Who still remembers the famous architect Ranko Radović, who was first seduced by a "higher interest" at the beginning of the new century, agreed to be the Minister of Spatial Planning, only to resign and leave the Government after just a year, when he saw how much Milo and the DPS cared about environmental protection. And then the DPS said - that they did not see anything controversial in the departure of Minister Radović and that they wished him luck in his further activism and activities.
When the Katun clairvoyant saw Sveto Marović in the starry sky, between the Big and Little Bears, with a bag of money, he decided to scold him and send him to prison. The DPS readily accepted this temptation - they said that the institutions were doing their job and that they saw nothing objectionable in arresting the main political strategist. They also wished him luck, that in prison, like Đilas, he would write a better and more beautiful New Class. None of that, however, because he bothered Milo in Spuž. That's why he moved him to his brother Aleksandar, which is why we have been watching Marović in Belgrade for years. And he us from Belgrade. From the aforementioned AV, who concluded that if Sveto is not good for the DPS, it doesn't necessarily mean that he is not good for the SNS. Or the ZBCG. It's a miracle that Vučić is such a big brother - first he didn't deliver Sveto to do it to Milo, and now he is keeping him safe in Belgrade, because that's how he serves Andrija best.
When Duško Marković, as Prime Minister, began to interfere in his own work and showed that he was neither Igor nor Filip, when he prevented the "deal of the century", the takeover of the Port of Bar from the "sister of a high-ranking official" and another big brother and friend of Montenegro from Belgrade, Mlađan Dinkić, this same DPS marked Marković as suspicious, ready to attack the Boss, which meant Montenegro, along with other enemies of our eternal country. Due to the real power and influence of the DM, they could not move against him, Katnić had nothing in his drawers either, so they gritted their teeth and patiently waited for the moment. Even if he had won the 2020 elections, Duško would not have been Prime Minister, the silk cord of the infallible Leader was already ready for him. When the DPS was defeated, the party and the honorees just let Marković fade away. And in the end, he left. In order for the DPS to once again show its breadth, they are also happy that Duško is going, and that they can wish him the best in his further political involvement.
A similar story is being repeated these days. When one of the party's most respected leaders, Nikola Janović, announced that he was leaving the common ship, after concluding that years of comradely criticism and factional activity were of no use, that the DPS was irreparable and unchangeable, the party issued the same statement - they "see nothing controversial" in Nikola Janović's decision to leave the party and wished him "good luck in his further political activities".
So, when DPS repeats that it sees nothing controversial in the decision of one of the important people to leave the party, it means that they were actually looking forward to seeing the back of the member in question. And when they add to everything that they wish the departing member a happy and successful new party and continued political activity, it sounds like they are mocking him, because they believe that the party's army of bots and informants will "fake" him in the field. Which is also vividly shown by Janović's farewell, where in one sentence of the statement they announce his political fate and marginal status, similar to that of Duško Marković. Or as the honorary president of the party would say, or rather sing: no one can do anything to us, we are stronger than fate.
What is true for a person, that one should think about it when the wrong people start praising them for the wrong reasons, is also true for political organizations. And vice versa: that every smart person or organization should think hard if the right person criticizes them for the right reasons. For years, Janović has been pointing out that the party is going in the wrong direction, that the biggest skeleton in the DPS closet of the past is not weak social policy but crime and corruption, that the party needs not only new faces but also new policies, genuine and not cosmetic reforms - no one at the top of the party took such a story and the cry of one of its respected members seriously. They waited for Janović's anger to pass, thinking that his criticism was some personal regret for a party chair or some similar appointment. That's why, instead of a serious conversation, they offered him the position of the leader of the list in Kotor, and if he doesn't make it as mayor, then we can talk about Janović's candidacy in the 2028 presidential elections. Is there a clearer indicator that DPS is still the same, Milov and Gvozdov, because it still thinks that anyone, like Sveto or Filip, can be silenced or bought off with a tender, some new appointment or a promising candidacy?
How did Nikola Janović resent the reformed party leadership when he tried to point out the party suicide embodied in the proposal to elect Đukanović as honorary party president? Because just as there is no honorary captain in sports, so in politics there is no point in having an honorary president, Janović explained. But again in vain. His appeal did not change anything. It was not even enough for the new DPS leader Živković to stop boasting that the idea for the "honorary" did not come from the base and the field, but from him personally. Which confirmed another folk wisdom: that a smart man is ashamed of things that a stupid man is proud of.
In the end, it turned out that Janović regretted his departure more than DPS. Now there is no one left for Živković and his comrades to grumble that the party “must make a change in approach and thinking”. After Janović, no one remained in the DPS ranks to point out that the party “did not fare well in the opposition benches, because the perception is still present that DPS is undesirable for any broader and majority coalition”. Although there was public speculation that Janović could also run for the position of head of DPS, after Đukanović left the party leadership, he did not run for that position. Because it was obvious to everyone that Đukanović was like Živković. And that the party elections with the alleged inclusion of all members and online voting are a mere farce. Like those “blind boxes”, from the best legacy of the communist parties that are the forerunners of today's DPS. That is why Janović did not even appear at the Congress, which allegedly angered Živković and Đukanović a lot. But they still believed that he was too good and noble a man to slap the Boss and the party by deserting the ranks.
No statement was ever published by DPS about the talks with Janović or about how the new leadership accepted the warnings of its important member that cosmetic changes should be translated into substantive ones, which means that those talks never took place?! Or if there were any, they passed by noting differences, or even agreeing that Janović was right, but that we should wait. That it was not yet time for deep and substantive reforms. As if Živković, Vuković, Rakočević, Andđušić were waiting for SDT Novović to help them and take the burden off their shoulders. Like a Croatian prosecutor once helped HDZ get rid of Sanader. But nothing of the sort.
At least for now. And the question is, if the honorary president of DPS is prosecuted, will the young, beautiful and smart leadership call for a gun and a forest, or will they, as in the case of Marović ten years ago, announce that the institutions are doing their job and that prison is a real opportunity for Milo to write something and surpass Đilas. One can rather believe in the first option, because if political director Andđušić so bravely defended the indefensible, Milo's expensive watches, how could he and his comrades even bother to defend his freedom?!
Analyst Nikoleta Đukanović is right when she notes that for DPS, “qualitative rather than quantitative damage” is more important. In other words, Živković and his comrades should not rejoice over the symbolic number and loss of members after Janović’s departure, but should be very concerned about the deterioration of their image. Because, as NDJ concludes, “the departure of one of the rare figures within the party with a consistently critical tone reinforces the perception that DPS is failing to retain people who want cleaner political action and accountability.”
The DPS and the Boss care about that and after that. And Nikoleti wish them luck in further analytics, and they will do it the old way. They can't seem to get out of the negative drive that the Boss and his private clique imposed on the party, when after the referendum they decided to build a private, not a democratic party, and a private, not a democratic state. Montenegro as a cultural address, ex-minister Đaga would say. And for such a concept, everything reasonable and well-considered had to be declared heresy. And everything weird and wrong became their guiding idea. As long as the DPS is on that background, the party's pyrrhic victories and the state's painful defeats will continue: the Janović case will not be the last example that illustrates this.
As for Janović himself, he has enviable personal and political capital. But that alone is not enough for success. Everyone is talking about a significant space in the upcoming elections for the Civic Center list. Whether Janović's move and leaving the party shadow can be a stimulus for such an association and profiling is impossible to predict now. What is clearer is the fact that without such a list in the 2027 elections, DPS would have much easier time maintaining its position as the strongest party in the opposition, and Mandić would have been the leader in the parliamentary majority.
Bonus video:
