The goal of the Bill on the Prohibition of Fascist, Neo-Fascist and Military Nationalist Organizations and the Use of Their Symbols is to prevent the incitement of hatred and intolerance among citizens, and not to create divisions, said Liberal Party (LP) MP and law proponent Andrija Popović.
Today, the Assembly debated the Proposal for that law, and the members of the Democratic Party of Socialists did not attend the parliamentary session.
The Democratic Front (DF) believes that this bill falsifies history, falsifies unequivocally established historical facts and promotes the spirit and letter of totalitarian communist ideology, its legacy, propaganda and the entire narrative.
Popović, explaining the draft law, pointed out that anti-fascism has been one of the fundamental values of Montenegro for almost 100 years.
As he said, anti-fascism is not a glorification of partisan struggle, but rather a struggle for universal European values, a struggle against the stratification of society and respect for diversity.
"One cannot revise Montenegrin history with impunity, deny crimes, celebrate convicted war criminals and not respect diversity," Popović pointed out.
He said that the law was proposed in order to prevent the incitement of national, racial or religious hatred and intolerance among Montenegrin citizens.
"In this way, the problem of growing political extremism and nationalism, as well as clerical influences, would be largely solved," said Popović.
According to him, the main goal of the Draft Law is to oppose discriminatory behavior aimed at maintaining and fostering divisions in Montenegro.
Popović said that the LP managed to include this Bill in the agenda of the Assembly from the sixth attempt.
"It is indicative that after 25 months we have not received an opinion on this law from the 42nd or 43rd Government. "Probably, they must not give a negative opinion from Europe, and on the other hand, from the old-new majority, they must not support it for understandable reasons," emphasized Popović.
He said that the LP is ready to amend some articles of the law, if there is a chance for that legal act to be adopted.
DF MP Budimir Aleksić said that the Bill is "the most ordinary political pamphlet, which is ideologically colored and completely tendentious, and problematic from a legal and technical aspect."
"This text falsifies history, falsifies unequivocally established historical facts and promotes the spirit and letter of totalitarian communist ideology, its legacy, propaganda and the entire narrative," Aleksić said.
According to him, the text of the Law is selective even from the point of view of communist propaganda.
"The text mentions the three most important fascist organizations: the Chetniks, the Ustasha and an organization that relies on the traditions of the Handjar division that operated in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Second World War. It is clear to everyone that the Chetnik organization is not fascist, but eminently anti-fascist," said Aleksić.
As he stated, the question is whether they want a social agreement and the stabilization of society, or whether they want to further incite divisions in order to destabilize the state.
"If the other side is ready, let's come to an agreement, to pass a general law that will condemn and prohibit the display of symbols and the association of members of all totalitarian ideologies, including Nazism and Communism, which are omitted here," Aleksić added.
Democrat MP Momo Koprivica said that there are two reasons why it is necessary to support the ban on fascist, neo-fascist organizations that undermine democracy.
"The first is historical because Montenegro is a country with an imposing anti-fascist tradition, and the second is the protection of the democratic order," Koprivica pointed out.
He said that the problem lies in the legal content of the Bill.
"One can see certain shortcomings, that is, a certain influence of ideology in law. If this Proposal is adopted without amendments, it will be an example of a law that, in addition to correct and necessary norms, has norms that represent the influence of ideologies in the law, and then it becomes a means of legitimizing a political concept or project", said Koprivica.
The representative of Cuba Black and White, Srđan Pavićević, said that there is little space in a world that fights against fascism with so much passion, and uses a fascist narrative as a methodology.
As he said, the essence and reality daily abounds with "something that reminds us of the need to affirm one nation, one people, one ideology and one leader".
“It is the equivalent of fascism. There is no fascism in Montenegro, but there are many fascist performances, people who abound in that rhetoric," Pavićević added.
He said that the proposed law is noble in its initiative, but it is too poorly set up, and that it requires a lot of amendments that should specify what in Montenegro currently represents a threat and what reminds of fascism and the possible development of fascism.
Koprivica pointed out that the procedure prescribed by the Rules of Procedure is pointless because, although the Legislative Committee determined that the Draft Law is not in accordance with the Constitution and the legal system of Montenegro, and the Assembly did not express itself, it was put on the agenda of today's session.
The Vice President of the Assembly, Branka Bošnjak, explained that, in consultation with the President of the Assembly, it was agreed that this Draft Law will be discussed today, but the MPs will not express themselves about it.
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