Montenegrin Government and UNDP sign agreement to implement e-petitions project

Podgorica, Montenegro (23 April 2012) -- Chief of Staff of the Montenegrin Prime Minister Rajko Kovačević and UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro Rastislav Vrbenski signed the cost-sharing agreement for the implementation of the “Citizens’ Voice – e-Petitions” project in Podgorica earlier today.

The project seeks to introduce a website that will enable citizens to submit e-petitions to the Government of Montenegro.

The “Citizens Voice” project, initiated by the Prime Minister Igor Lukšić, and implemented with the support of UNDP Montenegro, marks a significant step towards promoting participatory democracy and the Government’s openness to active public participation in the policy-making process.

The e-petitions project is a part of the Montenegrin Action Plan for the multilateral initiative Open Government Partnership (OGP), which was presented at the OGP annual conference in Brazil last week. On that occasion, US State Secretary Hilary Clinton recognized in her opening remarks the significance of Montenegro’s e-petitions initiative.

The signing of the Agreement was preceded by an extensive research carried out with the expert support from UNDP Montenegro and UNDP’s regional centre for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States in Bratislava (UNDP Europe&CIS), which has consulted the best international practices in this area.

The implementation of the project makes Montenegro the first country in the wider region to introduce such a model of interactive public-policy making.

About “Citizens Voice – e-Petitions”

“Citizens Voice” is a website that will enable the public to influence public policy-making process by submitting e-Petitions to the Government of Montenegro.

Every adult citizen of Montenegro or a foreigner with permanent residence will be allowed to file an e-petition in any field within the Government’s remit.

If supported by at least 6.000 signatures, the relevant ministry will be required to turn such a petition into a formal motion which will to be considered by the Government, and, if necessary, submitted to the Parliament.