The parties that dethroned the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) four years ago are failing to form stable governments at the local level because they do not have much in common with each other, their alliances are not based on urban development plans, and their priorities are mutual. the fight for the biggest "cake" of the government.
This is how "Vijesti" interlocutors interpret the fact that the winners of the elections held on August 30, 2020, in which the three-decade regime of the DPS was overthrown, are unable to preserve power at the local level, i.e. that there are crises of power in most of the administrations they serve.
This can be seen in the examples of Podgorica, Budva, Beran, Andrijevica, Zeta, Kotor, Pljevlja, Tivat... in which the generators of crises are usually internal conflicts and splits in parties, the inability to agree on the division of functions, non-respect of coalition agreements...
Civic activist Stefan Djukic assesses that the problem is the so-called of the 30th August majority, which is in a constant campaign and is not interested in running state affairs, except, he says, to the extent that it improves the rating of these parties. For them, he states, August 2020, 31 does not actually exist, but, he adds, the state "is permanently on August XNUMX - the day when they will settle accounts with each other and take the entire 'cake' of power".
They close ranks when scared of DPS
According to Đukić, these parties occasionally, faced with the election results, "fear the DPS again", and close ranks and find a compromise, but, he notes, they mostly think maximalist and conduct their campaign in that way, "as if tomorrow, any one of them will have 51 percent of the power and be in an absolute position to dictate conditions".
"That's why agreements are difficult and even impossible. The aforementioned parties, after all, have huge internal frictions regarding who 'deserves', who has seniority for all possible positions, let alone who is acceptable to them from other parties. That's why we have very few substantive laws passed in the past four years, that's why there are no substantive changes, that's why citizens are increasingly tired and more prone to abstinence and protest. I believe that this is the last chance for these parties to get serious if they don't want to soon go into the past," he told "Vijesti".
The most illustrative cases of the problems that the "August 30th" have at the local level are in Podgorica and Budva.
In the capital of Montenegro, the government was formed in April last year by the winners of the 2020 national elections (the parties of the former Democratic Front, the Democrats and the Citizens' Movement URA) and the Europe Now Movement (PES), which was born on the wave of those changes. However, less than a year after the formation of the new administration, there was a split in PES. That party and their previous colleagues from the Movement for Podgorica (PzPG) could not agree on a new distribution of functions in the government and city administration, which resulted in the shortening of the mandate of the local parliament, and then in early elections, held last week. All the mentioned actors, with the exception of the former Democratic Front (DF), achieved poor results. Those entities, mathematically, can return to power, but it is questionable whether they can "bury the hatchet".
When it comes to Budva, the fourth election in the last four years is scheduled for November 17 in that municipality. That period was marked by numerous disagreements between the ruling parties, and the problems culminated in the arrest of the leader of that municipality Milo Božović in April last year. After that, there was a split in the local DF, to which Božović belonged, into the camp led by Mladen Mikijelj and others headed by him Nikola Jovanovic, and who is supported by the detained first man of Budva. Božović leads the municipality even though he is in custody, and the Special State Prosecutor's Office charges him with creating a criminal organization and drug smuggling.
Little in common
Docent at the University "Donja Gorica" Nikoleta Djukanovic, says that those who triumphed on August 30 are overwhelmingly no different from the parties that were defeated then. At the same time, he adds, the winning parties are trapped by their own party interests, very prone to illegal activities, and especially, he states, abuse of state interests and party employment, and they are also trapped, he claims, "by the post-socialist legacy, which is why they do not tolerate criticism, different opinions and strong civil society".
Đukanović assesses that some of those parties, which form the government at the local level, have little in common, and that their post-election coalitions are not based on agreements on the development plans of those cities, but on the division of functions.
"When you have such a variety of 'priorities', their coalitions will not be sustainable, and it will be a matter of time before their cooperation ends due to some issue," Đukanović told "Vijesta", adding that, in addition, events at the bar are largely dictated personal relationship between the head of state Jakov Milatović (close to PzPG) and the prime minister Milojko Spajić (PES).
