Although the "authoritarian and corrupt government of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS)" fell after 30 years of rule, the practice of their successors showed that Đukanović was replaced by "Đukanovićs".
These are the views of some of the interlocutors of "Vijesti" on the occasion of four years since August 30, 2020, when the three-decade rule of the DPS was replaced in the elections.
Director of the Monitor Milena Perović she assessed that the legitimacy of the ruling group cannot rest on the reference to August 30.
"On that one - if we leave, Đukanović will return. The fact is that Đukanović's governing practices are still alive. Party employment, there. Trapped institutions, there. Small and insufficient steps have been taken to reform. Corruption, there. Along with everything, there are also the ghosts of the nineties. We have IBAR, but Europe is equally far away. As well as European salaries", said Perović.
She states that the only difference is that one vote was replaced by multiple voices of the government.
"Whose political struggles for narrow interests we can follow on a daily basis, like a reality show. The political classes should be reminded as often as possible that the DPS was replaced in the elections. Not that Đukanović would be replaced by 'Đukanović'. And especially not the one from the nineties," Perović assessed.
Program Director at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Petar Djukanovic he told "Vijesti" that the political changes of 2020 brought great expectations and opportunities for necessary reforms and democratization:
"However, the fact that Montenegro continues to face deep-rooted and endemic problems, such as corruption, inefficiency of institutions, political instability and divisions in society indicate broken promises and the failure of the new authorities to create an essential discontinuity in bad governance practices".
He pointed out that, although there is a new political framework, progress remains at the symbolic level, in certain areas:
"While in some we have worrying divisions, it is clear that significantly greater efforts are necessary in the direction of reforms, building a political culture that overcomes clientelism and corruption, and strengthening institutions that will serve citizens, not party and particular interests".
The complicated political path of Montenegro
"The fall of the three-decade authoritarian, criminogenic, corrupt government, which led the country in the warlike nineties, is a value in itself. That is why it is not possible to simply answer the question whether we were better off before the fall of the DPS or now", said Milena Perović in response to the question of whether it was a better period before 2020 or today.
She assessed that the problem is that this decline did not bring about the changes that were necessary to take place, in order for "this country to become a healthier, normal society".
"A country that young people don't dream of leaving. A country where you don't have to belong to a party or a church to get a job. A country where flag waving is not a favorite discipline. A country where the census is not about whether there are more of us or them, but an opportunity to detect problems and make things better for all of us. Citizens of this country. A country that faced its wartime past. In which political responsibility is not a mental noun. And principles and meritocracy are just words for pre-election speeches," Perović pointed out.
Petar Đukanović said that Montenegro also faces a serious problem of the harmful influence of foreign power centers, especially Belgrade, which further complicates its political path, endangers independence and threatens the destruction of civil society.
"The policy of employment and appointment in institutions based on party affiliation and ethnic key continued, which, among other things, resulted in the most cumbersome Government in the history of this country, while at the same time the transparency of that Government's work is at a historic minimum. As a result, citizens have less and less faith in institutions whose credibility has been seriously undermined, as well as in the possibility of democratic processes," Đukanović pointed out.
He pointed out that, instead of serving as a forum for democratic dialogue, the Assembly has become the scene of political confrontation and speech at the lowest level, whose position is consistently and regularly weakened by the Prime Minister, by not respecting his obligations to account to the deputies, and the President of the Assembly and the parliamentary majority who allow it. for party interests:
"And without the awareness that the institutions must be above the party, because I guess that is part of what the parties of the current government fought for when they were in opposition. The political scene thus remains a space for the realization of personal interests and power-loving ambitions of political actors, while the common good and public interest are put on the back burner".
Rakočević: The change in 2020 was necessary to complete democratic processes in society
MP of DPS Nikola Rakočević he said that the change in 2020 was in itself necessary for rounding off democratic processes in society, and that the change of government is one of the pillars of democracy.
"The misfortune of Montenegro is that those political forces that changed the government thought that it was a real, long-awaited opportunity to change the character of the country, to humiliate the dignity of Montenegro and subordinate national interests to power centers outside our state house, and to those centers that are opposed to the European value system. That is why Montenegro is a country in decline today," Rakočević said.
He reminded that at that time it was said that the DPS would not hand over power, but would take the army to the streets to prevent political changes, which was untrue.
"When we talk about just a few major results of the former government, it is also worth remembering the preserved peace, monetary independence through the introduction of the mark and the euro, the preserved territory from the NATO bombing in 1999, the restoration of Montenegrin independence, NATO membership and the opening of all negotiation chapters with EU and over 13 billion euros of investments in Montenegro".
He believes that the current government has not done even a small part of building on those results in four years, but has jeopardized what has been achieved and improved existing bad practices.
"Sure... there were a lot of mistakes in politics before 2020, we acknowledged them all and we are aware of each of them much better than our political competition, but after four years of corruption, abuse of state resources, international scandal and the collapse of the image of Montenegro, protest notes and putting state officials on the EU member state's sanctions list, due to the violation of the good neighborly policy, after satisfying personal interests at the expense of the budget and citizens, it is quite hypocritical to insist exclusively on the failures of the DPS, ignoring the damage that the current government is doing to national interests." Rakocevic said.
He pointed out that, at the same time, there was almost no programmatic policy or positive result in four years.
"It is rightly suspected that on Wednesday it is not only ignorance, but also deliberate ill will towards Montenegro. How else to explain the huge amount of nonsense and incompetence of the current government", said Rakočević.
Since August 30, 2020, when Montenegro changed its government in elections for the first time in its history, three governments and two convocations of parliament have changed.
