Sonja Milatović, president of the Youth Council of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and a member of the Parliament of Montenegro, announced that not all conditions of the Agreement on the census had been met and that is why the party insisted on postponing it, as well as the need to ensure a legitimate and transparent census.
"Given that the discussions about the organization of the census have been going on for some time, as well as the fact that there are continuous discussions about the need to provide a comprehensive process that everyone will believe in, the reaction of the DPS, which is fully justified when in question, the position that not all conditions have been met and that this required a new postponement of the census, is a new victory for the opposition bloc and the council of less numerous peoples, with the aim of ensuring a process that will be completely legitimate, transparent and inclusive," says Milatović in the DPS statement. a.
She reminded, as they say in the announcement, of the condition from the Census Agreement itself, which refers to the specification of the software, which states that it is necessary to legally standardize the formation of a commission headed by a representative of the opposition, whose task would be to prepare the specification for announcing a public call for the development of a software solution for data verification, whose task would be to monitor the implementation of the data verification software itself.
"The point of creating a technical specification is that the government and the opposition participate in the process together, in order to create the necessary trust between the government and the opposition, in order to obtain the conditions for the process so that everyone believes in it. No one from our side asked that the specification be created by Monstat or anyone else, we asked that both the opposition and the government be involved in the preparation of the specification itself, because that software really represents a significant control mechanism and can ensure citizens' trust in the census itself," Milatović pointed out.
She referred to the actions of Monstat in the previous period, recalling, as they say, that the institution said before the original date of November 1 that all conditions were met, and then only a few days later came out with the information that 1.700 enumerators were missing.
"Today we heard in the Monstat press that there are penal provisions for those who decide not to participate in the census. In support of that, I clearly say that there is no criminal responsibility for people who refuse to participate in the census," says Milatović.
She pointed to facts that, as she points out, prove how seriously, responsibly, and constructively DPS approaches the entire process of providing all the conditions that would lead to a valid census.
"The agreement with Prime Minister Spajić was signed on Monday, and the deadline for registration of enumerators was Wednesday. In less than three days, we managed to animate a thousand enumerators and to delegate our representatives to the census commissions. In such a short period of time, we provided such a number of people that included in the census, and all with one clear goal - that everyone believes in the very process of conducting the census in Montenegro. We are doing everything from our position to prevent a boycott of the census, precisely so that we would have relevant data that will serve its purpose. Until 3 On December, we will do our best to fulfill this condition from the agreement regarding the specification, that we will try to contribute with our knowledge and skills to the development of a valid solution in order to provide a comprehensive, transparent process," said Milatović.
She expressed her belief that if the census is carried out with all conditions met, Montenegro will enter the new year in a different atmosphere and in some different relations in society than it was the case until now.
"And that he will devote himself to some other topics that are of great importance and interest for the citizens of our country. Montenegro is a country where some battles are eternally fought. Today I am also fighting the battles that were fought by my parents. I believe that in this country will always have these kinds of questions, but that it is the responsibility of us politicians to create a better, happier and safer society in which every citizen will live better, happier and safer. It is not only our responsibility but also our the main obligation and essential job", concluded Sonja Milatović.
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