The opposition "constitutional defenders" had the opportunity to contribute to the exit from the constitutional crisis in which the country is, but by not electing judges of the Constitutional Court, they consciously decided to prolong it, the political theorist assessed. Fedja Pavlovic.
"And now they should defend the 'state' from its 'destroyers'. Who is driving who crazy?" Pavlović asked, commenting for "Vijesti" on the protest called by the DPS due to changes in the Law on the President.
The representatives of the parties of the new-old majority agreed that it is not about defending the interests of the state, but of one party, i.e. its leader and the current president of the state. Milo Đukanović and related individuals and businesses.
On Tuesday, a protest of thousands of citizens was held in front of the Assembly, organized by the non-governmental organization "Luča", supported by the opposition led by DPS. The protest was initially announced by DPS and called on citizens to "defend the state" due to the amendments to the Law on the President that were adopted last week in the Assembly.
Đukanović did not sign the changes to the Law, but returned the document to the Assembly on Monday for re-decision. The old-new majority announced that they would vote for the law again. The law was amended in order to implement the September agreement of the old-new majority that the leader of Demos Miodrag Lekić to be a mandate holder, because Đukanović refused to give him a mandate. Several lawyers, representatives of the civil sector and parties assessed that this was a gross violation of the Constitution, while diplomatic representatives of Western countries said they were worried about it, appealing, among other things, to urgently elect judges of the Constitutional Court.
The protest in front of the Assembly, at which representatives of the DPS and smaller opposition parties (SD, SDP, LP) spoke, demanded the organization of early elections, an agreement on the election of judges of the Constitutional Court, even though the DPS did not vote on the candidates, and the withdrawal of changes to the Law on to the president.
Pavlović states that everyone agrees that the Montenegrin political system is in a state of institutional paralysis, and the unblocking of the Constitutional Court represents a necessary first step in the direction of stabilizing political conditions.
"Until the Constitutional Court is operational, the results of the local elections in 6 of the 14 municipalities where the elections were held cannot be announced, nor can the extraordinary parliamentary elections, which the opposition demands, be held. And only the Constitutional Court is competent to evaluate the constitutionality of disputed changes to the Law on the President, as well as all other legal acts that, in the past period, various political actors declared violence against the constitutional order of the state," said Pavlović.
He reminds that the Constitutional Court is still blocked because on October 21, opposition MPs boycotted the vote on candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court, so the Assembly failed to elect any of the four proposed candidates with a two-thirds majority.
He adds that the reasons for that decision did not concern the expertise and integrity of the candidates, but rather the lack of political agreement.
"In all negotiations on personnel issues, political actors have a legitimate interest in being spiteful and arrogant, in tightening, blackmailing, claiming the market and issuing ultimatums. This narrow party interest almost always prevails over the nominally higher state interest. In this sense, neither generating a crisis nor blocking institutions are methods that are unheard of or foreign to the party struggle. However, in this case, it is really difficult not to notice the striking hypocrisy - namely, at the protest in front of the Assembly, the representatives of the opposition parties raise their voices against 'lawlessness', 'anarchy' and the 'destruction of the constitutional order', although the chaos they are lamenting is largely the result of precisely their decision not to unblock the Constitutional Court", said Pavlović.
President of the Club of Deputies "Peace is our Nation" Boris Bogdanovic he said that they are not one of those retrograde political subjects, who seek rights for themselves, and those same rights are disputed by others.
"What we had the opportunity to see in the previous period, when the DPS contested our right to a peaceful protest assembly and with its media machinery and state apparatus obstructed the organization of protest meetings and often inserted individuals and groups with the aim of breaking up the protest," Bogdanović told "Vijesti" ".
When asked if he believed that the state was defending itself at the protest, he replied that Montenegro was never threatened either from the street, nor did the state defend itself from the street.
"In democracies, the state defends itself in the institutions of the system in a legal and constitutionally defined manner. After all, the number of gathered citizens confirms the thesis that citizens do not believe that the state is threatened by anyone. Rather, it will be that individual, narrow-party interests and businesses of a number of companies and individuals in them are threatened. Therefore, we welcome the right to peaceful assembly and protest expression of political and party views, but the lack of political courage to take responsibility for the organization of the gathering is worrying," said Bogdanović.
He reminds that the Democrats have so far organized about a hundred protest gatherings, but responsibility for each gathering has been assumed by the name and surname of the official and the party as the organizer.
