Corona in the age of political crisis

They say that a mother doesn't scold her son for gambling, but instead goes to get married.

It seems to me that the top of the DPS should have this public opinion in mind, more these days than ever before.

Let's say, if only a year or half a year ago he offered or accepted the transitional government model from 2016, he would have had about a third of the opposition and part of the civil sector on his side.

This would help Montenegro solve numerous problems, starting with the restoration of trust in the electoral process and personnel changes at the top of the judiciary.

Instead, Milo Đukanović decided to promote the thesis about rounding off the Montenegrin identity in the public discourse, presumably as a prerequisite for the democratization of society. And on that path, it was necessary to first deal with Serbian nationalism, whose main promoters are the SPC and DF, each in their own way.

And then the DPS got a lot.

And the massiveness at the rallies is largely a consequence of the upside-down model of governance and the promotion of upside-down values.

Đukanović played the card called the Law on Freedom of Religion in a patterned manner, with party logic, counting on the division along the lines of the referendum, which would provide the DPS with a new mandate.

The energy from lithium can hardly be transferred to the election result in such a way that DPS is driven into the opposition. Because of many things - starting from the national structure of Montenegro to the barrenness of the opposition which is now manifesting itself and the unconvincing boycott of the elections in Tivat, then when those who support the litias come out with some form of political action.

However, the possible conclusion that nothing will come of boycotting state elections is not important here, which seems to be the main interest of the DPS.

Everything seems to me that that DPS setting is wrong.

In order to win the state elections, the DPS is again waiting for the election of the VDT, then a new special state prosecutor, since Milivoj Katnić's mandate will soon expire, members of the Judicial Council, and for which two-thirds support in the Assembly is required.

He may not need the opposition for the KAS or the RTCG Council to function like this, but with this state of affairs, Montenegro will be completely blocked on the way to the EU.

This means, especially if the new negotiation model comes to life, significantly less money from the EU compared to some of the neighboring countries.

And finally the coronavirus.

The economic consequences that will be left by the coronavirus is what part of the world is already thinking about with a reasonable concern for biological survival.

A new global economic crisis, quite certain, would be disastrous for an economy such as Montenegrin's, in which the share of tourism in GDP is almost 24 percent, even in the case of an optimistic scenario with the virus.

The crisis of 2008, whose existence in Montenegro was denied and ignored by the ruling elite for a long time, Montenegro survived by borrowing, which in the end was transferred to the backs of the real sector and citizens.

Now there is no room for that.

The Montenegrin political and public scene has long been virulent, under a mild temperature and in a fever.

The DPS must no longer ignore this state of affairs, nor with a questionable majority try to control every pore of society through party loyalists and, as such, mostly incompetent cadres.

On the other hand, the opposition must accept the fact that DPS has about half of the voters' support.

Finally, a reminder of a constructive solution from 2002.

It was after the signing of the Belgrade Agreement when the Liberal Alliance and the pro-Serbian parties formed the parliamentary majority.

It was a time when the decent world went out of office when their term expired or when it was time to retire.

Thus, the Constitutional Court, partly due to the expiration of its mandate, partly due to retirement, was left without a single judge, which is why the parliamentary elections could not be held because, as now, that court was the last instance in electoral disputes.

The US ambassador in Belgrade, William Montgomery, offered a simple solution - two judges are proposed by the DPS, two by the SNP, which was by far the strongest opposition party at the time. The fifth will be given by the winner after the election. At the same time, candidates cannot be branded party soldiers.

This is just one example of how things can be handled.

Montenegro has a tradition of solving serious problems.

Montenegro now needs a new model of governance and a new model of behavior.

Montenegro needs a dialogue about the key paths the country should follow and what kind of country it must be in order to be sustainable. Including solutions related to justice, freedom of expression, economic monopolies and everything else that the European Commission and other international institutions have diagnosed as serious problems.

Just as a measure of patriotism is not belonging to the ruling structures, so refusing any dialogue with the DPS is not a measure of oppositionism.

It is a measure of reason in such complex situations in a society.

The ratio of the amount of reason and populism on all sides will have a decisive influence on whether we go forward or backward.