Few expected that four years after the brutal seizure of power with police force and tear gas and eight years after the multimillion-dollar loot left by the Budva crime group, the citizens would forget almost all of it.
More and more often on social networks, as a comment on the "successes" of the current Budva government, especially when Budva is never more ready to welcome the peak of summer, you can hear - come back to DPS, all is forgiven.
Many expected that in 2016, when, after 11 years of solid government, the Democratic Party of Socialists lost in the metropolis of tourism, Budva would experience a revival. However, today the rebuilt city is in communal chaos, dozens of promised projects have remained only computer animations, the Municipality and companies have served for party, relative, friend and godfather employment...
In eight years and almost 250 million euros were spent, which was the total budget, Budva did not receive a single new kindergarten, school, theater or hospital, promenade or cultural center, renovated Pizana swimming pool, park... Investments were mainly limited to projects that could be implemented by companies close to the authorities - repairs and asphalting of streets.
At the beginning, in 2016, the then mayor Dragan Krapović (Democrats) solved a deep financial crisis, filled the city's coffers, investment ventures started. However, after there was a rotation in the leadership position three years later, when the city took over the staff of the former Democratic Front, a political crisis began and Budva sank further and further.
Elections are held every two years, and the citizens of Budva have received hundreds of new employees from the promised projects.

Four years after the police threw tear gas at the gathered citizens, who were protesting against the violent change of government, when the DPS was reinstalled for three months, many who protested daily then, arrested, harassed, wonder if they were deceived into being part of the rebellion and blindly believed that the "liberators" would bring refreshment...
And while the Kafansko-Kuloar negotiations continue regarding the formation of a new government, because two divided factions of the former DF, one gathered around Mladena Mikielja which remained with the party, and another defected from the Podgorica headquarters led by Nikola Jovanović, and with the blessing of the detained President of the Municipality Milo Božović, they found themselves in a stalemate, because they cannot provide the necessary 17 councilors, unless they reconcile, or they call for help the "hated" DPS, the city is facing big problems, and citizens' dissatisfaction is increasing.
Radović: There was a bureaucratic, armchair, meritocratic scramble
Leader of Budva Democrats Krsto Radović, who was one of the key fighters of the summer of 2020, detained, mistreated, does not hide the disappointment of what Budva is today.
"I reject with indignation the sign of equality between the way of managing local self-government between Democratic Montenegro and the former DF. The only period in recent history when the city was managed institutionally, systemically, responsibly and essentially in the interest of all citizens was the period when the president of the municipality was Dragan Krapović. The changes that were supposed to happen after August 2020 in terms of getting rid of the long-standing malignant system of the DPS, and for which the citizens truly fought (because the struggle of political representatives is null and void without the will of the majority of citizens and the strength they showed in those processes) did not happen and that is what the example of Budva most obviously showed. There have been substitutions, not changes. A bureaucratic, armchair, meritocratic scramble took place, which in the end took us back from absolute power".
Radović assessed that former mayor Marko Carević showed during his mandate that the Municipality is not a farm and that it cannot be managed in the same way.

It was precisely because of the autocratic approach of the government, as Radović said, that the Democrats left the coalition and entered new elections.
"Those elections brought an even bigger setback, so Budva experienced being managed from Spuž, and the institutions were meaningless, overcrowded with excessive employment, burdened with heavy nepotism, the citizens were betrayed, the assembly was humiliated. Today, our city is dirty, neglected, in clouds of dust from illegal construction and general moral failure. Budva is not a theater city, it is also a city of absurdity. After all that has been said, and what are the bare facts, that and such former government, although divided, won a similar number of votes in the recently held elections and once again led the city into an even deeper crisis with mutual accusations, harsh words and dirty laundry. Budva sank in the jaws of sick, injured vanity and personal wars. If all political entities do not behave responsibly and courageously towards the situation we are in, we will be dealing with these consequences for many years. If the interest of the city is above personal and private interests, gentlemen, let's sit down and form a majority that will start repairing the damage as soon as possible. If you want to feed personal vanities and wage wars, elections are next. The responsibility is on everyone".
Rađenović: The bottom reached with DPS has been broken
President of the Budva URA board Blazo Radjenovic tells "Vijesti" that there is almost no citizen of Budva and Montenegro who could imagine that the city, after decades of DPS rule, has not reached rock bottom in every respect - institutional and moral.
"The once prestigious Montenegrin tourist metropolis, which was visited by the biggest names and stars from the worlds of film, sports, science, politics, and medicine, was overshadowed by various DPS affairs that ravaged the municipality's budget, and instead of the Mediterranean spirit, the smell of the plant (for the treatment of waste water) WTE. The DPS had to fall and it fell in the 2016 elections, but today, eight years later, we can conclude - either we had too high expectations from the opposition that politically aligned with the DPS government, or we only got a replacement instead of complete reforms and changes. Well, if you were to analyze the individuals from the last eight-year DF-Democrat government in Budva, you would understand that these are people who created their own capital, built powerful private companies and entered politics during the DPS government. That's why it's not surprising that in Budva today that DPS 'bottom' was broken".

