Members of the Democratic Front (DF) and people close to that political alliance have taken the most important positions in the largest state-owned enterprises, despite announcing protests against the Government, demanding the election of a new one.
The officials of the most important constituents of the DF (New Serbian Democracies and the Democratic People's Party) and their close staff are, among other things, in the positions of president of the board of directors of the Electric Industry of Montenegro (EPCG), the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS) and the Airport of Montenegro, as well as in the positions of executive directors of Pljevlja coal mine, Plantaža, Montenegrobonus...
The President of the EPCG Board of Directors is a former member of parliament and DF official, Milutin Đukanović. At the head of the Board of Directors of CEDIS is Rajko Radošević, who was elected to that position as a representative of the DF, to whom the position went after the distribution of positions "by depth". The Board of Directors of the Airport is headed by Nebojša Đoković, also from DF, while the president of the governing body of Port Bar Slađana Perišić was also elected to that position on behalf of that political alliance.
The first member of the Board of Directors of the Montecargo company is a former member of the DF in the Assembly of the City Municipality of Golubovci, Miroslav Brajović. Zoran Lakušić, a DNP official, is at the head of the Board of Directors of the Regional Waterworks, while Tripko Draganić, a member of Nova, is the president of the management body for the Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock (OŽVS).
The executive director of Pljevlja Coal Mine is the president of the Nova Municipal Board, Milan Lekić. The head of Plantaž is Miroslav Vuković, a member of the Yugoslav Communist Party, one of the smallest constituents of the DF. DF deputy Radoš Zečević was elected as the executive director of Montenegrobonus, while the leaders of Morski Dobr and Budvanska Riviera are DF cadres from Budva, Mladen Mikijelj and Jovica Gregović.
DF officials also manage the National Parks of Montenegro (NPCG). Marina Jočić (Nova) is the president of the Management Board of NPCG, Jelena Kljajević (DNP) is the director. The Director of the Administration for Cadastre and State Property is Koča Đurišić (Nova).
The Movement for Change (PzP), the third most important constituent of the DF, which independently participated in the distribution of functions "by depth", currently manages, among other things, the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO) and the Montenegrin Electricity Market Operator (COTEE). . The director of KCCG is Ljiljana Radulović, the daughter of PzP MP Branko Radulović. The head of the PIO Fund is PzP Presidency member Ranko Aligrudić, while the PzP official, Boro Todorović, was elected director of COTEE.
Democratic Montenegro "got" the positions of executive directors in some companies in which DF manages the board, while he heads the board of those companies in which the director staff is DF. Democratic officials Nikola Rovčanin and Vladimir Čađenović are executive directors of EPCG and CEDIS, Bar Democrats official Josip Đurašković is the director of the Regional Waterworks, while member of the Main Board (GO) of that party Dragan Tufegdžić is the director of the Post of Montenegro. Goran Folić, a member of the Democratic Executive Committee and vice-president of the party's board in Beran, is the director of the Employment Agency, and Dušan Janjušević, an official and councilor of the Democrats in Pljevlja, is the president of the Board of Directors of Rudnik Uglja.
Among other things, the GP URA was assigned the functions of the director of the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing, which is performed by Vidoje Petričić, and the National Library "Đurđe Crnojević", headed by Dragica Lompar. When it comes to other government parties, the public's attention was attracted by the appointment of the vice-president of the Socialist People's Party, Dragoslav Šćekić, as the director of the Health Insurance Fund, as well as the election of Danilo Jokić, an official of the Union of Montenegro, as the director of the Podgorica Health Center.
According to "Vijesti" information, the ruling parties have received a large number of positions in the management boards of state enterprises and institutions, hundreds of positions, but many of these appointments are difficult to connect directly to specific parties, because some of the staff are not formal members of those political parties. subjects.
The Director of the Research Center of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), Dejan Milovac, assessed that it is clear that, in the case of employment in the state administration, there was not much departure from the practice established by the previous government, which, according to him, led to capturing state institutions and subordinating them to party interests.
