Popović: The Fridom House report completely exposed the nature of the Montenegrin regime

The Vice-President and Member of Parliament of the Democrats, Zdenka Popović, said that the report of "Fridom House" completely exposed the nature of the Montenegrin regime.

"After the recent report on freedom of the media, which showed that freedom of speech is being stifled in Montenegro in every way, the report by "Fridom House" completely exposed the nature of the Montenegrin regime. Namely, in the report that refers to basic freedoms and democracy, it is clear stated that Montenegro is not a democratic country. Therefore, the conclusion is imposed that it is an authoritarian system in which all institutions and all organs are subordinated to the will of one man and one party, and not to the interests of the state and citizens. The dramatic nature of the report is reflected in the fact that was made for the year 2019, ending with December, when the DPS passed the Law on Freedom of Religion, and since then the brutal crackdown on dissidents begins. Although the DPS is trying by all means to smear the eyes of the public and the international community about the implementation of a fictitious electoral reform and maintenance of fair and free elections, it is obvious that they are not succeeding in this. It is clear to everyone that free elections have never been held in Montenegro, and that the brutality of breaking the electoral will and influencing the electoral will of the citizens is becoming more and more dynamic every year. DPS is fully aware that it has no chance of winning in free elections, as evidenced by the opposition's victories even in these election conditions. Guided by that fact, the DPS ran away from the superior solutions of the Democrats, who are the only guarantor of the comprehensive reform of the electoral legislation and the first fair, free and honest elections," said Popović.

He adds that the part of the report that refers to the state of the judiciary is extremely dramatic and worrying, "especially if we know that DPS ideologue Svetozar Marović, who, according to some reports, damaged the state for around 400 million euros, mocks the face of justice and judicial authorities from neighboring Serbia."

"In addition, a large number of affairs prosecuted by the Democrats, which are related to crime and corruption, from which the state and citizens suffer damage, remained locked in drawers and ignored by the judicial authorities. Just some of them are "Limenka", " Bazar", "Customs", "Gornja Zeta", "domain .me" and many others, as well as scandals affecting the electoral will of citizens such as the "Snimak" and "Envelope" scandals. In democratic countries, due to just one of the mentioned scandals, the government resigned, and the culprits would be prosecuted. However, none of that happened in Montenegro, which is not surprising given that the actors of those affairs are the closest collaborators of the head of the regime. In support of the "Freedom House" report, there is also a dramatic piece of information about corruption in the judiciary and the subordination of the judiciary to the head of the regime, which is best evidenced by the trampling of the Constitution and the law by the judicial authorities themselves during the election of the president of the Supreme Court and the chairman of the Constitutional Court and the testimony of the secretary of the Supreme State Prosecutor about the same corruption. In the end, it is clear that in a country where there is no principle of change of government, and where one man rules for 30 years, there can be neither democracy nor free institutions," Popović said.

She said that "one man controls absolutely the entire system that he has subordinated to personal interests, and from which the state and citizens suffer the greatest damage."

"After this report, Đukanović and his deputy Marković can no longer hide behind either independent analysts or false analyses. If we add to everything the intention of the DPS to cancel the finances of opposition parties, which is a precedent in the 21st century when it comes to modern states, then it is clear that the DPS is introducing the state into the final phase of dictatorship. Montenegro needs a new government that will work to improve the rights and freedoms of all citizens, as well as to strengthen institutions and economic recovery of the state. Such leadership is the only guarantee of entry into the European Union and break with the bizarre practices established by the DPS," concluded Popović.