A rising civic leader once justified to me how he had to cooperate with national parties, even though, if he had to, he would have voted for them only with a stuffy nose. Montenegro must progress, he said, so sometimes you have to go against principles and join the black devil. A year later, due to Euro-Atlantic integration, he again stuffed his nose and supported another devil. He extended their political life, and let himself down the drain.
We might have expected to breathe a sigh of relief after the refreshment, but it turns out that stuffy noses are still a constant in Montenegrin political life. After national divisions, we now have divisions over wastewater, and closed chapters and IBAR mean nothing when our European future depends on sewage.
While a small poop floats down the Morača, the collector looms over the local government like a sword and threatens to push Podgorica into collapse. There are threats of spilling cisterns in front of the houses of environmental activists, and ambassadors and ministers are struggling to explain how negotiations with the EU will stall because of a village in Zeta. Andrija will carry us on his back in vain if the people of Zeta do not allow a collector to be installed in the neighborhood along with the red mud. Podgorica has to dispose of its waste somewhere, so the neighbors could hold their noses and make the sacrifice on behalf of all of us. The people of Zeta should accept the collector in their yard, and Malisori a landfill in front of their houses.
After all, why would we raise riots and hinder progress, when it is more profitable to hold our noses and wait for the unpleasant smells to dissipate. Those who were able to do that are still on the surface, while the disgusting and principled have been swept away by the murky waters.
What's wrong with the judiciary, which has perfected its insensitivity to unpleasant smells, and can now perfect its turning a blind eye. Prosecutors mention the big fish less and less and are practiced at launching investigations, from which criminal charges are covered by oblivion, dust and sedge. Even if they squeeze out an indictment, the courts are there to drag out the trials until the honeys, liars and scoundrels go home. Then, instead of the promised full Sponge, we get an honorary pensioner who visits the courts like a gentleman.
The state-building opposition no longer protests or threatens to go into the woods, but has wised up and wished good morning to all four sides. For the sake of local alliances, they visit the execution sites of the quisling army, and for the audience at the state level, they promote SKY heroes as national heroes. Civic activists are not angry about the alliance of religion and politics either, so they silently watch as the president of a religious community advises a state official. Not every appointment is a cause for protest, nor is it profitable to protest about every alliance of religion and politics.
The young prime minister also keeps his nose plugged and his eyes closed, in order to prolong the life of the government of two-thirds brotherhood and unity. For the sake of the government's survival, he is ready to sleep through every rural issue and wake up only when he smells money like Šurda coffee. The president suffers no less, while state officials send threats to his inbox and reject candidates for constitutional judge. In order to push the presidential mandate until the end of the lockdown, the head of state does not get angry much and tolerates insults like on Maksimir. The ministries try not to anger the voters, so they implement laws over Njunj's back, while the bronze major stands guard for them near Berane.
For the good of their compatriots, even minority ministers suffer, so only awkward topics emerge in electronic sessions. They protect the state manger like centuries-old hearths and turn a blind eye to resurrected criminals, so their coalition partners in return tolerate their local adventures with a rejuvenated octopus. They all remain silent while state officials make us pay visits to a government that kills children and starves civilians. It is enough that Javier Bardem and Celtic fans are protesting the genocide in Gaza, and it is up to us to focus only on local pogroms when their anniversaries approach.
Therefore, brothers Malisori and Zećani, when our political leaders can, we too can suffer for the common good.
If corruption and autocracy didn't stink to us until yesterday, we can still turn a blind eye to new injustices. We have tolerated stale institutions and big fish that have been fattening up right under our noses, so we can put up with the occasional sewer and toilet. When we have already united on the path to the EU and are used to victories instead of divisions, why should we now argue about sewage? Let us let the historical and reform feces spill over us, as we have done so far, and we will taste it and swim through it. We just need to turn a blind eye, close our mouths and wait to sink to the bottom like that politician from the beginning of the story.
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