing of advancement to European integration, and that after opening chapters 23 and 24, the European Commission will even more insist on specific indicators that show that behind the rhetoric readiness stand and concrete results.
We believe that in a situation where Montenegro continuously for years receives serious warnings from the European Commission that corruption is a significant problem in many areas, and that links exist between the government and organized crime, a reference on the protection of personal data it can work in favor of only those who are illegally acquired their assets and individuals from the Government which continues to maintain close business relations with members of organized crime and their companies.
That was also the only reason to remove the data on identification numbers from the sites, because investigations that were initiated after pressure of domestic and international community, were initiated specifically by civil sector on the basis of data from the registers of companies and real estate. That is one of effective tools that the new practice wants to withhold to those who really want to uncover links between criminals and authorities.
MANS wants to take this opportunity to reflect on the comments related to behavior of our representatives who have, so far, participated in the work of the Committee on Anticorruption and objections that at that time we insulted Acting Supreme State Prosecutor, Veselin Vuckovic. The mention of the word “corruption” and “corrupt public official” is something that should be in everyday life of that committee and we believe that the problems should be recognized and called with a proper name, in order to be as soon as possible and effectively resolved. MANS always expressed and will express in the future own attitudes based on concrete evidence and justification doubt, and as far as the prosecutor Vuckovic bears in mind years of his service in Prosecution, when it comes to scandal “Recording” it is difficult to give a space to “ignorance”.
MANS as well evaluated as the highest hypocrisy the question of dignity and respect for the Parliament by MANS, initiated by the members of DPS, whose representatives in the Assembly and the Government are the most common “promoters” of rude behavior and bullying toward other participants in the work of Assembly.
MANS did not call the prosecutor Vuckovic “awful man”, nor threatened to “cut his head off”, which is vocabulary in the Assembly primarily fostered by the representatives of DPS. However, that what we believe that bothers some members of the Committee on Anticorruption is in general topic on corruption and corrupt public officials. If this is indeed the case, we believe that there are in the wrong place, because in the future the state authorities should more often and more specifically deal with this problem, and also the main committee of the Assembly of Montenegro for questions on corruption.
MANS
