The independent daily "Vijesti" gave up on organizing the conference "Recommendations of ODHR - how to have unquestionable elections", after the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) refused to allow President Milo Đukanović or Duško Marković to participate in it.
Responding to the invitation of "Vijesti" director Željko Ivanović for the DPS leaders to participate in the conference, the political director of that party, Tarzan Milošević, said that he considered participation in the conference unnecessary "because for them, commitment to dialogue means, above all, commitment to strengthening institutions."
Ivanovic explained in the invitation that the goal of the conference is to bring together the leaders of all parliamentary parties in order to have an open dialogue in the same place and space. Part of the pro-regime media announced yesterday that it offered "mediation in resolving the political crisis".
Ivanovic claims that the DPS once again grossly misused its propaganda in an attempt to "compromise an initiative that would be unquestionable for any democratic party."
"Our idea to organize a conference on a current social issue, such as fair elections, was presented by the DPS through its propaganda as a secret plan of Željko Ivanovic, to detain everyone in a hotel room instead of Commissioner Johannes Hahn or American diplomat Brian Hoyt Ji. leaders of parliamentary parties and resolve their months-long dispute by starting a dialogue between them!? It is being ignored that the initiative is related to the conference, that it is a public event and that so far our media have organized many similar gatherings on important social topics," Ivanovic said, stating that in his letter to Milošević, he pointed out that the conference had "nothing to do with the desire for mediation between the government and the opposition".
"An integral part of our work is to open up important social issues, both through texts, and through analyzes and comments, but also in this way, through conferences and round tables. DPS sees the role of the media differently and we have been disagreeing on this issue for 28 years. I hoped that the time had passed or was passing when DPS saw its participation in shows, interviews, and conferences in such a way that they have meaning and their support only if DPS asks questions and gives answers. This is bad for a country that is already a member of the NATO alliance and aspires to membership in the EU, because these processes require much greater seriousness from the largest, and thus the most responsible party," he said.
Refusing the participation of the DPS leader in the conference, Milošević also said that this party will continue to be committed to dialogue and that is why the Working Group for the Implementation of OSCE/ODIHR recommendations was formed.
"The DPS Parliamentary Club proposed the composition of its team in the Working Group, which would bring together representatives of all parliamentary parties for this joint work. It is my pleasure to inform you that in consultations with our coalition partners, we received confirmation of their readiness to participate in this initiative with DPS. We believe that the leadership of the opposition parties will also have the political sophistication for this proposal, without bringing it into connection with their attitude towards the regular work of the parliament", states Milošević's reply.
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