The President of the Municipal Assembly of Pljevlja Dragiša Sokić refused the request of a group of citizens to schedule a session of the local parliament where the Law on Freedom of Religion would be discussed.
The request for convening the session was signed by over 350 citizens, the number required by the rules of procedure for the president of the local parliament to schedule a session.
Sokić announced his decision today at the collegium with the presidents of the committee clubs, considering that the subject to be discussed is not within the jurisdiction of the local parliament.
The President of the Municipal Assembly, as the participants of the collegium reported to the News, announced that the proponents have the business opportunity to call a session of the local parliament where this topic would be discussed.
Given that Danijel Živković, the president of the DPS, BS and SD coalition committee, has announced that they will not participate in the work of the session, if it is scheduled, it is unlikely that the local parliament will discuss this topic. The coalition DPS-BS and SD in the Pljevlja Municipal Assembly has 20 out of a total of 35 councilors.
Sokić did not answer Vijesta's phone calls yesterday.
Along with the initiative, the signatories also proposed conclusions that should have been adopted by the local parliament.
One of them demanded that the Assembly state that the Law on Freedom of Religion is not in accordance with the Constitution of Montenegro and that it harms only the Orthodox people in Montenegro.
The initiators believe that the law should be repealed because it has caused divisions in Montenegro and aims to confiscate places of worship and other property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, while other religious communities are protected by special agreements.
Member of the Democratic People's Party Vladislav Bojović believes that by rejecting the initiative, the representatives of the ruling coalition in Pljevlja cowardly ran away from the discussion in the Assembly of the Municipality of Pljevlja, and thus from facing themselves, despite the expectations and demands of the believing Orthodox people in Pljevlja.
"With this move, the President of the Municipality, the President of the Municipal Assembly and the councilors of the ruling coalition have shown that their personal privileges are more important than the Church and religion. Moreover, by this action they excluded themselves from the Church. Despite this, we call them once again and tell them that it is not too late to call to their senses and advertise, because everything will pass, but the black face remains. More than ten thousand citizens of Pljevlja go out to rallies almost every night and oppose the law against the Serbian Orthodox Church. churches and Orthodoxy in Montenegro, a law that implies the theft of church property and holy places and which should enable crucifixes and non-canonical false churches, which are registered as non-governmental organizations, to use holy church facilities. That would certainly be the path to the extinction of the Church and Orthodoxy in Montenegro, and the citizens of Pljevlja understand this well. Of course, because of this, it was necessary to hold an extraordinary session of the local parliament in Pljevlje, which would have to take a clear position of opposition to this policy of the state government," said Bojović.
The believing Orthodox people in Pljevlja now see everything clearly and understand perfectly that it cannot continue like this, which is why they stood up to defend their holy places. We are convinced that it is now clear to the voters of this group in power that they are the individuals who represent them and that they no longer deserve their trust and support.
The Democrats' club of councilors in Pljevlja SO is not surprised that the president of Pljevlja SO Dragiša Sokić did not have the democratic capacity to rise above narrow-party interests and schedule a special session of the Assembly at the initiative of the citizens.
"None of the councilors, especially the president of the Assembly, has the right to ignore the fact that in Pljevlja for weeks, between 10000 and 15000 thousand citizens of all religions and nations have been protesting peacefully and with dignity, without any political motives or party iconography, thus expressing disagreement with the adopted by the law that divides the people. The President of the Assembly is obliged to accept the citizen's initiative on any topic, after the conditions from the Rules of Procedure have been met, and it is the Assembly that will make a statement about it. However, the fear of facing the facts in front of the Pljevlja public was stronger, so the DPS ran away from the discussion in an incorrect and cowardly way," states the announcement of the Democratic board club.
They also claim that the DPS of Pljevlja is disturbed by the fact that among the citizens who attend the rallies there are at least two thousand members of the DPS.
"If you thought to stop the attrition in this way, then you made another mistake in your steps. There is no such force that will prevent the political end of Milo Đukanović and the DPS. You wanted to divide the citizens, but divisions entered your ranks. You wanted to group citizens into blocs based on religions and nations, and immediately afterwards you saw messages of peace and solidarity from representatives of all traditional confessions in Montenegro, Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim. You know very well, gentlemen, that the law that you adopted, and for which two MPs from Pljevlja also raised their hands, is not in the interest of the people, religious communities, or the state. You thought that citizens would watch calmly while you pass regulations that attack the property of churches and all religious communities? Of course not. With the last decision by which you ran away from the parliamentary discussion, not at the initiative of the councilors, not at the initiative of the political parties, but at the initiative of the citizens, you showed not only that you were overcome by fear and divisions in your ranks, but that you are not worthy to lead the local government. We also note that on behalf of 15.000 citizens, a request to schedule an extraordinary session was read right in front of the Pljevlja Municipality Assembly building. Ignoring such a large number of citizens represents unprecedented insolence and proof that the DPS government does not work in the interest of all the citizens of Pljevlja".
The Democrats' parliamentary club called on the President of the Assembly "to reconsider his decision and listen to the citizens, not those who are not even allowed to go out among them".
"We call on the councilors of DPS not to cowardly run away from the discussion initiated by the citizens of the municipality of Pljevlja, if they are already sure of their unity and the correctness of their decisions. Parliament is a place where all councilors should discuss and exchange arguments in front of the public on every topic. It's in vain that you run away from the discussion and the people, when you yourself know that you can't run away," the Democrats' statement reads, among other things
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