A group of Montenegrin pensioners who protested today in front of the Parliament of Montenegro asked Prime Minister Milojko Spajić to immediately cancel the decision to increase pensions by 0,38 percent and propose a "realistic and decent increase", especially for lower pensions, in line with price increases and the real cost of living, according to a statement signed by Momo Joksimović.
He said that the protest unanimously adopted conclusions-requests that will be submitted to the presidents of the state, the Parliament and the Government, and they have been invited to receive a delegation for talks within the next seven days, which, in addition to Joksimović, consists of Svetozar Čabarkapa, Petar-Pero Mrdak, Budo Novosel and Dalibor Kavarić, a lawyer from Podgorica.
This group of pensioners demands: to stop the practice of making decisions over the backs of pensioners, without social dialogue and without respect; to provide special protection for pensioners with the lowest incomes, including former teachers, lecturers, workers, healthcare workers, disabled people and veterans; to publicly assume political and moral responsibility for the social collapse of the oldest population in Montenegro; to apply a model of linear, not proportional, pension increase, because the current model, as they claim, creates discrimination, and to resolve the issue of more complete, faster, cheaper and better healthcare.
They are also demanding a drastic reduction in all burdens on taxpayers – official cars, receiving salaries after leaving office (the procedure is before the Constitutional Court), the abolition of all variables, lump sums, entertainment, separate living, travel and other privileges of officials, and the limitation of salaries in the public sector.
They also demand the introduction of a socio-economic card so that pensioners with lower incomes can buy basic groceries at reduced prices (10 to 20 percent discount in supermarkets: 25 kg of flour, 5 liters of oil, 5 kg of sugar, 1 kg of coffee, 2 kg of salt, 5 kg of macaroni, 10 liters of milk and hygiene products. One married couple - one card, no abuse).
Among the numerous demands are assistance to citizens who have built their houses on state land or on land that has been returned to its former owners with significant benefits, following the example of Serbia and other neighboring countries, and efforts to return property to its former owners, because, as they say, private property is inviolable.
The pensioners who protested are demanding urgent personnel changes in the institutions that decide on the fate of pensioners: the Pensioners' Union of Montenegro, the Board of Directors of the Pension Fund, the Social Council, as well as a complete suspension of membership fees to the Pensioners' Union of Montenegro due to numerous, as they say, abuses, irregularities and non-transparent spending of pensioners' money, especially by municipal associations, until state authorities carry out an inspection and until the prosecutor's office finally acts on the criminal complaint.
"Pensioners are fed up with empty promises, false statistics and humiliation. We expect Montenegro to join the EU by 2028, but not with Balkan pensions and Balkan standards, but with European life and dignity. If there are no talks between the delegation and the country's leaders in the coming period and clear steps towards resolving life's needs, this will not be the end, but the beginning - the protests will continue, expand and radicalize within the framework of the law and democratic means. A state that humiliates its pensioners and its citizens is losing its future. This is not a threat. This is the voice of the people who have nothing left to lose," said Joksimović.
Joksimović said that he would inform the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, of the expectation that he, using the power of his constitutional and moral authority, will influence the final initiation of concrete and fair measures to improve the position and lives of pensioners and citizens in need of assistance, and to raise the level of professionalism and responsibility in all institutions.
They will ask Andrija Mandić, the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, to urgently adopt a new package of laws that will correct injustice and discrimination, to regulate all the rights of pensioners and harmonize the pension system with European Union legislation and the needs of pensioners.
The pensioners want to inform Milojko Spajić, Prime Minister of Montenegro, and Niko Đeljošaj, Deputy Prime Minister, about, as they said, the extremely difficult socio-economic position of pensioners in Montenegro.
"Pensioners want a Europe of European values, not Balkan misery and humiliation. We demand that the reform of electoral legislation be completed at the first session of the autumn session of the Parliament of Montenegro, with the mandatory introduction of open electoral lists, in order to restore the lost accountability of individuals and institutions, where officials and elected officials will be accountable to the citizen - the holder of power, and not to party leaders," said Joksimović.
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