Partitocracy even after DPS: Party booklet for state nurseries

Professional positions in the state administration, which are financed by all citizens, are also party spoils during the mandate of the new government, and only the party sign of the fighters for the seats has changed.

This is the opinion of the interlocutor of "Vijesti" about the continuation of the practice of party appointments in institutions, which, as the paper has already written, has led to important positions by those who follow the shadows of suspicious actions or affairs, as well as unprofessional staff.

Although the appointments to some of those positions - the so-called "political positions" (secretaries of state, advisors, etc.) - and until now mostly performed on a political basis, because there are no public competitions for them, it is debatable that this model is being implemented by the new Government, which promised depoliticization of institutions.

For years, the majority of its constituents have criticized the regime of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) - also a subject of the new government - because of party recruitment, accusing it of collapsing the system.

Citizen activist Stefan Đukić believes that party recruitment is a multi-faceted problem.

On the one hand, he says, it is a continuation of the story that the DPS and parties close to it have never seen Montenegro as anything other than as loot shared by party members and their families, having received as much as their party "rank" allows - some property of a company in bankruptcy, some employment, some import of an important product...

"After the change of government in the elections on August 30, 2020, we see that party employment has only changed the party sign, from official positions in the government to public companies. This, among other things, shows the inability of all parties to attract voters and sympathizers in any real political way, so in the absence of a solution in the form of economic policy, democratic principles, a real and sovereign foreign policy course, they resort, as much as they can, to logic - 'one employee , four voices'", Đukić points out for "Vijesti".

Although some of the public expected that after the fall of the DPS on August 30, the practice they patented during the three-decade rule of the country would change, the party's infiltration continued, so party "soldiers" got most of the seats in the most important institutions and state companies.

Negotiations on the division of positions "by depth" were conducted between the parties that won the elections and the then-mandate and later prime minister Zdravko Krivokapić, who even proposed to them to form a working group that would deal with the distribution of functions.

That the party's booklet does not lose its importance was also shown by the first appointments of the Government of Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, who said before its formation that only it could carry out "real depoliticization".

Milena Muk, public policy researcher at the Institute of Alternatives (IA), states that during the first six sessions alone, the Government made 36 decisions related to the termination of mandates and appointments to the positions of secretaries and general directors in ministries, as well as assistant directors and directors of the so-called independent administrative bodies.

She says that more than a third of those decisions (14) refer to the same persons whose term of office was terminated, so they were re-designated as acting (acting) officials, which, according to her, is not in accordance with the law and represents a kind of abuse, and which the IA had previously warned about on several occasions.

"Actually, it can be said that by illegally extending the acting status of the previous government, managers in that status were put in an unfavorable position, especially vulnerable to political influences, which the new government took advantage of. Nevertheless, some managers were 'saved', and it is reasonable to assume that this was done due to political interests and assessments. However, in most cases it is about new people who came to positions. We can see from the media articles that, in a significant number, they were openly party active or brought into connection with certain parties, which are now part of the parliamentary majority or the Government", she emphasizes for "Vijesti".

In addition to the members of the parties that are in the government, DPS personnel, who are not in Abazović's cabinet, but who support him in the Assembly, were given positions in the state administration.

Among those appointed are some "old people", who have experience working in institutions.

Đukić says that citizens have repeatedly convinced themselves that the parties do not offer them anything substantial, no political value, so a good number of them decided to exchange their vote for some potential privilege.

When it comes to those who are not interested in this type of "trade", it can be said, according to him, that the parties "raised their hands" from them.

"It is easier for them to attract as many voters who are interested in it through employment and staffing, let's not forget, on the budget of all citizens, instead of trying to have real solutions for those who are interested in politics through laws, parks, ideologies...", he explains. Djukic.

Muk, on the other hand, says that political changes in the state administration should not be reflected in the positions of the so-called senior management staff and heads of bodies.

She believes that civil servants should be especially protected from inappropriate political influences, in order to achieve, she says, continuity in the implementation of public policies and the provision of public services.

"That is why the turnover of elders and managers at the level of 55 percent of their total number during the first six months of the previous Government was specially noted by the European Commission (EC), as an indicator of inappropriate politicization", she pointed out.

In the report for Montenegro for 2021, published in October, the EC assessed that the change of government and parliamentary majority had a serious impact on the civil service, and that the amendments to the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees lowered the conditions related to competence, independence and employment civil servants based on the results.

"Furthermore, the recent reorganization of the public administration led to significant changes in personnel, including changes at higher levels, which jeopardizes the capacity of Montenegro to retain experienced personnel in matters related to the EU accession process in many sectors. A strong political will is needed to effectively depoliticize the public service, to optimize state administration and to implement managerial accountability," the report says.

The EC is just one of a series of important international addresses that have been calling on Montenegro to depoliticize its institutions for years.

Muk states that it can be said that the current government began its mandate by repeating old patterns, using professional positions that we all pay for, as a share in the distribution of political spoils.

"It is also true that all previous governments have so far created fertile ground for these practices, and indirectly provided an excuse for them because they did not follow the letter of the law, nor did they use the integrity of public tenders to protect the management staff and promote their expertise," she states. .

If those who came to power on the promise of professionalizing institutions also succumbed to the "cult" of the party booklet, is it illusory to talk about eradicating the practice of party indoctrination?

Đukić says that this is a big question because, according to him, it seems that we are in a "vicious circle".

As he explains, the parties were founded on the promise that they would materially provide members who would bring them the most votes (through families, local communities, spheres of interest), and then, when the party gets the opportunity to "frame", it must, he says, fulfill the promises to the membership, not to the voters who voted for her because of some items in the program.

"Therefore, the vast majority of employees in public administration, public companies and in directorships of institutions - are not experts, but party 'soldiers' who earned their position by passing votes, not by knowledge or experience," said Đukić.

Đukić: Citizens finance the twisted oligarchic system

Đukić says that the parties do not attract to the greatest extent people whom they could see as good and independent experts, but party "soldiers" for whom this engagement is the only way to get a position.

He states that this only further destroys and collapses the society we live in and erodes institutions that were never established.

"And the so-called it annoys ordinary citizens, because they are aware that their work is financing a twisted oligarchic system - partitocracy".

All parties are silent about the responsibility for embezzlement

None of the parties of the new government to which "Vijesti" wrote, the Civic Movement (GP) URA, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Bosniak Party (BS) and the DPS, did not answer the question whether they felt responsible for continuing the practice of party employment.