Parliament in Lima

From today, all the organs of the old state and the occupier become null and void. The entire civil, judicial and military power is taken over by the people, which will be exercised on behalf of the people, for the needs of the People's Liberation Struggle, by the People's Liberation Committee elected by the will of the people's representatives in the Assembly and committees in municipalities and villages."

These words were spoken on July 21, 1941 in the hall of the Sobriety House in Berane.

After the victorious Thirteenth of July Uprising against the occupiers, legally elected representatives of the people, elected in urban settlements and villages, in detachments, met in Berane and held an Assembly. On that day, the People's Liberation Committee was formed, the first organ of the people's government in Montenegro and Yugoslavia. The participants were representatives of the city of Beran and the municipalities of Polim, Buda, Ržanica, Manastri, Gornjosel, Štitar and all political parties.

It was the highest organ of the nation's political and military power, whose decisions had great political and legal significance.

According to the time and manner of its origin, its foresight, it was an original phenomenon and a very significant date in recent Montenegrin history.

"By overcoming the Italian garrison, liberating Beran and the largest part of the territory of the county, the first but great results in the armed struggle were achieved". (Djoko Pajković).

The Assembly of People's Representatives, composed of 216 delegates and over a hundred guests, with the participation of Muslims from the unliberated part of the county, with the equal participation of women and youth, defiantly declared on July 21, 1941, that on that day all the power of the old state and the occupiers would end.

And all this could have happened in Berane, where, as Milovan Đilas wrote in his cult novel Besudna zemlja, "the rebellious and violent Vasojević tribe poured into the Lim plain...".

The work of the Assembly was public, the discussion, in which eleven delegates participated, was free and democratic. The first discussant, Gavro Cemović, emphasized: "This fight is magnificent, equal to the one led in their time by Duke Miljan Vukov, Panto Cemov and other people's champions of Vasojević". Along with the request to form new government bodies, it was emphasized: "we need to create a government that will serve the people", "we need to hand over power to people who will put the people's interests above all else", "while the fight is being fought, those who have confidence in the people should be in charge , and when the country is free, let the people decide".

This kind of parliament on green Lim made a number of important decisions in which some principles were proclaimed that would later become the basis of the Yugoslav socio-political system.

In the democratic way of election, in the composition and decisions of the Committee, the political breadth and universal anti-fascist character of the People's Liberation Movement were expressed. The communists' conscious position that their monopoly and party-political partnership should be avoided was contained, because neither of them, as pointed out, would be compatible with the essence of direct democracy.

22 members were elected to the People's Liberation Committee: Aleksandar Bojović, proto - Berane, Simo Kastratović, professor - Berane, Panto Mališić, teacher - Pešca, Gavro Cemović, engineer - Berane, Milan Popović, teacher - Lužac, Milan Kuč, farmer - Polica . Berane, Mijaile Kuč, farmer - Polica, Savo Joksimović, student - Buče, Mirko Jelić, farmer - Donja Ržanica, Radovan Čubrović, farmer - Dapsići, Jagoš Šćekić, farmer - Polica, Radomir Mitrović, student - Berane, Miko Knežević, farmer - Budimlja, Dragutin Joksimović, teacher - Pešca, Kojo Bubanja, teacher - Štitari. The president is proto Aleksandar Bojović, the vice-president is Simo Kastratović, a professor, and the secretary is Panto Mališić, a teacher.

Five sections were formed: Administrative, Economic-Financial, Military-Judicial, Social-Health and Cultural-Educational, which were managed by members of the Board.

The administrative section organized the people's government and ensured peace and order in Berane and the liberated territory. The Economic and Financial Department immediately listed the financial resources of all banks and other institutions, as well as all property that belonged to the state. The section organized economic life in the city and field work in the countryside. The main task is the supply of military units at their positions, as well as feeding the poor population of the city and the countryside. The Military-Court Section performed judicial duties, and the Health-Social Section took care of the operation of hospitals, pharmacies and other health-social institutions and the establishment of medical facilities in military units. The educational and cultural section organized work in detachments, protection of school buildings, school property and cultural monuments. The section published an information bulletin, under the leadership of Veselin Masleša, who was located in Berane during the uprising days.

The very next day, on July 22, 1941, a Partisan post office, the first in Montenegro and Yugoslavia, was established, with headquarters in Berane. The director was Maksim Vuković, who graduated from the Post School in Belgrade before the war. He is the organizer of all communications and mail in the free territory. Vojin Žurić was a telephone operator at the post office in Bijelo Polje, Milan Mišnić was the manager in Mojkovac, Bećo Đilas, Zorka and Radule Vujisić worked at the post office in Kolašin, Milo and Aco Vešović worked in Mateševo, Vojo Stijović in Andrijevica, and Radun Laban, an old patriot, in Murin. . They were loyal people and partisans. Each letter and package was stamped with the image of a partisan. In the upper part is written: "Partizanska pošta", in the lower part "Crne Gore and Boke", and below, the destination of the mail: "Berane".

Every day mail was sent to Andrijevica, Bijelo Polje and Kolašin, by couriers, later on horses, and sometimes in confiscated Italian cars. As soon as the post office started working, former postal officials, Risto Đolević, Jevrem Zečević, Savo Laković, Spaso Đukić, Ljubo Raičević, Savo Đeković, arrived at work... All post offices worked until August 7, 1941, when the occupier with the entire division, punitive expedition, occupied free territory.

Precisely, at the historic Assembly in the House of Sobriety in Beran, as it was pointed out, the essential understanding of the character and goals of the People's Liberation Struggle and the clarity of the perspective on the inevitable revolutionary changes, the holders of power, came to the fore. Positions on the organization and role of national liberation committees were formulated.

The Assembly put the struggle for liberation at the forefront. The principle of universal and equal voting rights was proclaimed and implemented, regardless of social status, education and gender of all citizens over the age of 18. Then, for the first time in this area, a woman (Radmila Nedić from Pešac) took part in the decision-making of such important affairs. Provision of personal safety and property is guaranteed to all citizens, with their obligation to respond to the requests and decisions of the Board. Then, the principle of the people as the sole bearer of sovereignty was proclaimed. Unity of power is a principle that was also adopted by the Assembly.

The President of the People's Liberation Committee, Proto Aleksandar Bojović, gave a patriotic speech at the end and emphasized: "We started this! We need to move forward!”

Soon, people's liberation committees were established all over Yugoslavia. But this one in Berane is historic, the first. All of this was an integral process of creating the organs of the people's government, which gradually developed.

And all the committees were, in fact, delegations chosen from the base of the organized people, and not representatives of some coalition of political leaders.