The arrests and indictments of former heads of the judiciary, secret and public police and heads of organized criminal groups are the successes of the authorities after the dismissal of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), overshadowed by nepotism, party recruitment, non-compliance with regulations... - features of the three-decade regime of the DPS .
The thirtieth of August 2020, when Montenegro replaced the government in elections for the first time in its history, was supposed to mark the departure from rule Milo Đukanović and his DPS. However, instead, the new government preserved many of Đukanović's management methods, without making the necessary cuts in the system. This is what the Monitor journalist assessed for Vijesti Milena Perović, commenting on where Montenegro is three years after August 30.
The reason for the change of government was the DPS's adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion, which in 2020 caused several months of protests by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) throughout the country, and on that wave, citizens punished Đukanović's party in the elections.
Perović says that on the three-year anniversary on August 30, there are certainly many disappointed people, because, according to her, there were shifts and replacements, but no changes.
"At least not in the form we expected. "Numerous patterns of Đukanović's rule have been retained - from party employment to the continued abuse of state resources... Political life has been transformed into tireless party battles over positions and 'depths', to the detriment of the public interest," she points out.
After August 30, processes began in Montenegro that were unimaginable during the time of Đukanović, such as dealing with organized crime and high-level corruption, exposing abuses in institutions, significant increases in salaries and pensions... However, in many other aspects, the winners of the elections they continued to work according to his "recipe", trampling on their long-standing promises about the depoliticization of the system, transparency, etc.
The Government did not differ in this Zdravka Krivokapića, nor the current executive power headed by him Dritan Abazovic, as well as the parliamentary majorities that stood behind them.
The first government was formed by the coalitions "For the Future of Montenegro" (ZBCG), "Peace is our Nation" and "Black on White" (CnB), but due to the conflict between the constituents, it only lasted a year and two months (until February 2022 ).
The second was formed not long after by the CnB alliance, led by Abazović's Citizens' Movement (GP) URA, with the minority support of the DPS, but it was overthrown in parliament a year ago. Despite this, she continues to govern because there is no new government in sight.
Both governments, especially Abazović's, are known for party recruitment, abuse and politicization of institutions, trampling on the Constitution and the law, scandals... Although they promised it before and after the election, the new government did not pass laws on lustration and the origin of property, did not carry out any reform electoral laws, they did not "clean up" the voter list, they did not complete the changes in the judiciary...
However, there have been arrests of former and current leaders and officials of the judiciary, police and security services, high-ranking members of criminal clans, malfeasance in state institutions and companies was discovered, record seizures of narcotics took place... However, many of those prosecutions were used for political promotion, so it will be possible to talk about real results in the fight against crime and corruption only when these cases receive judicial epilogues.
That not everything is so bleak is evidenced by the changes in the economic field, such as the increase of wages and pensions and the return of child allowance and allowances for mothers, although part of the public claims that some of these measures led to inflation and collapsed the state's financial system.
Milena Perović says that it was unrealistic to expect to dismantle the three-decade Đukanović system in a short time, which, she says, was characterized by autocratic practices, a combination of organized crime and politics, and corruption.
The problem, she notes, is that "what had to be done in order to start healing in the first place" was not done.
"In addition to maintaining many of Đukanović's practices, the necessary systemic cuts were not made, there was no lustration, confiscation of illegally acquired property, strengthening of institutions... Over the course of three years, we received countless transfers of responsibilities among the August winners as to why this did not happen. And nothing more," emphasizes Perović.
From the winning parties of the elections held on August 30, they say that that day is a turning point in the political life of Montenegro.
Democratic People's Party (DNP) official Dragan Bojović, assesses for Vijesti that August 30 brought "substantial democratic changes", and that this has been clear to the citizens for a long time. He says that the sooner this becomes clear to all political structures in the country, the sooner stability and prosperity will come.
Bojović states that the fact that the winners of the August 30 election have 50 deputies in the parliament today is more than enough to implement all the necessary reforms.
"... Why is someone playing with the electoral will of the people today? I am not, of course, against political representatives of less numerous peoples being in the government. Moreover, it is good and desirable. But they cannot be in a position to create the appearance of the government and determine who can be in it and who can't, especially since they wholeheartedly supported the absolutist and discriminatory DPS government all these decades. On today's August 30, I call on us to return to the electoral will...", he pointed out.
Bojović says that this would make it possible to achieve stability, overcome the transition period and implement the necessary reforms, especially in the field of justice.
Democrat MP Boris Bogdanovic, told the News that August 30 is "the day of the rebirth of democracy", and that three years later, Montenegro is "on the path of democratic transformation".
He singles out indictments against former heads of the judiciary, prosecutor's office and police, directors of public companies, presidents and members of management boards as concrete results of the change of government... higher salaries, pensions, old-age allowances and infant allowances...