"Despite the publicly declared political will to break with the practice of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), almost a year after the election, we witness that for a good part of the parties of the new ruling majority, it was more important to satisfy the party's interests than to keep the word they gave to the voters during the election campaign ", says Milovac for "Vijesti".
He stated that such behavior continues the capture of state institutions, which, he says, will continue to shape their work in accordance with the interests of the parties.
"Bad practice continues, only with new players. This makes the concept of the so-called expert governments, because apart from ministers, 'in terms of depth' of the state administration, we increasingly have the opportunity to see staff who are neither experts, nor professional and expert", says Milovac.
He emphasizes that the party card is still a dominant prerequisite for most employment in the state administration, especially in management positions.
"Unfortunately, the lack of support that the Government of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić enjoys in the Parliament of Montenegro has made it extremely exposed to blackmail of all kinds from certain parties of the new majority. The result of this is visible at almost every step in the state administration and shows the extent to which the publicly declared political will to end bad practice once and for all is meaningless," Milovac emphasizes.
Milena Muk, public policy researcher at the Institute of Alternatives, says that after the election, the NGO warned that insisting on the so-called expert solutions for the political positions of ministers can create pressure and inappropriate political influence on positions that by definition should be expert.
"That's what happened, and the DF justifies its undisguised demands by denying them access to political positions. It is certainly a lesson and a confirmation that an expert government can act attractively for the pre-election program, but it is clearly a difficult concept to sustain for the post-election reality. I would not go into the political reasons of the DF against the current Government, but what we have been warning about from the beginning is that healthy competition between parties should be aimed at controlling reforms and public policies, and not at the so-called positions 'by depth'", says Muk for "Vijesti".
She believes that in public speech there has been an extremely harmful exchange of theses - that political legitimacy is charged with positions, and not with radical reforms and the realization of program goals.
"When we have things upside down in the foundations, these apparently paradoxical situations are not surprising, that the constituents of the government, at least in the Parliament and in certain structures in the public sector, are determined against the Government", underlines Muk.
Dean of the Faculty of State and European Studies, Đorđije Blažić, said that the current government, while in the opposition, warned about the problem of a partitocratic state, but that after the election, it stopped talking about it.
"Before the elections, many advocated democracy, the rule of law, pre-professionalism... And then, when they came to power, they were no longer interested in that, so they switched from the principle of professionalism to a system of dividing the spoils. In the theory of political systems, this is a classic system of dividing the spoils," he emphasized for "Vijesti".
Blažić believes that the current government wants to do the same as the previous one.
"They want 'by depth'. There is the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees and the Labor Law, and it is known which are the political positions. There is no dispute about them - there is no need for a public tender or anything else. But when it comes to public administration, apart from the minister and the state secretary, who are political officials, a public announcement procedure must be carried out for all other personnel. These are procedures that last several months and there is no authoritative decision-making. If you want, gentlemen, to continue to have a partitocratic state - go ahead and do what you think you should do," he says.
Blažić: I have never heard of anyone from the government protesting against the government
Asked how he interprets the DF leader's announcement that he will organize protests against the Government in the fall, Blažić replies that it is "Montenegrin absurdity".
"For someone in power to organize protests against himself - I have never heard of that in my life. The theory does not know that. But we wouldn't be us if we didn't invent something... That says the most about them", believes Blažić.
Milovac says that when it comes to the DF, which is recognized by the public as the entity that "received" the most functions in the administration, it is not difficult to assume that it is a matter of classic political opportunism, which, according to him, has very little to do with with "liberation of institutions from DPS constraints".
"Unfortunately, the situation is similar, to a greater or lesser extent, with other parties that make up the new ruling majority. Although state functions are more than tempting for building a future party and voting base 'in depth', I believe that parties - at least the part that really wants it - should refrain from practices that are too similar to what we had the opportunity to see in the last 30 years of DPS rule", he concludes.
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