Yesterday, the leaders of the opposition parties met with the ambassadors of the Quinte countries and the EU delegation in Montenegro, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) announced.
The meeting was attended by Acting President of the DPS Danijel Živković, President of the Social Democrats (SD) Damir Šehović, President of the Liberal Party (LP) Vatroslav Belan and General Secretary of the DPS Aleksandar Bogdanović.
"In front of the Quinte countries, the interlocutors were US Ambassador Judy Reising Reinke, German Ambassador Peter Felten, British Ambassador Don McCann, Italian Ambassador Andreana Marcela, while the meeting was attended by Deputy EU Ambassador Riccardo Siri from the EU Delegation in Montenegro, and from the French Embassy the Charge d'Affaires of Johan Uhres," the announcement states.
They pointed out that during the talks, the representatives of the international community were informed about the opposition's views regarding the census, as well as the latest allegations about the formation of a new government.
"When it comes to the census, the representatives of the opposition informed the interlocutors from the diplomatic corps with the conclusions of the relevant socio-political actors, which raise doubts about the legality of the entire process. On this occasion, it was emphasized that there are numerous logistical and organizational failures of the competent authorities in the preparation of the process, as well as that, in the context of dysfunctional institutions and the polarization of society that has deepened in the last three years - there is not even a stable socio-political environment. would enable the census to be conducted in an open, high-quality and credible manner," the announcement reads.
They said that Živković repeated the position of the Democratic Party of Socialists that the census must be postponed in order to ensure a wider political dialogue and prepare all the necessary conditions for its maintenance, with mandatory internal political and international expert monitoring, as was done in the previous censuses in 2003. ... and in 2011.
"Živković said that - if the census is not postponed - the last option could be a boycott, which would make the final data irrelevant," it added.
Šehović pointed to the political aspect of the census, emphasizing that the intention of certain structures, which are in a position to manage the process, is to change the civic character of Montenegro.
He added that this danger threatens Montenegro if these political entities have the opportunity to be in the future government.
"Regarding the technical aspects of the census, Šehović also expressed his doubt that there is room for misuse of the obtained data, especially at the local level, where the presidents of municipalities are also the presidents of the census commissions," the announcement states.
According to them, Belan pointed out the dangers of the influence of Serbia's state politics and concluded that Montenegro must not retreat before the ideas of Greater Serbian nationalism, which see the population census in Montenegro as a suitable ground for fulfilling their interests.
"Bogdanović informed the interlocutors with the elements that should, in the technical part, enable the quality implementation of the Law on the Population Census and the fulfillment of international recommendations, and above all the fact that the rules and methodology are still not known, even though the Law and the international recommendations of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, stipulate that these elements must be provided at an early stage of the process, i.e. that according to the Law, these elements had to be adopted by the end of May of this year, or rather within six months at the latest after the entry into force of the Law on the Population Census", it was said from DPS.
They said that the ambassadors expressed their interest in certain technical aspects of the process, and especially in the implementation of the current Law on the Population Census.
They pointed out, as stated, the importance of respecting all legal provisions in all social processes, even when it comes to the population census.
"Also, the ambassadors thanked for the detailed views of the opposition leaders and noted the concerns of the opposition leaders that technical deficiencies, as well as the absence of monitoring, i.e. the involvement of all interested parties in the census process, could affect the transparency and credibility of the process itself. Representatives of the diplomatic corps also reiterated their unchanged position that they expect the formation of a government that is in line with European and Euro-Atlantic values, and that can represent a reliable partner for the Quinte countries and the European Union," the statement concludes.
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