"Child allowances were returned, allowances for mothers were returned, free textbooks were provided, severance pay was provided in the mining and metal industry sector, the allocation of apartments to public officials was prohibited, we freed the state prosecutor's office from party influence, increased personal disability benefits, changed the Law on Freedom of Religion, prevented election manipulations and buying voters, returned the ferry to state ownership, got public companies that operate with a profit", said Bogdanović.
Secretary General of GP URA Mileta Radovanić, says that after August 30, Montenegro is "living a democracy", that justice is "increasingly present due to significant results in the fight against organized crime and corruption", that the economic and social status of citizens has improved significantly...
"This is evidenced by the facts that the average salary has increased from 520 to 795 euros, that the average pension has increased from 290 to 406 euros. The GDP increased from 4,2 billion in 2020 to 5,8 billion, and all indicators indicate that this year it will pass even six. The public debt was reduced from 105,2 percent to 62,4 percent. The state increased the capital and returned to citizens what was stolen during the former regime, the ferry line Kamenari-Lepetane, Željezara, the Port of Budva and Pine. The actions of the state in Port Bar and Elektroprivreda have been significantly increased," he told Vijesti.
While the winners celebrate August 30, the parties of the former government claim that Montenegro has been in a state of defeat ever since and that the citizens have been betrayed.
Member of the Social Democrats (SD) Nikola Zirojevic, told the News that three years of "total decline and regression" are behind Montenegro. He states that the economic situation in Montenegro is "completely unenviable", that the country has lost its international credibility and that "from being an example country in the region, it has become a problem country".
"...While all the institutions are collapsed and mostly non-functional. Since August 30, everything that has changed has changed for the worse... Apparently fed up with the long-term rule of mostly the same political subjects, on August 30 the citizens decided to choose change and that, instead of the government and political subjects who, despite all the shortcomings , steadily led Montenegro towards the EU, and made it a member of NATO, choose something else. That turned out to be a bad move," he said.
Zirojević claims that the winners have failed the citizens' expectations, and that what they are doing is the complete opposite of what they promised.
"Although salaries have been increased, inflation has completely eliminated that increase and citizens, unfortunately, live worse today than before August 30. From the rule of law and the fight against organized crime and corruption, we have only seen that the highest officials of the new government are currently in prison, detention or under investigation. "Since the fight against party recruitment and nepotism, we have never seen more party employees, completely unprofessional staff and entire families who, in almost the same time frame, established working relationships in the same companies that are managed by the parties of the new government," he adds.
Bogdanović and Radovanić: We did not let the citizens down
Boris Bogdanović says that, from the perspective of the Democrats, he thinks that the expectations that the citizens had three years ago have not been disappointed.
When asked whether, since August 30, steps have been taken on the plan of reconciliation in Montenegro, which was promised three years ago, or whether the divisions, as part of the public believes, have never been more pronounced, the interlocutor answers that, considering the past that was marked " long-term hegemony of one political formation and an interesting and clear symbiosis with their partners from the other sex", it is irrational to imagine that divisions will be repaired overnight.
Mileta Radovanić says that "we all expected and wanted more" after August 30, but that "in complex political circumstances, when the line is drawn, it is clear that Montenegro has made significant progress in all fields".
"After the fall of the regime, where you had a dominant party, there is always a period of consolidation of democracy, which is also known in political theory...", he adds.
Asked whether steps were taken in the direction of reconciliation since August 30, Radovanić stated that it is certain that divisions have been significantly overcome, although, he claims, some social factors are constantly trying to re-impose them.
Perović: A peaceful shift is the most important asset
Milena Perović believes that the most significant achievement on August 30 is the peaceful change of government and the experience of Montenegrin citizens that bad governments can be replaced in elections.
He adds that Đukanović's departure from the political scene is also a significant matter, which, he claims, must initiate some important processes.
"Unfortunately, there has not yet been an essential reform of the party he led, but only a rejuvenation. Đukanović's successors, however, did not deviate from the legacy that once earned Montenegro the label of a mafia state and other problematic practices. Only when that happens, we can talk about the fundamental reform of the DPS, which will be significant for Montenegrin society", says Perović.
Zirojević: The winners deepened the divisions
Nikola Zirojević says that since August 30, not a single step has been taken on the reconciliation plan in Montenegro. He points out that the new authorities, both the first and the second, did everything to further divide Montenegro.
"So, due to the arbitrariness of the outgoing Prime Minister, we were brought to the brink of civil war. Today, unfortunately, we live in Montenegro, where new Srebrenicas are called for, where "the Turks are wailing, and the bulls are flying", where almost every day we have calls for war, armed conflicts and where security is threatened for all those who do not think the same supporters of the current government. This is a very serious problem and I am afraid that it will take a long time to get out of the chaos and madness...", says Zirojević.
Although salaries have increased, inflation has completely eliminated that increase and, unfortunately, citizens today live worse than before August 30, says Nikola Zirojević.
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