MP from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Drita Lola said that she had submitted her resignation from that position to the Speaker of Parliament Andrija Mandić.
She will be replaced in parliament by Nela Savković Vukčević, "Vijesti" has learned.
Lola has not participated in the work of the Assembly for almost a year, as she is in the United States for family reasons.
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In a post on Iks, she said, among other things, that there had been a break with the DPS leadership, that her views had been "challenged on every possible occasion," and she also claimed that "interest groups" controlled the party.
She said that she told DPS President Danijela Živković in July that she would carry out her political engagement as an MP for that party in the way she believed was best, without defending "interest groups or individuals, or certain businesses connected or unrelated to DPS."
"In case my views conflict with the party's views, I informed him that I was ready to leave the parliamentary group as an independent MP. This was my indignation expressed towards the leadership and an internal boycott towards the views of the party leadership," she wrote.
However, Lola said that, although her revolt expressed towards the DPS president during the summer was real, she would never run as an independent MP, saying that her mandate belongs to the DPS and the party's voters - "regardless of how that political force is run today."
We are reprinting her announcement in full:
"It's been ten years since I devoted most of my time to activism — in the civil sector and in recent years in politics. When I look back and ask myself why I engaged in activism and did not focus on my primary profession in the field of pharmacy, I find only one answer. Until the public interest is put in the foreground, through equal conditions in which citizens can freely compete and where the best values win in every area of life, none of us will be at peace in our everyday lives. We will always ask ourselves: Why didn't I get or get the right to study? Why didn't they hire me for a job? Didn't I deserve or deserve it, or maybe I didn't have or had a "right" friend?!
A society that does not value open competition and a society where the best fails to triumph is, unfortunately, doomed to mediocrity at best, with a clear tendency towards degradation. In a nutshell, these are the principles that have inspired me, and I believe many others, to engage in activism.
I cannot help but mention the sacrifice of my parents, family and ancestors, without whom my activism would not have been possible. Without their moral and financial support and encouragement, I would not have had the opportunity to be the person I am today. From extracurricular courses in literature or basketball activities during primary school in Ulcinj, high school in Podgorica, university studies in Tirana and a master's degree in Edinburgh — all these achievements are thanks to their efforts.
And this is why I feel privileged; I know I am privileged because I have seen many of my peers who did not have the same opportunities; I know from the countless words and advice of my parents and family that still ring in my ears today — that I have to give my best in every field of engagement, because the sun does not revolve around me just because I got up this morning, but that it will shine when I give my best. Only then will society appreciate me. The meaning and interpretation of those words, which we all heard in some way in childhood, had a special weight in the way I built my life and relationships.
For me, an important realization that emerged from this advice is that although as an individual I am by nature an end in my existence, I must never perceive myself as a goal or objective in my own life, devoid of the function and role I have — in my family, profession, and society — in the service of interests greater than myself.
It was precisely this basic belief that forced me to reconsider my position as a politician and MP for the Democratic Party of Socialists, especially since the beginning of this year, but also before.
My involvement in DPS began with the 2020 parliamentary elections, convinced that I supported a civic party and a force at the national level, which strove for broad coalitions, recognizing Montenegro as a state with a republican form of government that necessarily seeks the inclusion of all citizens without distinction and without social stratification. I did not want to become part of the national Albanian parties, because I believed — and continue to believe — in a multiethnic and democratic Montenegro where the protection of individual rights is guaranteed through the republican formation of the state. As an Albanian from Montenegro, I believe that Montenegrin politics can only be built in conditions of comprehensiveness, and not fragmentation into political parties along ethnic lines, and that minority rights must not even be questioned. In this spirit, Montenegro has only one solution: membership in the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic alliance.
Convinced that DPS would lose the 2020 elections, due to governance failures that were reflected and visible at the local level, the political alternative that would come to power — and which continues to govern Montenegro today, in a “metastasized” form — was and remains, in its essence, an opponent of Montenegro in the European family and Euro-Atlantic institutions. This is a government that has failed in every possible sector from the very beginning and has turned everything it has managed to touch into regress. This is probably the only government that would have to submit a regress report at the end of the year, because there is no progress. My basic duty in light of the changes and such a political reality was to oppose their revisionist, chauvinist and nationalist policies.
I believed that DPS, despite its problematic past in governance - which I myself often spoke critically about - could be renewed in opposition with new people and new energy, where I would also make my contribution. A new spirit and new people in the opposition had to separate themselves from the old mentality and practices of the past, they had to show and condemn corruption, and they had to clearly communicate that in Montenegro personal interests cannot prevail over social interests. The new DPS was not allowed to continue to identify itself as a political force that protects individuals, clans or businesses that are charged by the judiciary. Of course, I was and remain unequivocally against public trials conducted through the media and portals. DPS must necessarily defend the fundamental rights of every individual.
At the Congress held immediately after the defeat in the 2020 parliamentary elections, I was elected to the Main Committee, although I was not a member, but a supporter of the party. The news found me in Edinburgh, where I was studying at the time. Although I did not expect such a position, I accepted it as an obligation that I had to fulfill, relying on the fundamental principle of defending the public interest above all else.
It wasn't long before I was asked to run for president of the Women's Alliance. Believing in the spirit of competition and the trust that is given through the vote, I hesitated whether to accept and register my candidacy — how could I run when I had just entered the DPS structures? How could I get the necessary votes when members throughout Montenegro had not even had the opportunity to meet me? My dilemmas disappeared the moment I found out that I would be the only candidate. So, I was "appointed" by votes as president of the DPS Women's Alliance.
Although the selection process did not leave a good taste in my mouth, I consider working with the Women's Alliance to be the most valuable professional experience I have had in my life. The stories, suffering and successes of women across Montenegro will live on in my heart forever, and for this I feel humbled and deeply grateful to them.
In the period from 2021 to 2023, we did not stop for a moment, together with women from all over Montenegro, we worked to improve the Alliance based on the DPS statute and following best practices with the support of international partners. We produced document after document, I asked for meetings from time to time and tried to present the work of our Alliance to the party leadership. In three years, there was not a single opportunity for the leadership to accept our request and receive us for a meeting.
For the 2023 parliamentary elections, after two years of engagement with DPS, on the day the list of candidates for MPs was published, I found out that I would be a candidate for MP and the position I am currently in. Of course, that made me feel good and appreciated, and that is my fault.
At that moment, I forgot for a moment that I am not the goal, nor the purpose. The public good must remain the goal and purpose at all times, and we are only in service of that.
The manner in which the parliamentary list was published, without competition and open internal debate, signaled that even after almost three years of opposition, DPS still has much to improve. A political party, the main one in the country, which should have democratization, debate and the protection of free speech as its focus, and where members of the presidency study ancient Greek philosophy and find inspiration in great philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, should turn its party environments and forums into the Agora square, and not the Baratron abyss. Even today, I do not know how and who put my name on that list.
Convinced that, if I continued to engage in politics, I had to open a debate from within — from the bottom up, and not the other way around, I tried to push the process of strengthening the Women's Alliance and to open a debate on the positions we take in parliament — that they should not be a "parrot" repetition of instructions from above. In this part too, I failed to understand who prepared the instructions, because even those who would convey them often did not know what they were conveying. Perhaps I did not understand because I rarely took them as a basis, except when they were in line with my beliefs.
From that moment on, my suggestions and opinions were not only ignored, but also challenged and attacked. It seemed that I was no longer allowed to become a hindrance to the leadership, but my task was to put my ideas aside and recite precise orders from the top. In short, to become one of the “accessories” of the interest groups that control the party. And, when it comes to accessories, we women have enough knowledge because we use a lot of them, from hats to shoes and everything in between.
Of course, I did not even think of accepting such pressure, and for starters, I resigned from the position of president of the Women's Alliance at the end of 2024. None of our key demands were taken into account, and the leadership did not even deign to listen to us at the meetings we requested several times. I also resigned from the position of councilor in the Kuvendi Komunal Ulqin because of the reservations I had towards the last coalitions for local government, in Ulqin but also in other municipalities, where the political principles of the party and the public interest were forgotten, and the focus was on the interests of business and a few jobs in the municipalities for those loyal and obedient to the party leadership.
My break with the party leadership was obvious, and visible in the coldness of the DPS parliamentary group. I saw it in every reaction I made, where it was clear that my views were being challenged on every possible occasion, although in some cases they were repeated by colleagues who had previously challenged them. I was particularly impressed by the reactions of some colleagues to various issues, where the president and the leadership would be above all, and not what or how they think. The word of the leadership and the president as an inviolable order. In such cases, you clearly see the traumas left by the years of Yugoslav communism in the minds of those who seem to still live in the shadow of the Politburo.
At the end of 2024, I let the DPS leadership know that I would be outside Montenegro for the majority of 2025. In addition to family reasons, the separation also had to do with the need to think about continuing my political engagement and to ask myself whether I had managed to do how and to what extent I needed to help bring a new spirit to DPS after 2020?! In my personal expectations and the expectations of many friends with whom I discussed the processes of progress in Montenegro from time to time, definitely NO. I am sure that it was a failure.
Failure as a political entity serving a clear objective: Montenegro with strong and independent institutions where the focus is on preserving the dignity and rights of every citizen in accordance with the laws formulated according to the open chapters for membership in the European Union. I experienced this as a failure due to the inability to create an internal belief in DPS that the only way forward is to separate from the old, which keeps this political force captive.
With such thoughts, in July of this year, I informed the party president that I would conduct my political engagement as a DPS MP in the manner that I believe is best, without defending interest groups or individuals, or specific businesses affiliated or unaffiliated with DPS. In the event that my views conflicted with the views of the party, I informed him that I was ready to leave the parliamentary group as an independent MP.
That was my indignation expressed towards the leadership and internal boycott towards the positions of the party leadership. An expression of revolt why is the voice not heard from below, or why don't you open your eyes and see that with every one of our defeats you are creating space for forces with the most anti-Western, anti-European, anti-Montenegrin beliefs?!
How is it possible that people representing interest groups and businesses close to DPS do not understand that DPS is the largest political force because of the policies it advocates, not because of their influence — through the votes influenced by those interest groups or those businesses.
Every medium or large business by Montenegrin standards, which is financed by grants or soft loans, is licensed by Montenegrin institutions for the provision of products and services, which is contracted by public institutions for the performance of public works, has an obligation to carry out its activity in the most efficient and effective way possible, as well as to guarantee the best possible working conditions and professional advancement of its employees. Businesses and interest groups should focus on this, and to guarantee that their employees, citizens of Montenegro, vote freely, fairly, without influence and pressure. With DPS as the guarantor of free voting, neither the government nor any political force would have a chance to dare to manipulate the elections. For the protection of democracy, the vast majority of citizens would already be on their feet — and more than in Cetinje 2021.
If we had focused on the public interest and the citizens of the country, I realistically believe that DPS would be in an optimal position today to overthrow this government and take the fate of the country into its own hands. But no — defeat after defeat, retreat after retreat, until a handful of people come to their senses.
How can a political force like DPS allow public opinion to be trampled and thrown around like a ping-pong ball by media that treat news as influencers, not as reporters of facts? Media that mythologize situations and cases to show who is bad today, and who will be less bad tomorrow. Then, they publish polls to show how bad the political situation in the country is and that no political force can get a clean mandate from the voters, implying that they are “matchmakers”.
DPS must not sit idly by and not speak out against the manipulation of public opinion, when citizens' temperatures are raised like a virus through half-hearted reports, and then when citizens rise up in revolt, they are called out by the mob.
But, DPS must first cleanse itself in the thoughts and actions of its leadership, then regain the trust of citizens and influence public opinion outside of "influencer" media.
One thing is certain: the majority of citizens today are silent and waiting. Silent and waiting for a political force to emerge that thinks of them and will work for them. Disappointment in politicians and rulers who emerged from political laboratories is at its peak. The citizens of Montenegro are waiting for DPS to wake up from its slumber, because to date there is no political force that would realistically represent the public interest as an uncorrupted DPS would.
As for me, my revolt expressed towards the party president during the summer was real, but I would never run as an independent MP. My mandate belongs to DPS and DPS voters — regardless of how that political force is run today.
Since July, when I sent a message to the president, I have been waiting for internal communication to see if there was room for change or at least reflection from the management. The response to the message came to me, but not internally, but through a newspaper article, where I was honored by the work of not one, but two “investigative journalists” in the style of a Holmes-Watson duo with their English hats.
Today I write these words as a free citizen without any public office, because ironically, and as the law requires, I sent my resignation from the position of MP to the Speaker of the Assembly, who has recently dressed up in the clothes of a Western politician, and hung chauvinism and nationalism in the cabinet like a winter jacket — just in case, if it gets cold.
My reflection process is complete. It is not easy to leave behind ten years of commitment — but it is not impossible. As politicians, we must understand that we are replaceable, and that we must never become an end in ourselves — but only a means to the common good. The moment we become an end — the end has come.
For colleagues who have started the reflection process after me, I suggest that they take my words to heart. I will focus on my professional development from now on, guaranteeing that I will never deal with cryptocurrencies or virtual finance.
"Finally, I apologize to the DPS base, to the people who, in my opinion, are among the best in Montenegro. I apologize if I have hurt you with my actions — but I promise you that my motives were solely focused on one thing: improving the situation in DPS and, as a consequence, the overall situation in Montenegro."
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