The URA Civil Movement welcomed the protests, although they believe that it is about defending the interests of "a defeated policy of the past, hatred, intolerance, crime and corruption".
"There is no need to comment too much on the protest organized by lobbyists gathered around the DPS and that party, except to say what is evident - the same desperate discourse, the same people, the same addresses... And those citizens who may have been there for genuine reasons, probably saw what it was all about - the defense of the interests of a defeated policy of the past, hatred, intolerance, crime and corruption embodied in the current president of the state, Milo Đukanović, who, by the way, did not even appear at the protest. As long as such protests are peaceful, as was the case on Tuesday, we welcome and encourage more of them so that the complete discrediting of the policies they propagate has a faster flow. With such a policy, rhetoric and approach, there is no other scenario, as all previous election cycles have shown", they told "Vijesti" from GP URA.
They state that the only relevant institution that can evaluate whether a legal act is constitutional or unconstitutional is the Constitutional Court, which is now blocked and cannot fulfill its function.
"Therefore, we call on our colleagues in the parliament to elect at least one judge of the Constitutional Court on November 22, which would unblock him, and after that every legal act can be checked and the decisions of the Constitutional Court must be respected. URA is the only party that voted in parliament for all 8 candidates for the Constitutional Court and the Judicial Council," the Prime Minister's party reminded Dritan Abazović.
Member of the DF Nikola Bajcetic (PzP) said that the DPS apparently had a problem with the organization of the protest.
"That problem is best illustrated by the fact that Đukanović did not even attend the protest, but supported them with two tweets from Egypt. So, it is clear that Đukanović is pushing the state into radicalization of opportunities and that he expects his supporters to defend him personally, his position, but also the enormous amount of illegally acquired capital", said Bajčetić.
The narrative about the defense of the state, he adds, is always active from Đukanović and the DPS when the circle of justice tightens around them.
"That's why DPS does not want to make an agreement with the ruling majority about overcoming the political crisis. In this way, the DPS continues to demonstrate irresponsibility towards Montenegro, but it is also becoming an increasing problem towards Montenegro's European path and a synonym for instability. Đukanović's violation of the Constitution, and his refusal to give the mandate to Miodrag Lekić, even though 41 MPs stand behind him, required a concrete response from the parliamentary majority. We gave that answer through amendments to the Law on the President, so I would like to point out that the MPs of the Movement for Change will not give up on that," said Bajčetić.
Vice-president of Demos Ksenija Milović she said that it would be good to follow the regulations on protests and that similar to other parties that announce their organizers, DPS should do the same.
"We agree with the general impression that the state was not being defended, which, by the way, no one is attacking, but rather the defense of Đukanović's model of society, public irresponsibility for the failed economy, illegal state and deep divisions within it. In short, much more defense of Đukanović, especially after the last elections, and much less defense of the state," she told "Vijesta".
She does not rule out that a part of the citizens present was motivated by the defense of the state, so they attended the rally after assessing that the state was in some way threatened.
"Certainly, as far as the first ones are concerned, we have no doubts that these are manipulative goals," she said.
Both the processions and the protests are reactions to the unstated initiatives of Đukanović
Commenting on the criticism of the new-old majority that they defended the Constitution when it came to the Law on Freedom of Religion, but now they did not when it came to another law, Ksenija Milović said that the two laws are different.
"The only thing they have in common is that both cases represent a reaction to the unstated initiatives of the president. Also, in both cases, we believe that it is up to the Constitutional Court to make a relevant and valid interpretation," she said.
Boris Bogdanović said that whenever they doubted the constitutionality of any act, they requested constitutional protection from the Constitutional Court.
"So, we defended the Constitution in the only possible way, in the institutions of the system. I will remind you of the unconstitutional 'law on postponing elections', the unconstitutional tax 'euro for euro', unconstitutional fuel fees, unconstitutional punishment of MPs for the party's legitimate decision to boycott parliament... we have sued all these and numerous other acts before the Constitutional Court and our actions have never we did not block any institution. That is why, once again, I call on my colleagues to urgently elect judges of the Constitutional Court, so that the Constitutional Court can check whether the disputed acts are constitutional. Why someone only wants to talk about unconstitutionality, while blocking the possibility of checking constitutionality is not a question for me, but for those who obstruct the election of judges of the Constitutional Court", said Bogdanović.
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