Everyone who does not think like the president of the Democratic Party of Socialists Milo Đukanović will end up like Svetozar Marović, the interlocutors of "Vijesti" assessed the message sent by the former high state official and functionary of the ruling party during his first public appearance after several years.
After his arrest in 2015 and his conviction for corruption, Marović appeared in public two days ago live via the Instagram profile of Duško Knežević, against whom several investigations are being conducted in Montenegro by the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
On that occasion, he distanced himself from his party and publicly supported the opposition a few days before the elections, stating that Montenegro would welcome changes after three decades of DPS rule.
"Vijesti" interlocutors believe that he showed sympathy for the coalition led by Zdravko Krivokapić, i.e. the Democratic Front.
During the several-hour conversation with Knežević, Marović criticized the policy of the DPS towards the SPC in Montenegro, stating that it is wrong and that freedom of religion does not mean denying the rights of the Orthodox-recognized church.
He also said that this is the policy advocated by Đukanović with the idea that Montenegrin statehood should be rounded off in this way and ties with Serbia should be severed.
In 2016, Marović resigned from all positions in the DPS, including party membership. During the investigation, he signed an agreed plea of guilty with the Special State Prosecutor's Office and was finally convicted because, as a member of an organized criminal group, he damaged Budva for several million euros.
Since then, he has been in Belgrade, allegedly undergoing treatment.
With the exception of the Democrats, i.e. the "Peace is our Nation" list, the opposition parties did not answer the question of "Vijesti" yesterday regarding whether they would accept Marović as a witness to the government's inaction and allow him to return to Montenegro.
"Marović's testimony is most significant for those people who in the past period voted for DPS, supporting Đukanović and him, but for us who recognized them a long time ago and assumed most of what we heard, it is no longer a topic we will predominantly deal with", Jovan Vučurović, the candidate for deputy of the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro", told "Vijesta".
From the "Peace is our nation" coalition, in response to the question - if they win the elections, would they accept Marović as a cooperating witness, they answered that as far as they are concerned, the former official of the DPS "can convey his memory of the activities of an organized criminal group only according to ZIKS and inside its yard, twice a day".
The "Black and White" coalition reminds that Marović "despite his apologetic performance and subsequent wisdom, he must finally pay for everything he did to Montenegro, but that I can promise him - that he will not serve the legal sentence alone, because he did not even create the system that captured Montenegro".
He did not take off the "gloves", but called for changes
Cvijetin Milivojević, a political analyst from Belgrade, assessed that Marović spoke more or less "with gloves", but that it was interesting, as he stated, that he unapologetically called for changes and the departure of DPS from power.
"He directly calls for political changes in Montenegro, even showing his sympathy for the coalition led by Zdravko Krivokapić.
It is also very important, as he added, that Marović said that he wondered about every election - how it is possible for citizens to identify voting for independence with support for Đukanović and the DPS: "That fatalism often ruled in Montenegro - that people thought that if someone else wins, they will push for the independence of Montenegro, which is the first time we hear from someone who was in that story".
Milivojević pointed out that this was a message for the DPS electorate, for those who had an internal dilemma - that Montenegrins are also for state independence, but not supporters of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
Marović said that the SPC is the canonical church in Montenegro and that the Montenegrin Littoral Metropolitanate is a symbol of Montenegro.
He said that the Law on Freedom of Religion should be withdrawn and that the government's demands are frivolous and tragic.
He recalled that Metropolitan Amfilohije took him and Đukanović to get the blessing of Patriarch Pavle when state independence was being prepared.
"This is a message to those people - Montenegro will be independent even if Milo Đukanović does not win, but allow us to have our church, the Metropolis of Montenegro and the Littoral, which is as old as the country of Montenegro. They will be swayed, but I don't know if that is enough to overturn the elections," said Milivojević.
He does not think that Marović's appearance will affect the relations between Montenegro and Serbia: "The fact that Marović is in Belgrade is the result of a deal between Đukanović and Aleksandar Vučić. What Marović said can be a problem, but not on the Đukanović-Vučić line".
