It is good that the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) has given up on the idea that the state should create a church and that national identity should be instilled through the power of the party state, because just as they failed to do so, so too cannot others.
This was assessed by a political analyst for "Vijesti" Sergej Sekulovic, answering questions about what the insistence on defending the civic character of Montenegro means in the new DPS program and how the party's political narratives have changed before and after the 2020 elections.
In its new program, which is to be adopted at today's party congress, DPS emphasizes the defense of Montenegro's civic character and warns against attempts at "ethnofederalization" planned by its neighbors, while, unlike the current program document, it does not mention the "independent Orthodox Church" of Montenegrin believers.
"Identities in Montenegro are rooted in historical processes and show stability. Politics should follow this. Identity politics as dominant should be rejected. The focus should be on strengthening institutions and a state of equal opportunities that is open to others, but also preserves its dignity," said Sekulović.
In the new DPS program, which is still in draft form, the emphasis is placed on the defense of cultural, historical and sacral heritage, while insisting on the return of property to the Montenegrin state.
"The concept of ethno-federalization of Montenegro, conceived in the surrounding areas that have never accepted the independence of Montenegro, supported by contractors on the domestic ground, with the alienation of cultural, historical and sacral heritage and attempts at identity assimilation of national Montenegrins, aims to abolish civil society. Montenegro has no chance of surviving as a state of people because the moment it agrees to it, it would legitimize itself as a target of nationalist policies from the neighborhood," the new program says.
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Sekulović pointed out that Montenegro is in danger of disintegration.
"Centrifugal forces have strengthened and the question is how we will be able to overcome this problem. The results of the census show that the modern Montenegrin state cannot be built according to the classical national concept, characteristic of the 19th century, but must build its identity as a civic state, which in itself carries enormous potential if it succeeds in being built, but also internal danger if the political and social elites do not want to or are not capable of building it as such," Sekulović assessed.
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He pointed out that the danger of entofederalism is not induced only by external influences, but also by internal forces.
"This is probably the most serious issue and problem we are facing," Sekulović said.
CIVIC AND NATIONALIST RHETORIC
Civic activist Stefan Djukic assessed that DPS had long identified itself as a "civic party" and was helped in this by people close to them in the media and the civil sector.
"Despite the fact that they did not exhibit civic principles or virtues, they were accompanied by the definition of civic. However, in the last few years, due to increasingly strong nationalist rhetoric, there are fewer and fewer people who call them 'civic'," said Đukić.
He pointed out that it seems that through this program and through a problem "which may be real or virtual", they are trying to redefine themselves as defenders of civic character.
"Unfortunately, it is difficult to say what is civil in Montenegro, and therefore it is not clear what there is to defend. But that is another topic," said Đukić.
Sergej Sekulović emphasized that building a functional civic state requires honesty in approach. This, he said, means, for starters, respecting diversity and meritocracy instead of partitocracy, and knowledge instead of quotas.
"If DPS understood this, it is good for them and for Montenegrin society. If this is a political maneuver, it will quickly become apparent. So, actions are needed," said Sekulović.
On the political level, Sekulović states, DPS is trying to increase its coalition capacity.
"To reduce the distance, primarily in relation to citizens who identify as Serbs. Whether they will succeed in this remains to be seen," said Sekulović.
Stefan Đukić assessed that he did not see that the DPS narrative had changed significantly.
"They are trying to somewhat avoid topics that have obviously taken away a significant number of voters from them, but whenever a topic that goes into the national domain comes up, DPS is always there with fairly hard nationalist positions, so it is difficult to say that anything has really changed," said Đukić.
He said that the DPS is not ready to make the necessary turn to expand its coalition capacity, which is also shown by the election of an "honorary president" (Milo) Djukanovic and unwillingness to publicly renounce personnel suspected of corruption and crime.
"These are all connected courts," said Djukic.
EQUALITY OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AND SECULARISM
It was announced that Đukanović will be elected honorary president at the party congress today.
The new DPS program states that it will promote equality of all religious communities, while strengthening the principle of secularism:
"We will fight for the return of the alienated Montenegrin cultural, historical and sacral heritage. We will be dedicated to promoting the religious rights and freedoms of all citizens, as well as those religious organizations that are denied the right to serve and confess in religious buildings located on the territory of Montenegro."
The census results show that the modern Montenegrin state cannot be built according to the classical national concept, characteristic of the 19th century, but must build its identity as a civic state, says Sergej Sekulović.
In its program adopted in 2021, the DPS criticizes the Serbian Orthodox Church for political interference and denial of Montenegrin identity, and states that the "manipulation of religious feelings" of a number of citizens directed by the SPC "served as an excuse for an attack on the fundamental values of modern Montenegro."
The DPS's loss of power was significantly contributed to by the processions organized by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral SPC since the adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion in December 2019 due to its provisions relating to church property, which were deleted by amendments a year later, after the change of government.
"The right of Montenegrin believers to an independent Orthodox church that will operate in the territory of Montenegro, we in the DPS perceive as an integral part of the corpus of historical rights for whose affirmation we will advocate persistently, tolerantly and thoughtfully, respecting the rules that apply in global Orthodoxy. At the same time, protecting the inviolability of property rights as one of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, we will fight by all legal means for the sacral property, which belonged to the state of Montenegro before its violent abolition in 1918, to be returned to the state of Montenegro," the old program states.
This part is not included in the draft of the new party program.
The new document focuses on the political consequences of the post-2020 government and emphasizes the need to “restore state dignity.”
President of DPS Danijel Zivkovic In an interview with "Vijesti" published yesterday, when asked why the draft DPS program no longer mentions an independent Orthodox Church in Montenegro and whether this means that DPS will no longer deal with church issues, he said:
"DPS continuously advocates for the equality of religious communities and the equality of religious freedoms of citizens, regardless of which religious community they belong to. This is a constant in our political activities. Everything else is a matter of linguistic formulations, but the essence remains the same."
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