The investigation into the problem of fake diplomas and the minister's focus exclusively on topics within her own department have led to the Ministry of Education having the strongest rating, the Ministry of Regional Development having the worst because citizens have no perception of it, and the Ministry of Urban Planning being at the bottom due to Velje Brdo and the announcement of a referendum on Kotor's UNESCO status.
This is what a political scientist estimates for "Vijesti" Marko Savic, commenting on the results of a survey by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) on the rating of ministries.
The survey, conducted by CEDEM in late September and early October on a sample of 1.006 respondents, shows that the department with the best rating is the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation with 23,8, followed by the Ministry of Agriculture with 9,4 and the Ministry of Tourism with 9,3. On the other hand, the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with NGOs (0,1), the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property (0,4) and the Ministry of Diaspora (0,8) achieved a rating below one.
The newspaper's interlocutor points out that there are three reasons for the department's perceptive leadership. Angel Jakšić Stojanović.
"We can say that the education system has been at the top of citizens' trust for years, through public opinion research and citizen perception, which I directly connect with the perception of citizens that they predominantly view the education system through the Ministry of Education today. Of course, that is not entirely true, because the education system is much broader than the ministry, but I see this as one of the factors why trust in the Ministry of Education is at this level," explains Savić.
He said that another important thing is to significantly influence perception by promoting topics that citizens are very interested in.
"One of them, and one that is not complicated for them, is certainly the examination of fake diplomas. I would attribute the ministry's focus on this issue on several occasions as another additional factor why the Ministry of Education stood out." "This issue is very polarizing and has a concrete impact on citizens' perception of something that needs to be finally resolved, because it has a direct impact on both employment and the perception of some kind of meritocracy," he believes.
He said that the third reason was the personality of the minister.
"When she appears in the media, she appears to speak strictly about those topics that are part of the work of the Ministry of Education. I believe that she very cleverly and strategically avoids being presented as a player for any political party. This also has a very significant impact on citizens, as well as on the perception of someone at the top of the ministry as a professional," she explains.
Velje Brdo and Kotor "disqualify" Radunović
Speaking about the ministries that are nailed to the bottom of the table, the newspaper's interlocutor assesses that they are the opposite of the reasons he cited for Jakšić Stojanović, but points out that the result of the Ministry of Urban Planning could be singled out as punishment by citizens.
"What I'm really referring to here is how personality is perceived. It's a person (Slaven Radunović"... who is known to the public, who has been very politically engaged for many years and who cannot escape that party context, nor does he particularly want to, nor has he shown through his statements that he has certain expert knowledge when it comes to leading this department that would give him some kind of characterization other than that of a party soldier that citizens might notice," explains Savić.
He adds that Radunović's negative rating is also due to his statements regarding the "Velje Brdo" project and proposals to call a referendum on Kotor's UNESCO status.
"That punishment also comes with this... very clumsy sending of information about the Velje Brdo project, then his speechless presentation of the same project, then his statement about the UNESCO protected heritage status when it comes to the Old Town of Kotor. These are all things that are very resonant, very media-covered, and which are not quickly forgotten and citizens specifically and directly associate them in their perception with the leader, or rather with the one who is the bearer of that entire narrative," he believes.
"Opposite the promised meritocracy"
Savić believes that the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with NGOs and the Ministry of Diaspora are at the bottom of the table because "there is no perception about them."
"There is absolutely no perception of these ministries and there is no perception of the people who are at the head of these ministries (Ernad Suljević i Mirsad Azemović"So, maybe at some point when the government was being formed, those names slipped through or when one ministry was being divided into several and those overlaps, these are very confusing topics that citizens do not pay much attention to and, unfortunately, these are departments that should interest us much more," he says.
Savić adds that citizens perceive these two ministers as opposed to the promised meritocracy.
"These are invisible people who are tied to very narrow party positions, to some people who skipped what was promised to us in terms of meritocracy and a meritocratic approach and as such have been suppressed. And at the same time, without too much effort to impose what new ideas are within their departments, which are important for citizens, nor to put themselves forward as the bearers of some specific reform within the entire public administration reform, so they have been completely left behind," assesses the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
Agriculture and tourism will always be represented
Commenting on the significant difference in ratings between Jakšić Stojanović and the first two followers (Vladimir Jokovic i Simonida Kordić), Savić points out that this was also contributed to by the fact that, due to the cumbersome public administration, citizens are only interested in those departments that directly affect their daily lives.
"Tourism and agriculture have imposed themselves on these high positions by constantly raising problems that they have to solve, and these problems are of such a nature that they must be covered by the media," explains the newspaper's interlocutor, adding that these topics will be the focus of whoever is at the head of these departments.
He said that the only way to improve the percentage is for the head of the ministry to come up with new ideas and reforms.
"The only thing that can happen is that the leader steps forward with his new ideas and reform actions and significantly improves that percentage or not, depending on how successful he is in doing so. That is not the case now because the heads of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Tourism are not professionals who could perhaps be compared to Jakšić Stojanović, but they are actually perceived more as party soldiers than as professionals in the field they work in." leaders," he believes.
Savić believes that these two departments should not be satisfied, even though they are in second and third place, respectively, because they achieved a single-digit result.
Savić points out that all departments, except the one headed by Jakšić Stojanović, have a poor result and that they should work on improving citizens' perceptions.
"Perception is also difficult to influence. A broad strategic approach and communication with citizens is needed, explaining reforms, informing citizens about the next steps, even when they are not popular and not easy. But we do not have that from most ministries, that communication channel is left to the media and those occasional guest appearances by officials of those ministries and ministers on television, but that is simply not enough," he believes.
"Vijesti" asked all ministries that achieved a result below five percent to identify the cause of this, as well as whether they would try to improve their rating in the coming period and, if so, in what way, but none of them provided a response.
"Important" ministers are not doing something right
Savić said that ministers covering important departments achieved a poor result.
"Not to mention, of course, those important ministers, they are somewhere near the bottom or in the other half who did not even get five percent. These are very worrying things and I believe that the government as a collective body should consider this data in order to make a specific plan, because this is one of its basic functions. We are in the service of citizens, if they value us so dominantly, it means that we are not doing something well or even if we are doing something well, we are not able to show it, we are not able to communicate and we are not able to connect with citizens," he said.
MVP: Recognized departments whose activities have a direct impact on the daily lives of citizens
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told "Vijesti" that, considering that the survey used an open-ended question, meaning that respondents independently listed ministries whose work they assessed as positive, it is understandable that "departments whose activities have a direct impact on the daily lives of citizens were recognized to a greater extent."
Ervin Ibrahimović's department announced that their work, by its nature, is aimed at achieving Montenegro's strategic goals in international relations, and that such work implies long-term results and effects that are not always immediately visible in everyday life, but which are of key importance for the overall development, stability and international reputation of the country.
"According to the Government Work Program for 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the implementation of ten activities, of which it has so far successfully and in accordance with the planned dynamics implemented six, namely: Information on the visa regime; Action Plan for improving national capacities for the implementation of restrictive measures; Organization of the Global Forum for Young Diplomats; Harmonization of agreements on cooperation in the field of security and long-term support between Montenegro and Ukraine; Information on the preparation of the chairmanship of the Council of Europe for 2026–2027; as well as Information on the preparation of the chairmanship of the Western Balkans Fund 2026," they explained, adding that Montenegro will host at least three more prestigious international events.
They emphasize that the achieved results confirm the Ministry's commitment to the efficient implementation of foreign policy priorities, especially in the context of progress towards membership in the European Union, strengthening contributions within the NATO alliance, and active participation in international and regional initiatives.
