The draft law on local self-government, which foresees that Ulcinj, the only coastal city in Montenegro, will not receive the status of a city, stirred up the public in the southernmost municipality.
Article 33 of the Draft states that the overall rank of the local self-government unit is calculated based on the formula in which the number of inhabitants is multiplied by 0,5, the fiscal capacity rank is multiplied by 0,25 and the development index rank is multiplied by 0,25, and the obtained values are they add up. According to this criterion, Ulcinj does not have the status of a city, as do most municipalities in the north.
In the same article, it is stated that the Ministry establishes a list of municipalities that meet the criteria for obtaining city status, with values for each criterion individually and the final outcome for each municipality individually.
The procedure for evaluating the fulfillment of the criteria will be regulated by a Government regulation.
The draft Law on Local Self-Government, which is in the stage of public discussion, organizes local self-government units.
Attorney Zoran Piperović, a native of Ulcinj, said that the city's status cannot be assessed based on economic parameters.
"Status is earned through history. Ulcinj is a pride, a tradition, and the city of Ulcinj has recognized it whether the minister and his administration or not," said Piperović to "Vijesta".
The Force and the Democratic Party said earlier that there is no such formula that will leave Ulcinj without city status.
"Even when it was handed over to Montenegro in 1880, it was written as the City of Ulcinj," announced the Albanian Alliance (AA), which consists of those two parties.
Minister of Public Administration and Political Director of AA Marash Dukaj he said that Ulcinj, like many local self-governments in Montenegro, will have the opportunity to grow from the status of a municipality to the status of a city and thereby acquire more powers in the areas of preschool education, primary health care, social protection, spatial planning...
"Ulcinj and its citizens not only deserve, but the new law will give them real opportunities for the valorization of fantastic natural resources, for attracting investors, for cooperation projects with other local self-governments in Montenegro and beyond, that is, for development, success and a better life", stated Dukaj in response to AA's statement.
They minted money, had notaries in 1261
High official of the Force and MP Ilir Chapuni he stated that the proposed law is contradictory in details.
"According to this law, we will have the City of Tivat with 10.000 inhabitants and Ulcinj as a municipality with more than 20.000 inhabitants, and that all this then depends on politics," said Capuni.
He reminded that at the time of Agron, Teuta and Genci, Ulcinj was the only city on the coast, along with Risna.
"In Roman and Byzantine times as well. In the Middle Ages, it shone as an autonomous city. He had the first notaries in 1261, so exactly 750 years before the Chamber of Notaries was founded in Montenegro. Ulcinj minted its own money. It preserved its autonomy under all administrations. Inspired by this city during the 1880s, Leopold de Wenzel wrote his polka 'Dulcigno Polka', which was performed at the Imperial Theater in London, and then at the 'Olympia' theater in Paris," said Capuni. He added that they saw and documented the spirit of the "most interesting city" on the coast of Montenegro and beyond Von Harf, a scientist Mikhail Pupin, painters Kole Idromeno i Pero Poček, Isidora Sekulić, composer Great-grandsons of Jacob...
"So, all of them, from Agron, Genci and Teuta, to Prenka Jakov, Ernest Koliqi, Rita Ora i two lip, see this city as a jewel. Only Maraš Dukaj, the Minister of Public Administration, sees it as a 'unit of local self-government'. After my intervention, he was able to announce that he will certainly ensure that all the peculiarities of Ulcinj are reflected in the fact that it receives the status of a city that it has had for centuries. Instead, he talks about Ulcinj as some kind of selendra that really needs a visionary valorization for God knows whose account. It refers to the current statistics and figures, and does not ask which city built Budva, and how much is taken from this 'municipality' in the name of taxes, fees for the use of marine property and how much is returned to it for each purpose," Čapuni pointed out. .
He assessed that it is worrisome that such a bill degrades the administrative status of the city with the largest number of Albanians in Montenegro.
"Clinging to statistics, numbers and formulas, he ignores the above-mentioned facts and the fact that Ulcinj, due to its history and linguistic specificity, should be developed as a center of regional importance where, in addition to the seat of the National Council of Albanians in Montenegro and the future consulate of the Republic of Albania , there should also be institutions of higher education, healthcare, maritime security...", said Capuni.
The issue of decentralization
State Secretary in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and Vice President of the Democratic Party Agron Ibrahimi assessed that Ulcinj, as an urban entity with a duration of over two and a half millennia, must have the status of a city.
"For the last few days, we have been reading statements that municipalities could get city status. We will, of course, have objections to several articles of that legal act, primarily to the provisions that specify the conditions for acquiring city status by the competent ministry and to the formula for granting city status to municipalities. Ulcinj, as a cultural, educational and organizational center of the Albanians, who are an autochthonous minority in Montenegro, as a historical urban entity with a duration of over 2,5 millennia, must have the status of a city and all the responsibilities that should belong to it on that basis. Ibrahimi told "Vijesta".
When it comes to the decentralization of responsibilities from the state to the city level, he stated, they must be transferred gradually.
"Because the decentralization of competences must be accompanied by the decentralization of public finances, that is to say that more of the ceded revenues must be redirected to the cities or they must be provided with transfers from the state budget," said Ibrahimi.
From the Force and the Democratic Party, they assessed that the draft law on local self-government and the statements of officials of the Ministry of Public Administration in which they claim that Ulcinj is the only city on the coast of Montenegro which, according to the act, cannot receive the status of a city, are disappointing for every Ulcinj resident and for all Albanians in Montenegro.
"Because this cancels the written history of Ulcinj, where it existed as an important city on the Mediterranean for 2500 years".
They add that "defending such a freak solution is, to say the least, insulting to all Ulcinians and to all Albanians in Montenegro."
"The Albanian Alliance will submit its suggestions to the proposer of this law in a timely manner, and will participate in the improvement of this proposed law through its representatives in both the Government and the Parliament of Montenegro."
Cities have no money for social and child care
Ibrahimi said that the decentralization of responsibilities in the field of social and child protection cannot happen immediately.
"The state annually allocates around 220-230 million euros for this purpose. Cities cannot provide such financial resources on an annual basis from current financial sources. This would make a completely non-functional system. Also, the cities do not have the human resources or the technical capabilities to immediately take over the responsibilities of the centers for social work, as well as to be the second-level body for deciding on complaints", Ibrahimi assessed.
He reminded that the drafting of the new Law on Social and Child Protection is underway, which, according to the work plan of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, should be ready in the form of a proposal by the end of the year.
"The same law will be more modern, fairer and more transparent, and will enable a wider range of persons to acquire rights and use services, as well as greater basic material allowances for social and child protection," said Ibrahimi.
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