Politeness can actually replace/make up for so much... The power of elementary decency is amazing. Also, sometimes it's the only way to keep things from going to hell. On the other hand, isn't decency the painfully missing ingredient in contemporary Montenegrin society?
Where everything rested on the awareness that the little guys and the old ladies could do whatever they wanted, and that no public rules applied to them, while the rest had to keep quiet and nod their heads - decency is like aspirin. A way to get well for once, if you're persistent enough.
Is it unusual for the president of a country's parliament not to congratulate a holiday, especially one that commemorates the very act of creation/reconstruction of a state in which the politician in question holds a significant position? Unusual, to say the least. And unequivocally - rude.
So - he thereby ignores the day that actually created the conditions for him to be in such a place. Without that Holiday (or rather the reason for the Holiday) - he would be, at best, the head of the local community or the president of the local war veterans' association... Which would probably be more natural. Maybe even more just.
Some will say that this is hypocritical, and it certainly is.
And hypocrisy is sometimes a way to deceive/deceive ourselves even more than others. That's exactly what happens with the Speaker of the Assembly and Independence Day.
In the era of socialism, this could not happen: all politicians, without complications, congratulated all holidays. This, at least in part, created an image (illusion, or rather) of a compact and normal society. Of a monolith without cracks. Of course, it was not like that. If it really was like that, they would not have invented it so quickly from those cracks. Đurišić, young major and the like. We wouldn't so easily start burning each other's houses and killing our neighbors.
Politicians like to blame such nonsense (and indecency, too) on the notorious "divisions" in society. In fact, divisions are not the problem. They give a dynamic impulse to a society, they are the foundation of an important social dialectic - all societies have some spectrum of divisions and this, in one way or another, decisively shapes them. In a society where there is no shame in thinking, divisions are natural and cannot be avoided. Normal societies progress and become more mature by dealing with their own divisions.
The problem is mainly the political trivialization of divisions and their misuse... In other words, it has become a naked political label used to cover up the shallowness of the elite who, at all costs, turn everything into an instrument of rule. Then "divisions" become an alibi for incompetent politicians.
Societies without divisions would be societies in which nothing happens, a wet dream of every totalitarianism and economic autocracy. From our “divisions” (if we know how to deal with them decently) arises the need to understand each other. And, most importantly, a democratic urge is born - to respect each other and all our differences that generate “divisions”.
In fact, much more than "divisions," the problem is elementary rudeness. And hypocrisy, of course. That's what we mean when we talk negatively about "divisions."
That's, in short, why I don't trust politicians like Andije Mandic, or those who are unable to be polite in their public actions. We can think about everything this way or that way, but if there is decency then at least we can talk. That is always the first step.
I don't trust politicians who are unable to step outside their own limitations. To jump over their most personal limits. For a politician, as well as for any thinking being - that is a disqualifying verdict. If you are unable to do that, don't do the work you do. Dedicate yourself to your war veterans' association, you will surely find yourself there. It will be better for you and your surroundings. Everything will be in its place and at least you won't cause confusion.
Bonus video:
