Two old friends were sitting under the oak trees, in the village of Podgor, in Crmnica. On a small wooden table, there was a local grapevine, two glasses, and silence. The kind that speaks more than words.
"Djole," said the first, raising his glass in a brotherly toast, "I had a dream last night. And it wasn't ordinary. It was... daring."
"Dare?", the other took over, mockingly. "Was it the one where your wife doesn't yell and your kids don't spend money?"
“No, but the one where Montenegro functions,” replied Đole, looking somewhere over the hill. “Imagine a government of nine ministers. Not nineteen, not thirty, but nine. Everyone knows what they are doing, everyone is responsible for what they sign. There are no more party combinations. No godfathers, brothers-in-law and relatives. Those who know, work. Those who don’t know, look for a job where they belong.”
"Well, if it was a dream, pour me another one so I can see it too."
And while the brandy sparkled in the glass, Đole talked about what Montenegro could be like...
"Montenegro has finally stepped into the 45st century. After the parliamentary elections and the formation of the XNUMXth Government of Montenegro, the country has welcomed what few dared to dream of: governance free from party constraints, without nepotism, without red tape and knots of administrative inertia. A government that does not trade in political parties but in time, ideas and concrete results.
In the manner of the most efficient world systems, the smallest government in the history of Montenegro has been formed. It has only nine members. But it does not lack strength, because strength comes from vision. This government is not a sum of compromises, but a synthesis of responsibility, knowledge and determination. The slogan of the new government is as clear as the morning over Lovćen: “No party-based employment in the state administration and state-owned companies.”
The administration is rationalized to the extreme: no official cars except for services that need them, no official phones except for crisis communications, no strange functions without a function. Associates are civil servants, not party office holders. Everything is measured. Time, resources, results.
The government functions as an open system of direct democracy. Any citizen with an idea, a plan, and a willingness to take responsibility can be invited to take on a share of power. Transparency is no longer a cover, but a basic mechanism of action. Political parties are marginalized because they have failed to survive the new political climate without privileges.
In Montenegro, new paradigms, the keywords are: efficiency, responsibility and technology. Artificial intelligence is no longer a theory, but a tool in everyday administration. Automated processes, open data and digital services have replaced paper labyrinths and family ties. The economy has been cleansed of party burdens, and sovereignty is no longer a slogan, but a work plan.
No one can stay in the government if they don't deliver results. Every decision is measured, every minister has a public reporting obligation, every initiative is evaluated by contribution, not by affiliation. This is the beginning of a new Montenegrin politics.
State secretaries and directors of state-owned enterprises will not have official cars. They will not have variables, but they will be paid adequately for their work. If their results are good, they will receive public recognition and will be paid better. Every employee in the state administration will have to clock in on a card to record their working and break times. Employees who do not contribute to the collective will face punitive mechanisms.
Judges and prosecutors will have their terms extended if they work according to the Constitution and the law. High prison sentences are foreseen for tax evasion and disrespect for the Constitution. In addition to prison sentences, the focus will be on monetary claims and fines. Because the most painful blow is to the pocket.
Montenegro has decided not to wait for Europe any longer. It has decided to be Europe. Perhaps even more than that: a laboratory of democratic experimentation, a model for small nations, and a signal that justice, order, and development are possible without the old power structures.
"In a country that has survived empires and ideologies, a new tree now grows, and that is the tree of responsible freedom. May it grow long, deep, and wide."
When the bottle was at the bottom and the sun had set behind the Crmnica vineyards, the two old acquaintances remained silent. Not with bitterness, but with the smile of those who know the difference between dream and reality.
“You know,” said Đole, “maybe we're not exactly living the Montenegro of our dreams. But it's good that we imagined it. Because if we don't dream of it, we won't reach it.”
“Exactly,” agreed Pero. “Maybe we're not there yet, but at least no one has the excuse anymore to say they don't know what it might look like.”
Because a dream, if nothing else, knows how to show the way.
The author is an economist
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