"By the end of the year, the Ministry will continue with the implementation of the remaining planned activities, including the finalization of the Foreign Policy Strategy of Montenegro for the period 2026–2029, optimization of the diplomatic and consular network, and preparation of programs for international development cooperation and international humanitarian aid. Thus, the Ministry remains continuously committed to achieving the strategic interests of the state and further strengthening the reputation of Montenegro on the international scene," they told "Vijesti".
Ministry of Transport: Research is full of numerous illogicalities
The Ministry of Transport told the newspaper that the assessment of the work of government departments in the specific research is full of numerous illogicalities, and that it is obvious that "it was presented in this way with the intention of obscuring the real picture and diverting attention from the person who commissioned the research."
"First of all, the CEDEM research mentions the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs, although such a ministry does not exist, nor can the transport and maritime departments be assessed as one, bearing in mind that they are separate systems with different responsibilities and management structures. For this reason, the results of this research cannot be considered relevant," they announced, adding that they have fulfilled "90 percent of the obligations from the Government's Work Program and that, according to performance, they are one of the most efficient ministries."
"We are currently implementing twelve infrastructure projects, with contracts signed for three more and tenders announced for an additional six major projects. We expect to fully fulfill all obligations set for us by the Government's Work Program by the end of the year. In addition to infrastructure projects, we have improved Montenegro's air connectivity by initiating a new incentive scheme, which led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Wizz Air and the introduction of new routes. The long-standing problem of the lack of public transport between the airport and the Capital, as well as other parts of Montenegro, has also been resolved. At the same time, we have fulfilled the final benchmarks for Chapter 21 and a significant part of the obligations from Chapter 14. In the administrative part, the Ministry of Transport is functioning extremely efficiently, with no backlog of cases," they pointed out.
They add that, due to all of the above, they do not consider the results of the aforementioned research in the part relating to the assessment of the department to be relevant, because "they do not reflect the real situation nor correspond to the facts."
Ministry of Public Administration: Our work does not directly concern citizens
The Ministry of Public Administration told "Vijesti" that they are "the only ministry that is horizontally oriented."
"Our jurisdiction includes the creation of policies on the basis of which the functioning of other bodies at the state and local level is established, organized and regulated, and digital services provided by other institutions and ministries are developed, for the most part, on our platforms and with our support, while ultimately their implementation depends on the service provider bodies themselves. Therefore, the policy arising from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Administration does not relate directly to citizens, in terms of exercising their rights, but to the manner of functioning of other bodies in which citizens exercise their rights," they said, adding that, bearing in mind that it is their obligation to regulate and regulate the system, they see the success of other government bodies at all levels in some way and as a result of their own work.
Maraš Dukaj's department reminds that, thanks to their work, the Law on Civil Servants and Employees was passed, which regulates the entire public administration, but also that they are the winners of the "Partner of the Year 25" award, which was presented to them by the "eGovernance Academy" in Estonia.
"Today, Montenegro is the only country in the Western Balkans that has harmonized its Law on Information Security with the EU NIS2 Directive, which significantly contributed to the closure of Chapter 10 - Information Society and Media," they said, adding that they did not "stop at the normative solution", but that they were convinced that Montenegro had made progress when it came to protecting government infrastructure and the network of state bodies, with the opening of the GSOC - Cyber Incident Operations Center, which was opened by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
They also point out that the regional center for cyber capabilities (WB3C) has been opened, but also that they hosted the presidents of Estonia, Moldova, and the Czech Republic, as well as the Deputy Secretary General of NATO.
"By adopting the Digital Services Plan at the beginning of this year as one of the key activities in the Growth Plan, and by successfully creating 26 services so far and with the expected development of another 20 digital services by the end of 2025, we are enabling citizens to communicate faster, more efficiently with the Government of Montenegro. We should not forget the performance of this ministry when it comes to the Growth Plan in the Digital Reform section, based on which Montenegro withdrew approximately 2,3 million euros into the national budget," they told "Vijesti".
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