The winners of the 2020 elections are also in Berane, Andrijevica, Pljevlji... Elections in Berane have been announced for December 9, after the government introduced forced administration in that municipality on Friday. The political crisis in it occurred this summer, after the failed attempt to rotate the position of the municipal president. Vuk Todorović (New Serbian Democracy) was supposed to succeed in that position Damjan Ćulafić (Democrats), but two councilors of the former DF (of which Nova is a part) did not sign their support for the Democrat candidate.
From March to September 21, when the new government was formed, Andrijevica was managed by the Government's Board of Commissioners, which was sent to that municipality because the local administration was not functioning due to friction that broke out last year within the ruling coalition. In that municipality, for several months during 2023, a group of citizens prevented the holding of the session of the local assembly where the vote on dismissal was supposed to take place Željko Ćulafić (Socialist People's Party), the then and current leader of Andrijevica.
A crisis has been looming in Pljevlja since the end of September, when the session of the local parliament was postponed because the members of the ruling majority did not appear in its hall. "Vijesti" announced that the head of the Pljeval committee Nova Milan Lekic he is trying to replace his party colleague and the first man of Pljevlja Daria Vraneš, who allegedly refuses to follow his instructions on many issues.
Necessary basic stability
Nikoleta Đukanović says that it is an assumption that it is easier to preserve power at the local level if you have it at the national level, but she thinks that it is obvious that at the local level there are additional burdensome issues among the constituents, which, she states, represent sources of disagreement and reasons for the dysfunctionality of the government.
"Podgorica showed that their plan for a clear division of positions and jobs between parties is not enough for the government to be functional," she reminds.
Asked how important the stability of the government is to citizens and whether it is sometimes more important to them than what the authorities do, the interviewee replied that stability at the expense of democracy is not a solution, but that the elementary assumptions of a stable government with concrete results and the fulfillment of pre-election promises are necessary for citizens to regain trust in elections and increased turnout in them.
When asked if the unstable political conditions in the local area are necessarily bad for democracy, Đukanović said that they are, reminding that in the Fridom House report for 2023, instability at that level was criticized, "as one of the obstacles to the consolidation of democracy".
"Functional and efficient local government is very important for democratic development, and if citizens do not have adequate mechanisms of civic participation within local communities and other forms of participation, we cannot talk about functional democracy in general in the country," she states.
Bogdanović: Individuals and non-compliance with agreements bring down the government
"Vijesti" asked the parties of the former DF (New Serbian Democracy and the Democratic People's Party), the Democrats and the Socialist People's Party, as constituents of administrations in the largest number of municipalities where there are or have been political crises, why this is happening and why they are not succeeding to save power, and the answers came only from the Democrats.
The head of their caucus and general secretary, Boris Bogdanović, said that it is primarily important to note that the mandates of councilors belong to them personally, although many of those mandates were won solely thanks to the support of the party.
"Unfortunately, after the elections, it happens that individuals change the electoral will of citizens, acting contrary to the views of the party and contrary to the interests of the voters who showed their trust by voting for certain lists".
Second, he says, in certain municipalities, power crises were the result of divisions within political entities, as well as non-compliance with coalition agreements. Those internal divisions or disagreements within the coalitions, he says, often made it difficult for the government to be stable at the local level.
"However, what is important to note is that parliamentary majorities with a larger number of councilors and deputies have the ability to limit the actions of those who try to destabilize the government by blackmailing or breaking agreements."
Bogdanović claims that the Democrats have never blackmailed anyone, nor asked for positions that do not belong to them based on election results. He also says that they never "overrode the electoral will of the citizens" at any level, nor that they exercised power with the DPS.
"Our dedication to the agreements remains unquestionable, and we are the only ones in Montenegro who have fully complied with the agreement on rotation in the middle of the mandate, as agreed".
Fridom House: Local authorities dysfunctional and corrupt
In a report presented in April, Freedom House stated that Montenegro is struggling "with dysfunctional and corrupt local authorities, in the absence of state stability."
The findings also stated that the rating of local administrations fell due to "politicization and poor functionality" of numerous municipalities.
It also says that the challenges in the past year were the obstruction of elections and sessions of local assemblies, the lack of a peaceful change of government and unstable finances.
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