Head of State Jakov Milatovic is gathering for the upcoming elections in Podgorica a political bloc in which, as things stand now, the Movement for Podgorica and the Citizens' Movement (GP) URA should be close to him, and possibly some other political actors - "Vijesti" has learned unofficially.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", Milatović is creating a civic list, that is, a "civic-centrist block" in which, in addition to parties and movements, there could also be some independent intellectuals.
"It is a block for decent Podgorica and Montenegro, which will first appear in the elections in the capital," said the source, without specifying who should lead the list.
However, GP URA says unofficially that their negotiations with Milatović are not a done deal, but that an agreement is close.
"It is possible in the next few days", the interlocutor claims, saying that the GP URA is not giving up on the holder of the joint list being their official and deputy mayor of Podgorica. Luka Rakcevic.
"Vijesti" announced two weeks ago that the Movement for Podgorica and GP URA held informal talks about a joint performance, possibly also with the Movement for Change (PzP), with which they formed "bloc 11" in the Podgorica parliament, whose mandate was recently shortened. , that is - were the most numerous committee group. The options, as "Vijesti" wrote, were for a non-party figure to be at the head of the joint list, which was allegedly advocated by councilors close to Milatović, or for the list to be headed by Rakčević. At one of the last sessions of the Assembly of the Capital City, he said that the General Assembly of the URA should go to the polls independently.
Elections in Podgorica are scheduled for September 29, after the mandate of the local parliament was recently shortened by the votes of the members of the opposition, the Movement for Podgorica, GP URA and one member of the PzP. The outgoing government in Podgorica consists of the Europe Now Movement (PES), a coalition gathered around the former Democratic Front (DF), Demokrata and GP URA.
The movement for Podgorica, which is close to the President of Montenegro, was born out of a split in the PES. At the end of February, Milatović left that party, of which he was one of the founders, saying that the previous way of working of PES was contrary to the promises and values that he had in mind during its creation. He was the second man (deputy president) of that party, which is with the prime minister Milojko Spajić made two years ago and which during that time won the presidential and parliamentary elections and took power in several cities, including Podgorica.
On several occasions after leaving PES, when asked by the media if he planned to form a party, Milatović answered by saying that currently Montenegro is his party, but that if "democratic processes demand it" of him, he will not run away from "that responsibilities".
"... As in the previous period, I never ran away from responsibility when it came to some key moments in the democratic development of Montenegro", he said.
At the end of July, after the mandate of the Podgorica parliament was shortened, he announced that no one should be afraid of going to the polls and that citizens will have a clear choice.
"... On the one hand, the nationalist-populist block embodied in the current government, which was created as a result of rotten compromises and political trading of petty party interests, and whose actors in the previous period showed actions contrary to state interests. Also, the block around the still unreformed Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). And on the other side, a civic bloc, a bloc of the center, a bloc of decent Montenegro supported by the largest number of our citizens, will crystallize," the head of state said.
The deadline for submitting ballots for the elections in Podgorica begins on August 17 and will last until midnight on September 3.
"Vijesti" recently announced that the list of the former Minister of Justice Andrej Milović, the movement that should soon be presented to the public by his predecessor in the ministerial position Marko Kovač, the Party of European Progress (SEP) of the former Prime Minister Duško Marković and the movement "Revolution" should perform independently in the elections in Podgorica. In the same way, the European Union should also go to the polls, while the other political actors have yet to decide in which arrangement.
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