Member of Parliament from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Drita Lola, has not participated in the work of the state parliament and its working bodies since December last year, but regularly receives a parliamentary salary, so in ten months she earned more than 17 thousand euros on that basis.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", Lola has been living in the USA since the end of last year.
Lola told the editorial staff that she is "outside Montenegro due to personal and family reasons."
Asked whether she would resign from her parliamentary position and whether she believed it was right for citizens not to participate in the work of the Parliament while receiving a salary, Lola replied that she had been thinking about a possible resignation recently, and that she would make a decision "in a relatively short period of time."
"People have unforeseen family and personal challenges, and that's why I haven't been to Montenegro personally. In my case, the outcome of my family issue was unforeseen, and in that sense, if my situation prevents me from being in parliament, as I previously stated, I will make a decision in a relatively short period of time," she said.
Parliament told "Vijesti" that Lola's last speech at the session of the highest legislative chamber was on December 16, 2024, and that she voted for the last time the day after.
According to data from the Assembly's website, Lola received a salary of 1.737 euros per month in the first five months of this year, and 1.745 euros for June, July and August.
According to Article 55 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, a member of parliament is obliged to participate in the work of the parliament and the committees of which he/she is a member and to make decisions.
Yesterday, DPS did not respond to "Vijesti"'s questions about when Lola will resign from her parliamentary position, who will replace her, and whether it is fair to DPS voters and others on the party's electoral list for the MP not to perform the function she was elected to, while still receiving a regular salary for it.
Co-president of the Women's Club, member of POSP
Lola was elected as an MP at the end of July 2023. She is also the co-president of the collegium of the Women's Club of the Assembly and a member of three parliamentary committees: for human rights and freedoms, for gender equality, and for tourism, agriculture, ecology and spatial planning.
She is also a member of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAC).
According to data from her asset file, which was published on the website of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), Lola was a member of the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly (MA) from May 25, 2022 to November 11 last year. She resigned from that position.
Lola earned 23.798 euros from her MP salary last year, and 3.285 euros as a councilor in the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly. She earned 980 euros from consulting services.
The DPS MP has spoken out several times this year regarding current socio-political topics.
The last time she did this was on October 3rd, when she and her party colleagues Zoja Bojanic Lalovic, Sonja Popović i Aleksandra Despotović asked the Police Directorate to protect the DPS MP Aleksandr Vuković Kuč, whose phone number was published on the social network "Iks".
"We ask the Police Directorate to urgently and without delay carry out all actions within its jurisdiction, identify and prosecute the person behind this profile, who is consciously and intentionally targeting MP Vuković Kuč, shamelessly violating her privacy and ultimately endangering her safety," the DPS MP wrote in a statement.
Lola was elected president of the DPS Women's Alliance in November 2021. She said at the time that if we want more women in politics and for politics to be more sensitive and friendly to women, women and girls must be economically empowered. As she stated, Montenegro's unique multicultural composition represents the greatest potential, as well as an important asset for the wider European family.
"We should consider the implementation of Western values as an important and continuous process of accepting Western culture, which the Montenegrin people opted for from the very beginning," Lola emphasized.
DPS announced at the time that Lola graduated in pharmacy and has many years of experience working in the civil and private sectors.
"She is recognized for her cultural activism, including as the director of the 'Seanema Film Festival', while she is active in the private sector as a film producer. She earned her master's degree from the University of Edinburgh," they said.
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