Vujović: There are no conditions for free elections, he is worried about the behavior of a part of the opposition

The existing normative, but also social and political environment does not guarantee the conditions for free elections, announced the Social Democratic Party (SDP), stating that in addition to the obstructions of the authorities, the behavior of the opposition, which is more important to referendum-identity issues, is also worrying.

SDP Presidency member Ivan Vujović said that the democratic standard implies that the electoral legislation is not changed in the election year, but that, since Montenegro does not function in accordance with democratic standards, even that unwritten rule must be questioned.

He believes that there is not much time, and that the existing environment, normative, political and social, does not guarantee the conditions for free elections.

"Obstructions by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) are nothing new, but the behavior of a significant part of the opposition is worrying and indicative, for which some other, referendum-identity, issues are obviously more important than the democratic and European theme of free elections," said Vujović to the MINA agency.

He said that there are still various options on the table that allow for the creation of an adequate election environment, including an appropriate time for the elections.

"The key is the political will, above all the government, which is currently lacking," Vujović believes.

He stated that there can hardly be a sustainable agreement and consensus if the government does not change "its autistic behavior".

"But even if part of the opposition does not finally come out of the referendum divisions and realize that Montenegro is an independent, civil, secular and multinational country, which sees its future in Europe, and not in a return to the past centuries," Vujović assessed.

He said that all the laws, especially on the voter list, the media, Radio Television of Montenegro and the financing of political parties, together with the implementation model, form a complete package of electoral legislation and without an agreement on all these elements there will be no environment for free elections.

According to him, the SDP is ready for a comprehensive dialogue that would deal with all open issues, above all the electoral environment, but also the functioning of certain institutions that are "blocked or operate outside of constitutional and legal legitimacy".

According to Vujović, all these issues must be resolved in order to stabilize and restore the overall legal and political system.

"The SDP expects that, above all, the government will come to its senses and have more sensibility and political responsibility for agreements on all these open topics. Unilateral adoption of important laws and generally this kind of government behavior is the path to further political instability", Vujović assessed.

He believes that the government must show a real will for an agreement and that, otherwise, it must be aware that various scenarios are possible that would further degrade Montenegro democratically.

Vujović stated that this would be the worst option for democracy, citizens, further European path and civic Montenegro as a whole.

"The SDP, as an authentic European, reform and state party, is ready for an agreement, precisely because it wants to strengthen the fundamental constitutional values, which is only possible by changing the current ruling practice and way of ruling," said Vujović.

He said that the adoption of a set of electoral laws without the presence of the opposition only confirmed the lack of real will of the authorities to reach a minimum agreement and agreement on the issue of the electoral environment.

Vujović believes that such an act does not contribute to political stability and the creation of trust between political actors, which has never been at a lower level.

He assessed that the current government should think about it well, taking into account the overall political and social context and the common need for Montenegro to be stable on a pro-Western course despite the efforts of many, both inside and outside it, who still dream of some other backward politics.

"From the alleged willingness to discuss all aspects of the electoral environment, which was written down in the Decision on the reform of electoral legislation, the current government is now cynically telling us that only part of the package of electoral legislation is on the table," Vujović said.

He stated that the complete failure of the work of the Committee for the Reform of Electoral Legislation implies the responsibility of the representatives of the government and the opposition who, as he said, prepared the agreement on the formation of the Committee behind the public's back.

Vujović assessed that in this way, Montenegro showed that it does not have a political elite capable of solving concrete problems, although in some previous, more politically tense times, this capacity existed to solve much more delicate issues.

"I would like to remind you that previously we regularly adopted electoral legislation by broad consensus. When we have all that in mind, it is clear where we are today when it comes to mutual trust and the level of democratic standards won", announced Vujović.

He said that the good services of the international community are always welcome and that the kind of help, sometimes with less, sometimes with more skill, existed.

"I expect that this will be the case now as well, but I repeat that the primary responsibility lies with domestic actors. I also expect the help of other, first of all, non-party subjects who generally show a much higher degree of responsibility than the political-party class as a whole", Vujović said.