According to him, in order for Budva to regain its title as the queen of Montenegrin tourism, it must be freed from disastrous policies, and especially from politicians who, as he says, have always viewed it as good prey.
"Both those from Podgorica, and today it is clear that these are people from the 44th Government, as well as local people who coordinated such a raid on Budva. That's why Budva must return its plans for decision-making, it must return revenues, it must return resources, such as the Port of Budva, Sveti Stefan, the JRB building, the Citadel. In order for all of this to happen, it must have a civil government, made up of credible and well-known people, who want good for their city and who will be a real service to all its citizens. Despite all the bad that Budva has endured, both from the previous and from the current government, it still has the potential to return to the very top of the tourist map and shine brightly because more than 50 percent of the total tourist traffic is still harvested here. The basic prerequisite for that is to get rid of the ballast of the past, which is reflected in the politics of DPS, PES and DFa".
"Vijesti" also asked for a comment from Nikola Jovanović, holder of the Budva nas grad list, but he did not respond.
Mikijelj: We did not live up to expectations
The holder of the "For the Future of Budva" list, Mladen Mikijelj, was one of the participants in the protest in June 2020 when, as the Secretary for Investments, he and his party colleagues prevented the entry of police forces into the Municipality. That's when the famous photo, which went around the region, was created, when the special forces threw him on the plateau in front of the Municipality building and put a boot around his neck.
"We did not meet the expectations of our fellow citizens in the previous four years, we are aware that Budva and the people of Budva deserved more", says Mikijelj for "Vijesti".

He also states that they were not able to "implement all the promises we made to the citizens".
"The decision of some people who were part of the NSD, DNP to leave the political organizations, thanks to which, with the support of the citizens, they got into a position to manage the city cost the city and its citizens dearly. We have clearly shown that we do not accept this kind of attitude towards the city, we do not want anyone using our work and the trust of citizens to create a better environment for themselves and people close to them, we have been fighting against it for decades and we will continue to act in that direction".

Companies, institutions and organizations managed by people from NSD, as he assessed, have shown that there are people in their ranks who know how and want to implement ideas that benefit not privileged individuals, but all citizens of Montenegro.
"During the previous year, we tried to find a way to solve the problems that are evident by talking, however, the answer from the other side was such that, like today, there is no talking, but only an autocratic way of governing, which is what we as people who value the principles of democracy clearly rejected. The citizens recognized this, on May 26 they gave us the greatest support and want the people from our winning electoral list to be the ones to take responsibility for managing the city. What we want and what we will be principled about is for the citizens to be the ones to decide, that is, for their electoral will to be respected".
Tičić: The city is collapsing, it's time for DF to go into opposition
Budva DPS leader Milan Tičić emphasized that Budva is completely unrecognizable today.

"The city is in total collapse, and regardless of political differences, I think that all of us, as citizens of Budva, must be ashamed of the state in which the city is. The state of communal order is catastrophic, the crowds are unbearable, and the city looks as if local government does not exist at all. All this is a consequence of a long-lasting political crisis, which, as you can see, is not resolved even after the elections. Therefore, we really believe that it is time for a change of government in Budva and it is time for DF to go into opposition after eight years so that our city can function again".
Bonus video:
