The opposition in Šavnik, in protest against the re-election of Jugoslav Jakić (DPS) as mayor, blocked the Šavnik-Žabljak road today from 13:45 PM to 15 PM.
The road will be blocked for the next four days, and a decision on whether to extend the blockade or radicalize the protests will depend on the reaction of the authorities.
The blockade is organized by the coalitions "For the Future of Šavnik" (NSD, SNP, DNP) and "Let's Go People" (DCG, UCG, PES).
"The entire Montenegrin and wider international public has been aware of the political crisis in Šavnik for two and a half years now. All attempts to resolve the political crisis have been in vain so far - both through amendments to the Law on Residence, and through attempts to amend the Law on the Voter Register, and the Government's attempts to introduce compulsory administration. It devastated itself by withdrawing its decision. The legislative and especially the executive branch have shown their attitude towards Šavnik. I even think that there were some political deals with the DPS that conditioned them to leave the Electoral Reform Committee. So is Šavnik the subject of trade with the DPS, with the former criminal government," said Gavrilo Cerović, the leader of the list of the "For the Future of Šavnika" coalition.
As he pointed out, the councilors, whose mandate lasts seven years, who in the meantime resigned in March last year, elected the Mayor.
"We are addressing the Prime Minister and the Parliament, but primarily the Government, because his two ministers, one from his party, have unequivocally stated that this is lawlessness, that this is crime, that they should resolve this situation as soon as possible. If they do not start fulfilling the demands, we will quickly make other decisions regarding the achievement of our goals. Our goal is not to create problems for citizens who travel in these directions, but only to show the Government and the current authorities that they must take measures. We want to force them to take some actions," Cerović said.
Mrkoje Lukovac from the "Let's Go People" coalition, president of the Šavnik Municipal Board of United Montenegro, said that it seems that "the president of the Šavnik Municipality elects himself, votes himself and dissolves the Assembly."
"It seems that the only thing left for us is to gather for one day, to hold a nice session, elect a president and enter the Municipal Assembly in the same way that Jakić entered. If the Government and the Parliament of Montenegro approve this and consider it correct, then our action would be completely correct and legitimate. We in Šavnik no longer know what to do, who to turn to and how to achieve justice and the truth," said Lukovac.
As he pointed out, there is nothing more to say to anyone because the events in Šavnik must be put to an end.
"This is no longer lawlessness. I don't know if this has ever happened anywhere in the world. One man governs the Municipality over the phone. They hold a session, usually elect him, and he is still the president. And what he has been president up to now was illegal. He dissolved the Assembly, then formed it again. This is really crazy, abnormal. This is not a message, but a cry from us who are Drobnjak and Uskok, residents of the Šavnik Municipality, to put an end to this," said Lukovac.
Milija Ćeranić says that she does not belong to any party, that she supported the coalition "For the Future of Šavnik" and that she regrets it today.
"Not because of them, they are honest, honorable people, but because of those who stand behind them. Here, when you hear about Šavnik, you think that Jugoslav Jakić is a superman, that he has at least two brigades of a well-armed army standing behind him. A man from the opposition party is simply shaking the country," said Ćeranić.
As he pointed out, the people of Drobnjak are "neither wild nor proud", but rather proud and do not allow themselves to be ruled by people who are not from that region.
"The DPS secured over 200 people, or 4-5 mandates, here through new voters. At that time, no one from the New Serbian Democracy, the DNP, not even the Democrats, raised their voice to say 'hey people, let them choose their own government'. The Drobnjaks, who had autonomy even under the Turks, who recognized our choice, were taken away by the DPS in cooperation with the new authorities. It seems to Mandić, Spajić and the company that Šavnik is small. The budget of Šavnik is over six million euros. That corresponds to a budget of around 900 million euros in Podgorica. Per capita, Šavnik has a budget of around four and a half thousand. There are one wind farm, and soon there will be a second and third, solar power plants, and they cost a lot of money. Now, what seems insignificant to the current authorities is not," said Ćeranić.
The coalitions "For the Future of Šavnik" and "Let's Go People" previously emphasized in a statement that it is an indisputable fact that the number of residents in Šavnik increased by more than 20 percent immediately before the 2022 elections and that, of that number, more than 200 "voters" moved from Nikšić, that Nikolić, Eraković, Đukanović, Milatović, Raičević, Vujović, Nikčević, Šaleri, Ferizi and many other surnames have never lived in Šavnik, and that the 2023 census showed that Šavnik has 380 fewer residents than the number of voters.
As they stated, two and a half years have passed since the beginning of the election process, and the competent state authorities have not undertaken any activities regarding the resolution of the political situation in Šavnik, and that the issue of the unresolved election process in Šavnik is the result of a compromise between the current executive and legislative authorities and the DPS. The facts that, as they stated, confirm their statement are that on election day, "among other things, election tourists were brought in by the famous van with baseball bats, where the police were on the spot, and to this day nothing has been done on this issue, nor has anyone been prosecuted."
Jugoslav Jakić was elected Mayor of the Municipality on February 19th by the votes of councilors from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democrats (SD).
The session, which was held via the Zoom application, was attended by 19 councilors from the ruling majority, and one Democratic councilor who did not participate in the vote.
The fact that he was elected by councilors whose mandates ended two and a half years ago is not a problem for Jakić because, as he told reporters after the election, councilors' mandates by law last until new ones are elected, and during that period they make decisions that are necessary for a city to function.
"The same assembly of councilors made decisions much more important than this one, such as adopting the budget, which is the most important decision in a municipality, and many of those who are commenting today have not said anything about that issue. And through this we see that they only care about the position of a certain authority, and not essentially what is in the interest of the citizens. It is completely clear that there is no sensation here and that the election of the Mayor of the Municipality is the only possible decision so that the city does not come to a standstill and so that the interests of the citizens of Šavnik can be realized," Jakić said at the time.
The election process that began in October 2022, according to him, as far as the DPS is concerned, can be completed immediately, but that depends on "actors on the other side who do not allow the election process to end."
The mandate of local assemblies lasts four years, and the Šavnica assembly was constituted at the end of June 2018. The local elections that began in the fall of 2022 have not yet been completed in that municipality. Jakić was elected Mayor of the Municipality on February 18, 2021, when he replaced his party colleague Vlatko Vuković, who resigned.
At two polling stations, in the Municipality building and in the village of Kruševice, where 541 voters have the right to vote, voting took place nine times, the last time on December 18, 2022, when the elections were again interrupted because representatives of the "For the Future of Šavnik" coalition did not allow newly registered voters to vote.
The State Election Commission regularly holds sessions where it acts on complaints regarding the elections in Šavnik and issues the same decision (there are over 200 of them) ordering the Šavnik Municipal Election Commission to make a decision on repeating the elections.
However, when the MEC president calls a session, the results of the vote on the repeat election are such that a decision cannot be made - four votes in favor and four abstentions.
So far, dozens of people have been prosecuted before the judicial authorities for events related to the elections in Šavnik, which included numerous incidents, breaking ballot boxes, tearing up ballots, preventing voters from voting, and there were also physical clashes.
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