Announcement of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro and the leader of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Andrije Mandić that he initiates the restoration of Njegoš's votive chapel in Lovcen is not an initiative that should serve reconciliation, but is primarily in the function of strengthening the rating of his political organization.
This was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti", commenting on the statement of the first man of Parliament, who yesterday in the Government House in Cetinje, said that by the fact that nothing will be demolished in Lovćen, but built, a message will be sent to the new generations in Montenegro that our the country will be according to the measure of all its citizens and in it, just like in Lovcen, there will be a place for everyone".
Mandić's initiative to restore Njegoš's chapel in Lovćen was strongly condemned yesterday by opposition representatives, while the coalition partners, the president and the government remained silent.
The first man of the Parliament said that the restoration of Njegoš's votive chapel on Lovčen was an idea that was first initiated by the Metropolis of the Montenegrin-Limorska SPC and the Metropolitan Amphilochius.
The SPC and the parties led by the former Democratic Front (DF) have been advocating for years the idea of replacing Njegoš's mausoleum where the bones rest Petar II Petrović Njegoš erected a chapel. Njegoš's mausoleum is according to the project Ivan Meštrović built in 1974, instead of the previous chapel built by the king Aleksandar Karadjordjevic after the First World War and consecrated St. George. Previously, there was a chapel, built by Njegoš in 1845 and dedicated to his uncle Petar I Petrović Njegoš, damaged by Austrian shelling in 1916...
"I believe that today we are mature enough as a society and community to implement this noble idea that will lead to reconciliation and the gathering of people in Montenegro, and I want to use this opportunity to publicly initiate it as the President of the Parliament of Montenegro", emphasized Mandić at the ceremony on the occasion awarding of the Thirteenth of July Award in Cetinje.
Historian Nikola Zecevic told "Vijesta" that "Mandić's statement or initiative is primarily aimed at strengthening the rating of his political organization".
"So, topics such as the chapel on Lovcen or dual citizenship are topics that are important to the electorate that Mandić is appealing to. Despite the fact that the idea of restoring the chapel is completely unrealistic and phantasmagoric, because it is impossible to reach a broader socio-political consensus on this issue, he very skillfully markets the topic, because it effectively antagonizes the Montenegrin electorate. Don't forget, parties on the opposite poles of the political spectrum have the biggest political profit from antagonizing topics".
Answering the question why the head of the parliament chose this moment, Zečević reminds that this year marks five decades since the opening of the mausoleum on Lovcen, and next year marks 180 years since the first chapel was erected, i.e. one hundred years since the construction of the second.
"In that sense, I would not exclude the symbolic background of this initiative. To make the irony complete, the idea of demolishing the chapel and erecting the mausoleum initially came from King Aleksandar Karađorđević, who in the early 1920s asked Ivan Meštrović to sketch the initial project of the mausoleum. That idea was ultimately abandoned due to financial constraints. Montenegrin communists revitalized the idea of building a mausoleum, with the intention of desacralizing and secularizing Njegoš's personality. Therefore, to affirm Njegoš as a poet and ruler, instead of Njegoš as a bishop".
Zečević characterizes opinions that, according to him, were "popularized by nationalist ideological apparatuses" that the chapel from 1925 has anti-Montenegrin symbolism, but also that the construction of the mausoleum is an anti-Serb act, as "superficial, ideologized and inaccurate theses".
"What Mandić is certainly trying to promote through this initiative is not the demolition of the mausoleum, but the restoration of the chapel on the threshing floor, which is located within the mausoleum complex. From his perspective it seems conciliatory. But any hybrid upgrading of the mausoleum complex would undermine its authenticity and artistic value. The mausoleum is not an 'ethno-national monster'. He neither affirms the Montenegrin national identity, nor derogates from the Serbian one. It is a superb cultural monument, whose value is universal, and which cannot and must not be 'remade' by anyone, especially not by politicians".
The Assembly did not respond to "Vijesti"'s questions asking Mandić to clarify what kind of return he is talking about, how much such a project would cost, who would carry it out, and whether he has the support of the coalition partners with whom he forms the ruling majority.
Neither from the Government, nor from the Cabinet of the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, did not answer questions about how to comment on such an announcement, who should reconcile and why, why this is being proposed at this very moment and whether now is the time for such moves.
