The President of the Party of Justice and Reconciliation (SPP) in Montenegro and the party's list holder in the elections in Rožaj, Seid Hadžić, said that if he comes to power in that city, he will introduce a moratorium on employment in the public administration.
In an interview with "Vijesta", he said, among other things, that the largest number of employees in Rožaje work in municipal institutions, public enterprises and sectors that depend on the budget, that there are over 700 of them, and that, as he claims, they are mostly party staff .
"Of course, professional staff, and there are few of them, are badly needed, while the party hawks will have to look for a salary somewhere else, because this disease brought the country to this state. Competitions will be public, strict and in good condition. If the staff shows abilities within a year, they should be given a chance. Otherwise, new people should be appointed until the best ones are found, who will bring prosperity through their work, in their industry," Hadžić pointed out.
Elections in 14 cities are scheduled for October 23.
What problems in your city require the most urgent solution, and how, if you exercise power or participate in it, do you think they can be overcome?
It is difficult to even say what needs to be solved first, but in addition to the constellation of problems (economic weakness, environmental problems, health problems, unemployment, corruption), I want to treat a few of them on this occasion. Citizens' over-indebtedness, given that the local administration has indebted them with over 20 million euros, while at the same time doing minimal work for the city; a huge unemployment rate that causes inevitable emigration, primarily of young people; a budget that is 93 percent consumer and only 50 percent investment (for example, the Municipality of Tuza, which has the same budget as ours, has an investment budget of XNUMX percent). The red light is on, and this city is fighting for survival.
In any case, we will do our best to start solving the accumulated problems as soon as possible with the best possible staff, regardless of the political past. Therefore, delegating and placing quality and professional staff in responsible positions is a prerequisite for solving any problem. Low-quality personnel in leadership positions, who came there on the basis of the party's key, without knowledge and vision, cannot deliver a better quality of life to the citizens, and it represents the biggest problem of any system.
How do you think you can solve the problem of unemployment, which is faced by many municipalities in Montenegro, and how, if you are in power, will you increase the standard of living of the citizens?
The number of employees in Rožaje is a devastating 10 percent! Each family member in Rožaje owes at least 1.000 euros on average. The citizens of Rožaj should know that the previous government owed their families several thousand euros, and that their children will have to pay it back. The standard of living and purchasing power of citizens are very weak, while poverty, hopelessness, corruption and social stratification are growing.
The fact is that due to the actions of this government so far, we have a reduced number of employees on some statistical records, which shows that people have indeed found work - but in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and not in Rožaje.
The problem of unemployment was solved by many African countries - you know that Rwanda launched a satellite into the earth's orbit, and twenty years ago they were dying of hunger. The problem of Rožaj and other Montenegrin cities is not the lack of resources, but the incompetent staff leading the cities. Rožaje has first-class forests, and with minimal activation of production of final products - we would be millionaires.
In addition to all that has been said, our primary strategy would definitely be to connect Rožaj with the diaspora, which for the first time would feel that it could help the homeland and its people living in Rožaj, and not local powerful people who exploited these partnerships for personal enrichment.
Therefore, we must be ready to provide the most favorable conditions for investors, who would help them develop their businesses in our municipality, so that this would result in an increase in the number of employees in the real sector, and, ultimately, a better economic situation for the entire municipality.
Do you have a plan on how to concretely help the citizens to meet the further deterioration of economic conditions in the country?
A properly adopted budget can make it much easier for citizens. We are witnessing these days that Germany will pay all citizens' bills for the month of December from the budget. If we have a certain number of households in our cities that need help, it is impossible for an honest government to not have room in the budget to intervene.
Therefore, we would try to register the most vulnerable categories of society to whom, by reducing unnecessary costs from the local administration, we would allocate a part of the budget in the form of aid, so that they could get through the next period as easily as possible.
How do you intend to keep young people in the city and prevent them from leaving?
According to current indicators, on average every second young person from Rožaj, aged 18 to 24, is thinking about leaving this city. Young people leave the city because of the poor standard of living and the inability to find adequate employment. There are no jobs, no colleges, and no quality and productive way of spending time. In the current environment of this political lethargy in our country, young people need tranquilizers.
When the youth are sure that they can afford everything that their peers in the West have, they will not even think of leaving their hearth. We want to get out of the hopelessness in which our people find themselves, and we need to preserve the hope of young people that they can once again live richly here and succeed. One of the solutions would be to attract direct foreign investments, one after the other, by developing new projects and ideas, and hope for a better tomorrow.
The young team of SPP designed over a hundred projects that they would gradually work on and whose goal would be a better and more developed city from which, we hope, the youth would not want to leave. These projects, in addition to infrastructure, relate to education, with special emphasis on the IT industry, economy, health, sports, tourism, ecology, culture, social problems, etc.
Young people are held back by hope for a better tomorrow, not a salary of 450 euros.
If you are in power, will you deal with the practice of party favoritism in local offices or will you continue it?
The largest number of employees on the territory of our city are in municipal institutions, public enterprises and other sectors that depend on the Rožaj budget. There are over 700 such employees, mostly party workers. What kind of municipality are we that needs so many employees?
Many cities with a larger number of inhabitants have three times less number of employees in the public administration...
There is no generation of people in Rožaje who remember that a big investor once came. Every third employee still works in public administration or public services, i.e. is directly or indirectly a budget consumer. If we multiply this number by the average salary, then we will arrive at the figure that more than half of the budget is spent on the salaries of party officials.
It is a pressing need, and when we come to power, we will definitely introduce a moratorium on employment in the public administration. Of course, professional staff, and they are scarce, are badly needed, while the party hawks will have to look for a salary somewhere else, because that disease brought the country to this state. Competitions will be public, strict and in good condition. If the staff shows abilities within a year, they should be given a chance. Otherwise, new people should be appointed until the best ones are found, who will bring prosperity through their work, in their branch.
What result do you expect in the elections? Which subjects are you potentially ready to cooperate with after the election? What is your condition for cooperation with anyone?
We certainly expect a much better result in all the municipalities where we go out. Our goal is parliamentary status at the bar, a possible change of government and a prelude to parliamentary elections.
Our condition to cooperate with anyone, both at the local and state level, is the prosperity of our people and acceptance of us as equals, which, unfortunately, is still not the case today. We have witnessed that not a single Bosniak was chosen as a candidate for the members of the Constitutional Court, and we have so many top judges. We want a civil state where we are all equal - both in words and in deeds.
Bonus video:
