Increasingly frequent political incidents at the local level, starting from Budva in 2020, through Šavnik the year before and Andrijevica last year, to Ulcinj recently, testify to the lack of democratic culture among party representatives and their supporters, which the state should not allow.
This was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti", commenting on the incidents at the bar in the last few years, but also the most recent one, from a few days ago, in the Municipal Assembly (SO) of Ulcinj.
Program associate at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Damir Suljević, warns that the scenes from the unfinished elections in Šavnica, which included the destruction of electoral materials and physical conflicts, will be a regular program on the domestic political scene in the event that electoral reform does not occur.
"This example showed all the shortcomings of the legal framework in the worst possible way and pushed all the limits of political abuses." "Despite the passage of time, the prosecutor's office has not reacted or explained the reason for its professional lack of interest, even though it is a very serious case," said Suljević.
The elections in Šavnik cannot be completed from October 23, 2022, when they were held in 13 other municipalities, because the members of the electoral committees from the opposition coalition "For the Future of Šavnik", led by the former Democratic Front (DF), did not allow part of the newly registered voters to vote because, they claim, they were rewritten to support the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
So far, more than a dozen people have been prosecuted before the judicial authorities because of events related to the elections in Šavnik, which included numerous incidents, including physical conflicts. In July of last year, the first final court verdict from the Basic Court in Žabljak arrived. However, the penalty was only monetary - two people had to pay 600 euros each.
"Vijesti" yesterday asked the Basic Court in Žabljak if there had been any new judgments in the meantime, but the answer had not arrived by the time this issue of the newspaper was closed.
Before Šavnik, in 2020, there were incidents in Budva, when the DPS briefly took over power, and the government at the time, headed by them, sent police troops to disaffected representatives of the previous government, led by Marko Bata Carevic (was a member of DF) i Krsto Radović (Democrats), who were arrested because of the barricades, the fire engine, that is, the way in which they and their supporters did not allow the newly formed government to enter the municipal premises. The DPS authorities entered the parliamentary premises with the help of the police.
In Andrijevica, for several months last year, a group of citizens prevented the holding of a session where the vote on the removal of the municipal president was supposed to take place. Željko Ćulafić from the Socialist People's Party (SNP). They succeeded in that, because Ćulafić remained in his position. However, in March, the Government introduced forced administration in Andrijevica, and new elections in that municipality will be held tomorrow.
The Beran Prosecutor's Office assessed at the beginning of December last year that there were no elements of a criminal offense in the intrusions of citizens into the session of the local parliament.
The latest incidents happened this week in Ulcinj, during the dismissal of the previous mayor and the election of a new mayor.

On Wednesday, the councilors dismissed the previous head of the Municipality Omer Bajraktari (Civil Movement URA) and elected the new leader of the Force Gentry of Nimanbegu. The debate on Bajraktari's dismissal began on Wednesday at 18 p.m., and after a few hours someone allegedly threw tear gas into the hall. After that, the electricity also went out, the councilors left the SO hall, and the police and ambulance arrived.
The change of the councilor majority was due to the fact that the agreed rotation of the head of the Municipality did not take place. According to the coalition agreement, Bajraktara was supposed to be the head of the Municipality for two years, and after that to leave the position to a representative of the Force.
Former MP and long-time political activist Muhamet Nika, says that he does not understand how the state allows some parties to introduce into their statutes and programs "the illegal and unconstitutional practice that the mandate of the mayor lasts two years, not four."
He announced that the EU Delegation in Podgorica will be informed about it.
"Regarding the alleged coup, what I have heard, I think the situation is not serious. We also had situations in the north where a group of citizens did not allow a session of the Council of Ministers to take place for a year, so the problems were solved anyway. As far as it seems to me, the coup here was carried out by those who claim it was a coup. "Unfortunately, the prosecution did not react," said Nika.
The Ulcinj Prosecutor's Office told the newspaper on Wednesday evening that they launched an investigation and ordered the police to collect information from all the people who were in the hall and to exclude the available video material. The prosecution said the day before yesterday that no traces of tear gas were found during the inspection of the premises where the session was held.
Damir Suljević says that the failure to achieve the political goals of one or the other party cannot legitimize uncivilized, undemocratic actions, which they gladly and more often resort to when they judge that they cannot achieve their goals through other mechanisms.
"Although in some cases the intervention of competent authorities may be necessary, in some cases it may be contraindicated and provoke even bigger problems, similar to what we had in Budva in 2020 or recently in Šavnik with the introduction of forced administration, which proved to be senseless and harmful in a broader sense," he said.
As he added, in the case of Ulcinj, where there is still no full information about what really happened, the question remains whether the intervention of the authorities was necessary and, if so, to what extent.
"On the other hand, the reaction of the authorities, especially the prosecutor's office, was necessary, and even more necessary was a non-selective approach in prosecuting individuals who hinder democratic processes and violate the law, and that did not happen," said Suljević.

He adds that since the political parties that induce these problems have no fear of prosecution, perhaps a greater degree of transparency would affect the slightly greater degree of consideration of those angry political currents, "because they would also have to take into account the messages that they send to their voters".
It indicates that the nature of the problem in all these municipalities is different.
"In some cases, we have worrying examples of non-action by competent institutions, while in others, the matter is more in the realm of lack of democratic capacity and respect for the rule of law in Montenegro. "There are a small number of municipalities in Montenegro where the political situation is stable at the moment, and the messages sent from the top of the state do not contribute to resolving this mess," he said.
DPS announced the day before yesterday that the authorities legitimized illegal behavior in Ulcinj by not acting during the events in Šavnik, and then in Andrijevica.
"The prosecution's failure to act sends a message that the law of primitivism and violence reigns in Montenegro and that institutions should not be respected. These are dangerous things and the authorities must bear responsibility for this," wrote the Iks vice president of the DPS online Jevto Erakovic.
"The government in Ulcinj is illegitimate"
Muhamet Nika claims that all decisions are made illegally in the Ulcinj Municipality. He says that, bearing in mind that over 20 voters turned out for the last election, the local parliament had to have 34 instead of 33 councilors, which is the number of the current convocation.
He said that he addressed the presidents of the state and the government on this occasion.
"The government in Ulcinj is illegitimate," said Nika.
The government can unblock the work of the Board
Head of the Parliamentary Club of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Vasilije Carapić, proposed yesterday to the Government to cancel the decision on the introduction of forced administration in Savnik.
Čarapić told "Vijesta" that this would unblock the work of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, and through changes in electoral laws, a solution for Šavnik would be found.
Despite the fact that the government introduced forced administration, the crisis in Savnik has not been resolved, because the president of the state, Jakov Milatović, refused to call elections, and the members of the local election commission still cannot agree on the continuation of the elections at two polling stations, where voting it has not been completed for more than a year and a half.
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