Zeković: Cultivate healthier political relations, work on rapprochement and reconciliation

Aleksandar Saša Zeković, human rights activist, said that he did not intend to insinuate or insult the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, and that he learned from direct communication that members of the Democrats understood it that way.

He reacted to the statement of the Democrats that there is no reason for DPS to attribute credit for its proposals, including the one about the day of mourning, to him.

Zeković is, among other things, the initiator of the establishment of the remembrance program for all victims of the coronavirus pandemic in Montenegro.

"In the announcement of Democratic Montenegro, I was mentioned, unfortunately, due to vanity for an extended period of time. It is not right to be punished out of context and topic, especially since the purpose of my announcement, in December 2020, was to indicate that the adoption of the Declaration on Srebrenica is real the needs of the Montenegrin society to which the reactive facial expressions of each of us should be adapted," said Zeković in his response.

He said that he was sorry if the Democrats thought that he somehow wanted to insult the President of the Assembly, but also that he sent the Government of Montenegro the initiative to declare March 22 as the Day of Mourning and National Remembrance for all victims of the coronavirus in Montenegro. "On that date in 2020, the first citizen of Montenegro died from the consequences caused by the coronavirus," he added.

"The government did not even respond. Although it boasts of openness, the facts show that it is a common practice not to provide citizens and the public with an elementary response to their interests. The initiative was supported by the President of Montenegro, and the presidents of as many as 17 municipalities who come from different political party. They all have and nurture different personal and collective identities. Through 15 different commemorative activities, in five municipalities, independent civic groups contributed to nurturing collective memory and raising overall responsibility for the health of the population. All of this gave the initiative full meaning, constructiveness and width," Zeković said.

He pointed out that the prime minister was not allowed to establish the expected national unity, but that despite this, in Tivat, on the occasion of that sad day, which he was not allowed to officially acknowledge, he planted an olive tree in memory of all those who died in Montenegro.

Zeković believes that this gives hope that political relations can and must be healthier and "that we can work together on improving responsibility, rapprochement and reconciliation of the divided Montenegro".