Protests and civil disobedience actions led by Montenegrin students will not shake the government Milojko Spajić, but it will show what she is up to ready to preserve her positions and how much she cares about young people, whom she obviously only sees as voters.
This was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti", answering questions about whether student gatherings could seriously threaten the executive branch and what would have to happen to produce a serious political crisis.
"I don't think it will shake the government, because that would have already happened by now. Previous events teach us that in Montenegro the first moment is the strongest and that it is not based on that that one builds. If the beginning doesn't make a strong enough 'blow', if they don't form a critical mass in the first weeks, it will be difficult for them to gather. There is no blame on the organization of the protest or in some individual moves of the informal group of students, it simply doesn't seem to be the 'moment'," the civic activist told the newspaper. Stefan Djukic.
The informal student group “Kamo Sutra” has been organizing protests and road blockades since the beginning of the year, demanding the dismissal of government security officials due to dissatisfaction with the authorities’ response to the Cetinje massacre. It occurred on January 1 and left 13 people dead. In parallel with the students’ actions, citizens, in support of them, have been organizing road blockades in Kotor, Cetinje, Nikšić and Bar on their own initiative, and representatives of “Kamo Sutra” have also provided support in this.
Today, for several hours, from 11 a.m. to 17:26 p.m., students and citizens will block the street in front of the Government building in Podgorica.
Docent at the University "Donja Gorica" Nikoleta Djukanovic, told "Vijesti" that the student protests failed to create "a greater synergistic effect on the broader group of students."
"Unfortunately, the student population is mostly silent about these issues, and shows no interest in regulating the environment and conditions in which they live," the interviewee stated.
Students, among other things, are demanding the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister for Security Alekse Bečić i of the Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Saranovic (both from the Democrats). They also demand "more prompt and proactive action" by authorities on the issue of gun ownership, reform of the system of functioning of police structures, the return of civic education as a mandatory subject in all primary and secondary schools, improvement of the institutional approach to mental health care...
Representative of the group "Kamo sutra" Hana Rastoder, told "Vijesti" that their demands were "pure, fair and reasonable."
"Therefore, we believe that there is no need for negotiations (with the Government, ed.). The demands are aimed at improving security in Montenegro, which we believe is also the goal of our Government, or should be," she said.
Rastoder stated that in the letter they received from the Prime Minister, they did not recognize a clear intention to determine and assume responsibility for the crime that occurred on January 1st.
"The silence regarding the five-day blockades in numerous Montenegrin cities makes us doubt that decision-makers are at all sensitive to the people's dissatisfaction. Therefore, it should be noted that regardless of party affiliation, decision-makers are paid by the people. Their functions imply responsibility and professionalism," the interviewee notes.
Responding to requests sent to him by students on January 23, Prime Minister Spajić stated that all members of his government are subject to changes after a performance evaluation and detailed analysis of their performance, but did not specify when they would be implemented.
The students rejected the Prime Minister's invitation to a meeting, stating that they did not want to negotiate their demands, but rather expected their public adoption.
"If the government continues to ignore our demands, we will be forced to radicalize. It is not ruled out that our next steps will be to address the international community and representatives of the EU delegation in Montenegro, who we certainly believe are already monitoring the situation," says Rastoder.
Responding to the question of what the long-term consequences could be if the government continues to ignore the students' demands, Stefan Đukić said that the government invited the students to talks, but that they did not respond.
"In contrast to the example from Serbia, where the president, who is not the competent institution, wanted to talk to the students, here the prime minister, who is certainly competent, came forward, so the government can say - we were in the mood for dialogue, but there was no goodwill on the other side. Therefore, they have a positive propaganda moment," he assesses.
Asked what would have to happen for the protests to result in a serious political crisis, Đukić said that there are two situations that could give new energy and lead to a crisis.
"One is in the split 'from within', where certain parties already in power would renounce 'obedience' and oppose the prime minister and/or coalition partners. This is unlikely given how much our parties love privileges, but also because of the breadth of this coalition in which no one has even a inkling of blackmail potential," he said.
Another possibility, he says, is a new crisis, or a new problem that would give the wind in the sails of the protests.
"But we can only talk about that hypothetically...", added Djukic.
The ruling Democrats accused the students of being politically motivated and of being behind the protests by opposition structures close to the former leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists. Milo ĐukanovićThe students rejected the accusations, emphasizing that their demands are aimed at holding those responsible for the safety of citizens accountable.
Nikoleta Đukanović assesses that the students gathered within the group "Kamo sutra" are showing a fairly high dose of insecurity, indecision and questionable perseverance in their demands. She says that, obviously, pressure and intimidation from the authorities have had a great impact, but that, regardless, the students should show greater determination and perseverance in their demands, and not constantly justify themselves to their opponents.
"That's why I think that protests and blockades will not have a major impact on the Government, but they will show what the Government is willing to do to preserve its positions, they will show how much the Government cares about young people, whom it obviously sees only as voters, not as bearers of sovereignty, they will show all the unhealthy and undemocratic practices on which the current Government is built," Đukanović concludes.
She stated that, in the long term, the protests could generate significant dissatisfaction among a large number of people, primarily towards Spajić's Europe Now Movement and Bečić's Democrats, and in that sense reshape the balance of power between the parties in the next elections.
The student protests were supported by the councils of the Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature, the Faculty of Law, and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, as well as university professors and teaching assistants, engineers, artists, civic activists...
They will disrupt the government session with noise.
Milo Perović from the group "Kamo Śutra" announced that today's blockade would begin at 11 a.m., "in order to disrupt the Government session with noise."
"We are here to make noise and disrupt this session, to act in civil disobedience within dignified limits," he told the MINA agency.
Perović said he expects the blockade to pass peacefully, like previous gatherings.
"There have been no incidents so far, I don't see why it would happen now, because we didn't change our character overnight. It is known how we want to change things," he said.
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