He was addressing the DPS electorate
The director of the Center for Civic Education (CGO), Daliborka Uljarević, said that many had high expectations from Marović's speech, but also unrealistic ones.
If he really wanted to speak about the illegalities of his party comrades, he could and it was more necessary to do it earlier, she said in a guest appearance on TV Vijesti's Boja jutra.
Uljarević said that in the current DPS presidency there are no people who had the strength, such as Marović, Filip Vujanović, Milica Pejanović-Đurišić, to oppose Đukanović and who could question his ideas and solutions and the like: "Now we only have those who will only reinforce his every solution and idea and agree with him, running to do it as soon as possible and as agile as possible, and no one is infallible".
Speaking about Marović's statement that he is an example of what can happen to those who hold a grudge against the powerful, and in this specific case she mentions Đukanović, she pointed out that it is one of the most interesting messages: "In connection with what he says that Đukanović is a divided personality - that what is true for him, he does not allow or very often criticizes in others. I think that this is exactly what his comrades should hear, because many of them thought that they could take as much from the state coffers as Đukanović, that they could behave in the same way, and therefore they could end up like Marović at that moment when their party boss assesses it".
Uljarević pointed out that in a significant part of the address, Marović was in fact addressing his former or current party comrades, as well as the electorate of the DPS. Answering the question of what his address means for the DPS ahead of the elections, she said that it cannot possibly be pleasant, and that she is not sure that he contributed to the opposition list that he supported: "Marović is very useful to both the opposition and the government... In this particular case, he has served this government for a long time so that it can show that it is committed to the rule of law to the extent that it applies the law to its highest officials in the same way as it would apply to someone else".
The Social Democrats, the SDP, the Liberal Party and the Bosniak Party did not respond to the questions of "Vijesti".
The people of Budva have no empathy for the fate of their former fellow citizen
There is no empathy in Budva for the fate of Svetozar Marović, and his first public address after a three-year escape to Belgrade is considered by Budva Democrats to be a futile attempt to have him acquitted.
"The attempts of Svetozar Marović to provide an amnesty for everything he did to Budva in response to the dismissal of the DPS are futile," said the leader of the Budva Democrats, Mijomir Pejović, who sat in the opposition benches of the local parliament during the period when Marović was at the peak of power.
As Pejović says, the new government led by the Democrats will treat Đukanović and Marović equally.
"And as far as we are concerned, there is no difference, neither for Blaž's minihydroelectric plants, nor for Miloš's yachts. Attempts to characterize his inaction as his victim are unconvincing and unconvincing and make a mockery of the citizens' intelligence. "Democrats guarantee both him and Đukanović that they will not be absolved," said Pejović.
Party colleagues from the ranks of the DPS, whom Marović blamed for having forgotten him, did not want to publicly comment on anything yesterday.
Marović's performance was not approved by the citizens of Budva, who commented on his performance on social networks the night before yesterday, because he did not help the opposition either, because he did not present key evidence against Đukanović with his three-hour guest appearance on A1, although it was expected.
Marović reminds of Karadžić when he was hiding in Belgrade
Cvijetin Milivojević said that Marović's performance more or less resembles the old Sveta Marović, but his appearance reminded him of the time when Radovan Karadžić was hiding around Belgrade as Doctor Dabić.
"It's that kind of image - a hat, a beard that camouflages a lot, drunk, lost a lot of weight, it just reminded me of that time when Karadzic appeared in public," said Milivojević.
Đukanović and DPS without comment
Đukanović's office did not respond to Vijestima's questions yesterday about whether he knew that Marović would be arrested, whether it was true that he did not want to help him, as well as when asked to comment on Marović's statement that he was sacrificed like Ivo Sanader because of the process of European integration. .
Marović announced that he was arrested the day after he had coffee with Đukanović.
"We talked about the indications that there could be some criminal charges, and I was arrested at nine o'clock tomorrow morning." When I got out of prison, we met in Gorica and he told me that he had not been up to date and I believed him," said Marović.
Even DPS did not comment on Marović's statement, as well as the fact that he came forward during the pre-election campaign.
Bonus video:
