Abazović: URA has a plan to reduce prices and increase salaries immediately, not before the elections

The leader of the Civic Movement URA, Dr. Dritan Abazović, said that the citizens of Montenegro are magicians because with such prices and high inflation, they live on small salaries, recalling that the movement he leads has proposed a sustainable plan to change this immediately, not before the elections, the statement said.

"URA is the only one with a plan to reduce food prices and fuel prices. We are offering that plan immediately and we think it would be of great help to citizens and prevent any future inflation," said the leader of GP URA in the author's podcast "Friday with Dritan" broadcast from Boka Kotorska, in response to a question from citizens about how to live with today's salaries.

As for why this is not being done immediately but only from January, Abazović said that the reason is the fact that increasing salaries is an election program for some and that the ruling structure wants to "buy people's souls," according to a statement submitted by the GP URA.

"We probably got out of that in 2020 when DPS was in power, when people were buying 50 euros for a sack of flour or a meter of wood and so on. And now they want to buy your support again with the state budget. That is the essence of the problem. It is not a problem to talk about increases, and we propose increases, but not in a way that makes it an election trick and an election pamphlet," he said.

Abazović pointed out that URA, through its "Better Standard" package, is proposing an increase that would happen immediately, because people are now suffering from high prices. We have also proposed, he said, that an agreement be reached on the calculation coefficient and it would immediately raise salaries by 11 percent.

He recalled that the URA initiated both limiting the prices of basic foodstuffs and lowering fuel prices in order to mitigate the consequences of rising inflation.

"As for pensioners, my government increased pensions but did not interfere with any taxes, did not take a single cent from pensioners, just as this government is now completely abolishing the PIO fund and everything that people who worked for years or decades invested in that fund. And that is a huge difference," said the leader of the GP URA.

He added that inflation has devalued benefits for mothers with three or more children, and that he is holding a meeting on Monday at the request of their representatives with the aim of creating a legal solution that would align benefits with wage growth.

"Whatever we can process in the state parliament, we will do, and don't have any doubt about that. I am sorry that the petition related to mothers with three or more children is still on the shelf of the Parliament of Montenegro. The President of the Parliament does not want to put it on the agenda," he is convinced.

Abazović also said that this government does not want its citizens to be rich, because otherwise it would be solving issues of restitution.

"We have made all the preparations for the change in the law on restitution, that is, for everything that was taken away unjustly by citizens to be returned to its rightful owners. I do not understand the logic of a government that does not want to enrich its citizens. We all talk about living standards, prices, economic models and packages... Land that was taken away unjustly and not paid for adequately should be returned to its rightful owners. Richer citizens mean a richer state. A richer state means a more successful society," said the leader of the GP URA.

He said that the movement he leads will continue to advocate in the state parliament for changes to legal solutions that will enable restitution to be fully realized.

Regarding the recent visit of the President of the European Commission to Montenegro, Abazović said that it unfortunately confirms that Montenegro will not be on an equal footing with other EU members when it becomes a member.

"When Bulgaria and Romania joined, and then in 2013 with Croatia, the idea of ​​the EU was to be a community of equal states that find solutions in solidarity regarding controversial politics, domestic policy and the economy. With what the EU is now proposing, we are no longer equal, and the citizens of Montenegro should know that. So, by accepting new candidates, among which Montenegro should be, it will be a Union that has a certain group of states that have certain rights and a certain group of states that do not have the same rights as the previous ones. I think that is not correct, nor is it nice," Abazović assessed.

He said that it was good that all parties were formally in favor of Montenegro's EU membership and that it would be good for it to be completed as soon as possible, even though the situation was not exactly favorable.

He called on "all our people to approach what remains in the coming period with much more dignity."

"The opposition was very constructive, it voted for many things, otherwise the government would not have reached this point in European integration if the opposition had not been constructive. In the coming period, everything that happens is solely the responsibility of the ruling majority," Abazović said.

Commenting on the newly adopted Regulation on Hunting Seasons, which foresees the possible culling of numerous species, including the fallow deer, Abazović said that the Government continues to fill the "believe it or not" column and that the public has rightly rebelled and called them the "anti-Bambi government".

"An e-petition has also been opened, and citizens have contacted me in order to help this process. As a man, as a politician and someone who likes to promote an ecological Montenegro everywhere, I consider it extremely appropriate to attack the Government and try to maximally protect flora and fauna so that our forests remain full of all species and that people can enjoy them," concluded the leader of GP URA.