He led the first government in the new political era Zdravko Krivokapic, and she was chosen, after long negotiations, by the coalitions "For the Future of Montenegro" (ZBCG), "Mir je naša nacija" and "Crno na bijelo" (CnB). However, due to disagreements between the constituents, it lasted a year and two months.
He created the second executive power at the beginning of 2022, with the minority support of DPS in the parliament, Dritan Abazovic, but it was even shorter-lived - it was demolished in the Assembly after only 113 days of work.
Third, the current government Milojko Spajić it was formed in November last year, and reconstructed in July with the entry of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and the Democratic People's Party (DNP) and the Bosniak Party (BS)...
Clericalization, ethnic tensions and mistrust
Petar Đukanović assessed that judicial institutions, which should be a pillar of the rule of law, are ineffective and under the influence of inappropriate political pressures.
"Although proceedings were initiated against former officials and arrests were made of persons connected to criminal structures, none of those processes have yet received a judicial epilogue, they last too long and are accompanied by numerous controversies, which further undermines citizens' trust in the judicial system, and this reinforces the impression selectivity of the judiciary in the processing of cases".
He said that the impression of the farcical nature of the functioning of judicial bodies and doubts about their impartiality was reinforced by the open trade in judicial appointments.
"In the context of European integration, although Montenegro managed to get IBAR, we all see that real progress in reforms is limited. The lack of true dedication of domestic actors to the integration process is reflected, among other things, in irresponsible political moves, such as the adoption of the Resolution on Jasenovac, which damaged relations with neighboring Croatia, which should be our key partner in the integration process," Đukanović assessed. .
He pointed out that instead of the professional strengthening of the negotiation structure, some of the key positions are politically divided, which is how system pistons are installed in the wheels of the integration process with the EU.
"The clericalization of society, polarization through ethnic tensions and mistrust continued, which makes it difficult to build social cohesion and comprehensive progress".
Đukanović pointed out that the economic challenges are numerous and complex:
"Although there is a nominal increase in the standard of living or wages, it is mainly based on short-term measures that face criticism due to their unsustainability".
He pointed out that the educational system lags behind the standards of developed countries, despite efforts to reform it, "and serious changes in this area require wider social awareness and political support, which, unfortunately, is lacking."
Nikola Rakočević said that "the only policy around which the current government gathers is hatred towards DPS".
"After the current opposition, after August 30, 2020, offered a new personnel selection, an innovative program vision, the question arises, what is now controversial in that offer? In the meantime, the ruling parties got an opportunity - they used it to engage in corruption and demonstrate their inability to run the country. Now the argument about the bad practice of the DPS is just a transparent alibi for staying in power and at the source of privileges".
Rakočević said that over time one comes to the conclusion that civil forces in Montenegro will always be unacceptable to some political parties:
"Invented alibis will fade and the real reason will become more and more obvious - resistance to the adoption of the Euro-Atlantic value system, resistance to integration into Western democracies, strong ties with Brussels and Washington instead of countries with an anti-European value system, and resistance to a civil and multi-ethical society. citizens, not the people".
He believes that "in time, politics based on hatred will dry up, that political forces will be born that will want to cooperate on programmatic principles of reaching the European standard of living in a country that must return to the path of multi-ethnic democracy and Euro-Atlantic values".
"Undoubtedly, Montenegro is currently on the wrong path. "Referring to August 30 is an acknowledgment of the inability to offer a development policy and a vision of the future," Rakočević believes.
Disappointed hopes and a make-up exam
The fourth anniversary of the removal of the DPS government was marked on Friday with a panel discussion organized by the Society for Research in Politics and Political Theory.
President of the state Jakov Milatovic said that on August 30, Montenegro began to learn to walk in a democratic sense.
"I think we were too optimistic that we would walk overnight, these challenges we are facing today I think are precisely learning to walk. In the democratic sense, we have not walked yet," Milatović pointed out.
Milatović said that citizens' hopes for fundamental changes in Montenegro were betrayed and that is why everyone is on some kind of remedial exam.
URA GP leader Dritan Abazović he said that August 30 is the most important date in Montenegrin politics.
"Because then there was the first democratic, peaceful change of government. The parliament has existed since 1905 and has never been elected in democratic elections, and the government has never changed in elections until 2020," Abazović said.
As he assessed, the biggest thing since August 30 is that the citizens realized that they have sovereignty and that the real power is theirs.
President of the Democratic People's Party Milan Knezevic said that the government of August 30th was formed in the monasteries, and that after that the government that lasted the longest in resignation was obtained.
"What is good is that after August 30 we have the change of government as a healing process, which should introduce Montenegro as the first country in the European Union (EU)".
Rakočević: Citizens need results and a better standard
Nikola Rakočević assessed that citizens need results and a better standard of living.
"Incapable of responding to those expectations, the current government refers to the parliamentary elections of four years ago and thus accentuates its only policy, which is the anti-DPS platform. In fact, it is an attempt to construct an alibi for retaining seats, privileges and abuse of state resources, as well as changing the character of Montenegrin society created since the restoration of statehood in the 2006 referendum."
He claims that there are numerous examples of this - from abuse of the electric power sector, to nationalism in Pljevlja, Nikšić and other areas where they exercise power.
Đukanović: Key challenges require deeper reforms
Petar Đukanović said that, in general, despite some positive developments, and above all the fact that the government has changed hands, the key challenges facing Montenegro - political stability, the fight against corruption, the strengthening of institutions and social cohesion, require deeper and systemic reforms that would be led by those who are committed to the public interest.
"Namely, only through true commitment to change and the determination of political actors can sustainable progress towards European integration, functional democracy and economic prosperity, which are key to the future of Montenegro, be achieved."
Bonus video:
