Budva our city: When NSD manages the port, berths become a vote-buying mechanism

The political group "Budva Our City - Nikola Jovanović" announced that Luka Budva has been turned into a party branch of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), a "vote buying center".

They reacted to the text "Kuljača: Experts with purchased diplomas want to be given the management of one of Budva's most important resources."

"Nemanja Kuljača's statement best confirms what the citizens of Budva have long seen, that the Port of Budva has been transformed from a public good into a party branch of the NSD and an experimental center for electoral engineering, influence peddling, and the distribution of privileges to the eligible. When the port director nervously tries to convince the public that everything is ideal, while sharing political lessons and insulting anyone who asks a question, then it is clear that the truth and panic have seriously caught up with them. Because if the situation were really as wonderful as they present it, they would not have the need to write political pamphlets and play the victims of a conspiracy every day," they point out in Budva nas grad.

As they emphasize, it is particularly interesting how Kuljaca's statement practically acknowledges what Budva has been buzzing about for a year, that communal connections have become a currency for political bribery and voter buying.

"The citizens of Budva know very well how promises, urgency, privileges and favorable arrangements for berths were handed out before the elections. In a city of several tens of thousands of people, it is difficult to hide who became a 'priority' overnight and on what basis. But probably the citizens should believe that all of this is a coincidence. Just as it is probably a coincidence that the port is full of party cadres, family combinations and politically suitable people, who overnight became experts in maritime affairs, management and tourism. In Budva today, it seems that knowledge or experience is no longer necessary. It is enough to have a party card and the willingness to nod when necessary," they state in this political group.

A special comedy, they add, is the whining about the allegedly prohibited delivery of equipment to the port, while at the same time Morsko dobro is buying yachts and ferries with citizens' money.

"So if they already have a yacht, let them use it to transport equipment. Or maybe it was bought for panoramic rides by party officials and a show of power in the Budva waters. Instead of hysterically attacking everyone around him, Kuljača should answer a few simple questions. Who determines who is allocated communal berths? How many party activists and people close to them received privileged treatment? How many are employed in the port on the recommendation of the NSD? How much political pressure was exerted before the elections through the system of allocating berths and employment," the reaction emphasizes.

They called on the Special State Prosecutor's Office to "finally open the issue of the Budva port and examine who really manages it, according to what criteria public resources are disposed of, and whether state property was used for political trading and election engineering."

"Because individuals have clearly not yet understood one basic thing. The Port of Budva must no longer be a pawn of the NSD, nor a service of OKG interest groups, nor a private fiefdom of shadowy people who decide who can get a berth, a job or a privilege. The Port of Budva must belong to all citizens of Budva. It is only a matter of time before citizens will no longer agree to silently observe this humiliation of the city. The last straw has long since passed. The Port of Budva has gone from being a symbol of the Mediterranean and tourist pride to a black spot in Budva and Montenegrin tourism, a place that is today mocked by both citizens and tourists. And this is not the fault of the Municipality, nor the media, nor the 'enemies of development', but precisely those who have turned the port into a party treasury and a training ground for demonstrating force," concludes the reaction of "Budva our city".