Some political parties are campaigning ahead of the census because their intention is that the statehood of Montenegro will be contested or problematized in one of the elements of statehood - the population, according to Social Democratic Party deputy Borislav Banović.
"I cannot dispute the territory, and I cannot win power, especially not on the national platform. Then there remains an attempt to gain numerical superiority in the third element of any statehood - the population, as a basis for requests for future denials of Montenegro," Banović told the MINA agency.
He believes that it is a harmful attempt to transfer the fight from the usual field of political competition to the field of administrative, professional state affairs and, what is even worse, to the sphere of personal, individual civil rights and private properties and feelings.
"In that I see the wrong seeking of satisfaction for the defeats in the previous elections. And I see an anti-democratic and anti-civilizational, direct introduction of politics into people's homes," said Banović.
They want a new referendum
He said that he sees the public classification and counting of people by gender and blood, by characteristics from early childhood or the early Middle Ages, contrary to their right that it is a private, personal matter, guaranteed by the constitution and the law, as an intention to create even deeper divisions in Montenegro.
»Division into "ours" and "theirs" and even tighter control, rule and manipulation of "theirs". With the consequences that we will suffer even when the census and its results start to be forgotten", believes Banović.
To whom Montenegro and the Montenegrin identity are closer, let him say so, to whom Serbia and Serbs, Bosnia and Bosniaks, Croatia and Croats, too. Who feels more than one identity in his being: Montenegrin-Serbian, Bosniak-Muslim, Montenegrin-Muslim, or any other, also, freely
Asked why some political parties consider the population census almost as important as a referendum on state status, Banović said that some of them still do not want Montenegro as a separate and independent state.
He believes that those parties consider the list suitable for opening and justifying activities that would lead to either a new referendum on Montenegrin independence or the political and institutional disintegration of Montenegrin society.
»Others may not want evil, but they don't care much if it is bad or good for Montenegro as a whole, if in their opinion it is good for them personally or for their party. "The third really think that the constitutional right of Montenegrins to call their people and their language by their own name threatens only Serbianness in Montenegro, not Serbian chauvinism," said Banović.
It is not civil to dig by origin
According to him, a good number of political actors in Montenegro and even more of them in Serbia, have not come to terms with the fact that Montenegro is a sovereign and independent state and every opportunity, and they believe that the census is that, they use it to somehow diminish these features of the state and waver citizens.
»Of course it will be unsuccessful, primarily because already in these four years, Montenegrin statehood and sovereignty, by itself, has shown and proven its justification and benefit for all its citizens. Both in the economy, and in politics, and in sports, and in tourism, and in the process of European integration, and in the security of society, and in people's feelings, and in everything," he said.
Speaking about the position of the Socialist People's Party ahead of the census, Banović said that he sincerely regrets that the party fails to make a real, and not just a rhetorical, departure from its nationalist and conservative beginnings.
"You can't be a civil, European party, and at the same time sort out people based on their origins, shackle them with mythical representations and epic "convictions", Banović said.
He believes that national determinations and identities are much more a matter of historical and political context and circumstances than of absolute, blood characteristics of people.
The national question is not a matter for popes and hodjas
Banović also assessed that things are not for public handling or manipulation.
»At least not in democratic societies. It is a democratic standard that it is a personal matter of people, not priests, hodjas and political leaders. Not our fathers, nor our grandfathers, but ours and let's not let anyone else, except ourselves, define us. Neither as people, nor as members of society," he assessed.
The SDP called on the citizens of Montenegro to decide freely and independently.
"Whoever is closer to Montenegro and the Montenegrin identity should say so, to whom Serbia and Serbs, Bosnia and Bosniaks, Croatia and Croats, too. Whoever feels more identity in his being: Montenegrin-Serbian, Bosniak-Muslim, Montenegrin-Muslim, or any other, also, freely," he said.
Banović concluded that no one should and cannot in Montenegro be better or worse than others because of their identity, sense of belonging.
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