Montenegrin parliament opens constitutional reform to require integrity checks for future prime ministers and ministers
Parliament voted after an overnight debate to open a constitutional amendment that makes integrity screening for nominees subject to a two‑thirds rule.
The Parliament of Montenegro voted early this morning to begin a constitutional reform that would require mandatory integrity checks for future prime ministers and government ministers.
What was approved and who backed it
The change was set in motion after the parliamentary majority accepted a proposal from independent MP Nikola Janović to require that the future law establishing those checks be adoptable only by a two‑thirds majority. The constitutional committee now has four days to insert that provision into the draft amendment.
Opposition parties voted against the initiative, while minority parties and independent deputies supported it. The overnight vote followed an hours‑long debate and passed with two votes more than the required two‑thirds majority of 54 MPs; lawmakers described the approval as the first phase of the constitutional reform rather than a final amendment.
Under the proposed change, candidates for prime minister (the mandate‑holder) and candidates for ministerial posts would have to undergo a pre‑nomination integrity check aimed at identifying any risk of conflict of interest. A candidate who refuses the check or fails to remove an identified risk would not be eligible to be proposed as prime minister or as a member of the Government.
The results of the integrity check for the prime minister nominee would be delivered to Parliament and published; the same procedure would apply to ministerial candidates. The amendment also proposes that a person with a final criminal conviction for an offence involving corruption cannot serve as president or as a member of the Government.
Photo: press material from the event
