There are disagreements, but the government in Kolašin is far from falling apart, representatives of the majority of parties that make up the government in that city claim for "Vijesti".
The ruling majority in that city consists of nine councilors from the "Vladmir Martinović - Let's Go People" list (Democrats and United), four councilors from For the Future of Kolašin, three each from the Europe Now Movement (PES) and the Socialist People's Party (SNP), and one from the GP URA and Free Citizens list.
That relations between the political entities that make up the Kolašin government are far from ideal was officially confirmed for the first time through a statement from PES, which stated that their representatives Vasilije Ivanović, Vice President of the Municipality, and Nada Selić, President of the party's Councilors' Club, left the coalition meeting on Friday evening due to, as they said, disagreements with part of the government regarding the way the future Spatial Planning Agency will function and be run, as well as other companies.
The statement also states that the party is not satisfied with the work of the Kolašin Municipal Company, but also because the competent secretary does not issue the necessary certificates "for the employment of candidates who meet the necessary conditions." According to information from "Vijesti", this refers to the filling of a job position in the Municipal Police, for which, allegedly, the consent of the Ministry of Finance was obtained, but the certificate issued by the competent local secretariat is missing.
"I do not agree to blackmail, nor will I ever do so, and an agreement cannot work on that principle. It is normal for me that the parties I proposed have one representative each on the Agency's Board of Directors that we formed. The only problem is that some colleagues from PES set employment conditions in order to vote for the Agency's Board of Directors," said Bulatović.
At the meeting, as "Vijesti" was told, Ivanovic also requested discussions on the formation of a special company "that would manage the infrastructure in the sports zone, in which tens of millions of euros are being invested."
However, he did not want to speak in more detail to “Vijesti” about the disagreements within the coalition, stating that “he said in a statement how much and what was needed.” The Municipal Committee of the Democrats, from whose ranks the Municipal President Petko Bakić also comes, did not respond to “Vijesti”'s questions.
According to unofficial information, the very first item on the agenda - personnel solutions for the Board of Directors (BOD) and the executive director of the Agency for Design and Spatial Planning - caused a rift among local government representatives. The proposal that among the five members of the BOD there should be one representative each of the Democrats and United, which were together on the list "Vladimir Martinović - Let's Go People" in the last local elections, came from the president of the Municipal Board of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), Dragan Bulatović.
He believed that the five ruling parties should each have one representative on the board, so that one more seat would go to the SNP, PES and For the Future of Kolašin. Apparently, Bulatović's proposal to have two representatives from one list was not approved, and not only by PES representatives.
Bulatović: PES conditions the formation of the Agency's Board of Directors with employment in the Municipal Police
However, Bulatović told "Vijesti" that he proposed a logical solution, and that it was understood that the executive director would also be from the Democrats. He explained that "PES representatives conditioned the formation of the Agency's Board of Directors on hiring in the Municipal Police, for which the procedures stipulated by law have not been completed."
The head of the NSD Kolasin board says that he proposed solutions to create a "fair distribution", so his idea, as he claims, was to have a representative of GP URA head the Board of the future Parking Service, and for NSD to give up its seat on that governing body. He also suggested, he says, that the position of chairman of the Agency's Board of Directors go to the SNP.
"I do not agree to blackmail, nor will I ever do so, and an agreement cannot work on that principle. It is normal for me that the parties I proposed have one representative each on the Agency's Board of Directors that we formed. The only problem is that some colleagues from PES set employment conditions in order to vote for the Agency's Board of Directors," said Bulatović.
He claims that PES representatives requested, among other things, discussions about the future company for managing the Sports Zone, which is still under construction, and some operational teams in Komunalno.
"Some others, however, demanded that the opposition join the Agency's Board of Directors, which is contrary to our coalition agreement," says Bulatović.
However, he claims that the disagreements will be overcome and that "the coalition government remains stable."
According to unofficial information from “Vijesti”, the President of the Municipal Assembly (MA) Vasilije Bulatović (DNP) was the one who proposed at the meeting the inclusion of representatives of the opposition (Movement Together We Build Kolašin) in the Agency’s Board of Directors. He allegedly explained this at the meeting by the fact that the opposition received a large number of votes at the polling stations in the urban part of the Kolašin municipality, for which the planning documentation needs to be changed. However, the head of the local parliament did not say anything about this to “Vijesti”.
"The disagreements in the ruling coalition are due to the way they work and how the existing municipal enterprises are managed, but also to the personnel solutions for the management bodies of the future ones. However, I believe that this is our internal matter for now, so I would not share it with the public," said the president of the Municipal Assembly.
The deputy mayor of the municipality, Miodrag Bulatović from the SNP, has a similar view. He says that the coalition government will soon resolve all controversial issues and that the survival of the current government is unquestionable.
"The disagreements are a matter for the ruling coalition and should remain that way for now. I am convinced that we will resolve them and that they will not affect the unity of the ruling coalition," he says.
GP URA councilor Miodrag Vlahović, who also attended the coalition meeting on Friday, claims that the ruling coalition needs to “come to its senses and finalize personnel solutions in the Agency as soon as possible.” He reminds us of the importance of this business entity and the extensive work that awaits it.
"The agency should start working as soon as possible. The ruling coalition should show that it is capable of making this possible. If we are not, then let's leave it to some other municipalities, that is, let's join forces with other municipalities to form a company for spatial design and planning. It is in the interest of the citizens of Kolašin to complete the amendments to the outdated planning documentation, as well as the plan for the protection of the inner city core, as soon as possible," says Vlahović.
He assesses that criticism of the work of the Public Utility Company is justified, because he claims that over the past year, the company has shown insufficient promptness in several areas of its work.
The dominant number of seats in the Board of Directors of municipal companies (Communal and Water Supply and Sewerage) and the Council of the Cultural Center belong to the list "Vladimir Martinović - Let's Go People - Democrats - United". Of the 15 seats in the management bodies, nine belong to that list, three to For the Future of Kolašin, and one each to PES, GP URA and SNP.
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