Pejović: Montenegro has a government that does not want a public dialogue with its own citizens

Although politicians in Montenegro promise in election campaigns and signed international initiatives that they will make all important decisions in the interest of the citizens, actively communicating with them, in practice the arbitrariness of individuals has been carried out for years, which not so rarely, as a result, has long-term consequences for the entire society , said Program Director Association for Responsible and Sustainable Development (UZOR) Marko Pejović.

"The most recent example of bad communication is related to the Bill on Amendments to the Law on State Property, which, according to the established custom, the Government approved at the telephone exchange in mid-June, after which controversial amendments followed, which caused a sharp reaction from the public. However to this day, it has not been explained to the citizens how potentially harmful it is that we lease state property for 90 years, and how much the state land is worth in general, if after the expiration of the contract there remain buildings that are the property of investors," said Pejović.

Also, he added, it is very problematic that politicians are talking about such an important issue in the middle of the holiday season, so in addition to the institutional dialogue, a high-quality confrontation of opinions was skillfully avoided in the most watched television formats.

"It is obvious that the political elites forgot that, apart from the Montenegrin public, they also promised transparency towards their citizens at the international level, by signing the 'Partnership for Open Administration' initiative, which has been just a dead letter for more than 10 years. The essence is clear. - we have to make decisions together about common property, and the more the public is informed, the less room there is for intrigue. We call on politicians to start a public dialogue instead of public manipulations, in order to finally start processes that will bring satisfaction and not anger to the citizens," he concluded. Pejović.