The Europe Now Movement and the Democrats did not answer the question.
Mandić said that "our national community would preserve continuity in difficult times, so that we would have someone to refer to and something to rely on" that it is necessary both symbolically and realistically to respect "the deepest spiritual tradition of Montenegro in which the magnificent they exalt the personality and work of the poet, bishop and saint Peter II Petrović Njegoš Lovcen secret seer".
"In that sense, the return of Njegoš's chapel on Lovćen would, in my opinion, be both a symbolic and realistically great historical step for modern Montenegro. Regardless of all our fleeting differences and misunderstandings, it would be not only a sign of political wisdom and maturity, but also a sign of true national reconciliation and gathering around what binds us by fate. I am convinced of the well-being of Montenegro and its citizens...".
Mandić's plan was condemned yesterday by the opposition parties, saying that it "will not pass" and that divisions in society should not be deepened.
Head of the club of deputies of the DPS Andrija Nikolić told "Vijesti" that by mentioning Njegoš's chapel at this moment, Mandić is throwing a hook at civil Montenegro with the intention of provoking and radicalizing it in the narrative, in order not to divert attention from the fact that the Serbian world has apparently put its paw on part of the Montenegrin judiciary. He pointed out that Mandić is clear that "he will not allow the desecration of Lovcen at any cost".
"It should be clear to everyone that the fact that Belgrade does not issue an order to topple this government speaks better than anything about how much the prime minister is Milojko Spajic under the control of Andrija Mandić. And after the decision to acquit all those accused of attempted terrorism on the day of the elections in Montenegro in 2016, including Šišmakov and Popov, all that remained was for Mandić, Knežević, Dajković and the rest of the company to join Spajić's government, so Moscow would for the first time get their formal representatives in the government of a NATO member country".
He assessed that Mandić's initiative is not an initiative that should serve reconciliation, but the opposite:
"But it is a topic that Mandić launched with the aim of diverting attention from the instrumentalized judiciary, which concluded that despite all the intelligence evidence from abroad and the confessions of the defendants, and despite the fact that Aleksandar Vučić "saw with his own eyes" and what was communicated by foreign officials based on operational knowledge - the terrorist attempt on election day 2016 did not happen at all. And that there are no guilty parties".
Political director and MP of the URA Civic Movement Ana Novaković Đurović said that Mandić, in the absence of ideas that would bring prosperity and economic prosperity to all citizens of Montenegro, continues with ideas of fueling new divisions in society.
She points out that while on the one hand, the prime minister and his party are proposing disastrous measures for state resources and threatening to economically collapse Montenegro, Mandić is proposing ideas of endangering national interests, symbols and identity.
"It is clear that it is Milojko Spajic complicit in this collapse of peace, security and multinational and multiconfessional harmony in Montenegro".
The European Union, which includes the Social Democrats (SD), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party (LP), announced that the background of the initiative, "to build a chapel on Lovcen, is not to reconcile society but to show the complete political and spiritual capitulation of Montenegro." Up”.
"Unlike his coalition partners, neither we, nor Montenegrin citizens, have any intention of being silent and turning the other cheek to him."
Member of the SD Nikola Zirojevic announced that the throne of Cetinje and the majority of Montenegro will not allow the implementation of this plan.
Mayor of Cetinje Nikola Đurašković (SDP) told Mandić not to "play with fire, because that plan will never go away".
"You have occupied our churches, you are trying to establish the supremacy of another state in the municipalities where you are the government, now you would also attack Lovćen. You were badly mistaken, Mandić. Not going to happen".
LP Vice President Jelena Marković announced that it is in the political interest that Mandić is now using propaganda, which has no historical foundation, to announce the reconstruction of the chapel, saying that nothing will come of it.
Recently, the Deef family often give gifts with a chapel motif
The chapel on Lovćen has recently been the motif of several gifts given by officials of the former Democratic Front.
The artistic painting of the chapel was presented by Mandić during the farewell visits of the ambassadors of Israel and Russia, Jahel Vilan and Vladislav Maslenikov.
Mandić received a similar gift from his party colleague and Nikšić municipality president Marko Kovačević during an official visit to that municipality, while their coalition partner and leader of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knežević "welcomed the basketball club 'Crvena zvezda'" with a copper engraving of the chapel.
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