DPS coordinator for Bijelo Polje Zoran Pažin announced yesterday that he had never "insulted or belittled" anyone in his professional or private life, nor had he "threatened" anyone, not even the member of the Municipal Board of that party, Zehra Balić.
He stated this in response to questions from "Vijesti" sent the day before.
"After she took the floor, announcing that she 'abstained', i.e. did not go to the elections, I expressed my opinion that a party official has an elementary duty to support the party in the elections, that I have no understanding for not going to the elections, and that I would have understanding if a female official who does not stand for election would resign, which would be a moral act, Pažin stated in his answer.
The former Minister of Justice pointed out that it was "all about that topic" and informed the "Vijesti" journalist that "he will protect his honor and professional integrity by legal means before the competent court".
Related Articles
Pažin, however, did not answer the journalist's question whether Zehri Balić mentioned "the punishment that is applied if, as a board member, he does not vote in the elections".
A prominent Bjelopolje professor announced on Saturday that Pažin sent her a series of insults and threats, after she presented a series of criticisms of the party's work at the municipal board session and publicly announced that because of this she did not even vote for Milo Đukanović's party in the last local elections.
Several members of the municipal board who attended the session on Friday evening confirmed her allegations to the "News", judging that Pažin's behavior towards Balić was insolent and arrogant.
One of them said that the final straw was when Balić, upon Pažin's remark that this time 900 sure voters did not vote for DPS, stood up and openly said that she was one of them.
"If you are frustrated and personally dissatisfied, it is fairer to resign from the Municipal Board than to be there... In some democratic countries, if a member of the Municipal Board does not vote, he has to pay a large fine...", the former Minister of Justice allegedly said. , claims a source who attended the session.
DPS spokesperson Miloš Nikolić and Pažin did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about that event the day before yesterday, and the president of OO DPS Bijelo Polje Abaz Dizdarević announced that the "only truth" is that the session was held.
Dizdarević announced that "never, not even at the mentioned session, has it happened that our board does not have sensitivity for every, even different opinion, especially if it comes from ladies".
"Regarding the functionary of our party who, by her own admission and for personal reasons, did not participate in the local elections, we are undisputedly of the opinion that due to such an attitude towards the election process, submitting her resignation would be a highly moral and responsible act. And such a principle was affirmed by our coordinator... Pažin, clearly and loudly, at the session itself, in front of a crowded hall and in a democratic procedure. All the rest are insinuations as a result of personal frustrations and unfulfilled ambitions...".
Balić claims for "Vijesti" that it is true that she experienced insults, humiliation and threats, and that the threats are contained in the fact that Pažin told her that, as a member of the municipal board, she would receive a heavy fine for that in a democratic country.
Among the hundred or so members of the Municipal Committee in the conference hall of the Franca Hotel, Balić was only one of the discussants who looked critically at the work of that party and the poor result, the worst since DPS has existed in Bijelo Polje, despite the victory in the elections on October 23.
After a series of discussions, she allegedly said, among other things, that the people on the lists were chosen "from above", and not at the local level where everyone knows each other. She also spoke about the cases of "skippers" and "returnees", pointing out that the biggest spokesman in the last elections switched to the Democrats in 2016, "which is also in the party's report between the two congresses on page 37".
According to the "Vijesti" source, Balić also spoke about the privatization of the party and nepotism.
"On the list was a large number of 'odivas' who are not from Bijelo Polje, with diplomas from Novi Pazar and Tutin, but they were there because they belong to certain Bijelo Polje 'VIP' families and communities, which have more positions than family members and voters. Privatization and nepotism have laid bare the core of this party", she allegedly said at the session, saying that he is an ordinary man who inherited the civic idea with his heart and who raised his voice as a free man and received a "slap".
Balić confirmed that she expressed her opinion about the "fake diplomas" from Tutin and Novi Pazar via the party's Viber group, which "Vijesti" had access to.
She pointed out that she presented everything as mentioned at the session and that after everything she feels very humiliated, especially since, as she said, she was the only woman among the 15 discussants.
Bonus video:
