The surest defense of Montenegro is its development, its democratization, its freedom, its media coverage... All these are assumptions that Đukanović and his ilk cannot have an ear for. Because if they had, probably the past fifteen years would have looked somewhat different, said writer and "Vijesti" columnist Balša Brković in an interview for Monitor.
MONITOR: We finally got a new government. And never a bigger opposition. What is to rejoice and what is not?
For now, the only thing to be happy about is that we have finally finished the story of an unchangeable government. That is enough for the moment. If it turns out that there are more reasons to rejoice in the creative and professional potential of this government, it will be great. But only the coming time and action itself can confirm that. Not the fog and causes of the story, but concrete and visible action. This government has one undoubted starting advantage - after the experience of the DPS government, which is the only known experience here, but even a minimum of decent behavior and a few smart moves will look impressive, like - an absolute novelty, something valuable and necessary... It would not be good if that type advantages gamble.
On the other hand, one should be aware that an era has irreversibly ended. It would be good for the current opposition to understand that there is nothing to be gained from returning to (the) old ways. Even if, in some future arrangement, the DPS finds itself in some kind of coalition government, which will certainly happen at some point, it will never again be such a powerful and influential DPS. Nor, it is to be hoped, will any party ever again have that kind of total power. And that is what is certain good, which is an essential shift for today's Montenegrin society.
MONITOR: Many criticized the exposé of the new prime minister. In your column, you said that political history often spoke of "historical" exposés, but that many were not. Is this exposition historical?
We devalued that word too, a long time ago. Like many others. That would be a nice starting point for an essay that could say a lot about us today: how words thin, wear out, become worn like bills from use... It's exaggerated how much we ourselves like to experience everything in that kind of measurement. Historically this or that. You almost think that every Montenegrin sees history as a personal service...
Again, if you are a little older, as is the case with your interlocutor, then remember how many times you have already seen and heard this kind of self-aggrandizement of the current political elites. And rarely has it turned out, rarely has history itself (the passage of time) given the right to those who believed in the historical nature of this or that political stance or turn. This need for "intimacy" with history sometimes seems completely caricatured.
MONITOR: In the first week of work, the government announced the departure of some long-term officials whose names are associated with the survival of the previous regime, such as Veselin Veljović and Vesna Medenica. Are these good first steps of the new government?
Those are attractive first steps. Here people really want to see something spectacular. And the departure of those Đukanović puppets is that kind of public therapy. With each departure of those compromised personnel, the feeling that some forms of justice are attainable increases. These are the pillars on which rested the lie of Đukanović's model of governance. But there is every chance that the very act of leaving is not enough or completely expedient if we do not get a kind of public revelation behind it, of everything that made such a system possible and effective. There are many layers in that story that must be made public... I guess the departure of these obscure persons is only the first step towards unraveling the mechanisms that have set back and trapped Montenegrin society.
You can read more in the printed edition of the Monitor
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