Young people who start their careers in parties do so out of personal motivation and because they see them as a path to employment and better engagements, because civil service in Montenegro is often achieved through the party, and not the other way around.
This follows from the response of a civic activist Stefan Djukic to questions from "Vijesti" - what motivates young people to seek their first job, through the Government's vocational training program, in political parties, and not, for example, in state-owned and private companies, and whether young people believe that it pays off better in the long run.
Of the 2.072 university graduates who have been given the opportunity to receive professional training with their desired employer starting in January of next year, 37 will complete their internships in parties.
This year, 44 university graduates applied to work in parties through the same program, compared to 42 the year before.
Djukic: financial injection for parties
Speaking about young people who decide to do internships in political parties, Đukić told "Vijesti" that "young people see the same thing as everyone else."
"You get hired through parties. So, you don't go into civil service and then, based on that, look for a party orientation or interest, but the other way around - through the party you get hired into civil service, and sometimes even into some better jobs in the economy," he said.
The interviewee said that, unfortunately, the situation is such that there are more and more people in public administration and that even those who might be able to do something in the private sector prefer to seek positions in the state sector.
"I say again, through the parties, this story is more realistic," added Đukić.
He notes that the big dilemma is whether someone came here without already being a sympathizer, volunteer or in any way connected to these structures, and then a job was opened for them through the government program. He pointed out that parties receive a financial injection in this way, because the program frees up their party budget for the costs of these employees, but that it comes down to the same thing because "the party budget is also state-funded - funded by citizens."
Vuksanović: Parties as platforms for action
Director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) Nevenka Vuksanović, assessed that young people who start their careers in parties do so because they have strong internal motivation and see the party structure as a platform for action, not because the parties offer new, more meaningful or attractive mechanisms for involvement.
"At the same time, it is clear that there are fewer and fewer such young people," she told the editorial team.
Vuksanović stated that contemporary generations do not find themselves in party life, do not recognize solutions to their own problems, nor do they feel that political organizations treat them as equally important actors.
"The absence of relevant policies and the absence of serious dialogue on employment, housing, mental health or leaving the country - have led to young people remaining distanced from institutional politics and massively abstaining from elections. Therefore, today's gap is not between young people and politics as an idea, but between young people and political organizations that do not offer resonant answers to the challenges of their generation," she argues.
Most ruling and opposition parties did not answer the newspaper yesterday about which positions the interns who applied for training with them would be placed in, what their job responsibilities would be, why they think university graduates apply to do internships in parties, and how many of them end up employed in parties after completing their internships.
Leković: Benefit for both youth and parties
Member of Parliament from the ruling Democrats Momcilo Leković He told "Vijesti" that, during the nine-month program, they strive to provide interns with training in the areas they applied for, which, he added, means that the tasks will be aligned with their professional qualifications and orientation.
“For example, financial and accounting work, political analysis, economic analysis, or administration in party bodies,” he explains.
Leković pointed out that young people often see internships in parties as an opportunity to gain concrete experience in both the public and political, or organizational, sectors.
“This can be attractive because it contributes to the development of their professional competencies (in the fields of economics, political science, finance, organization...), while at the same time giving them the opportunity to become familiar with political and socio-organizational work,” he claims.
He recalled that the vocational training program is regulated by law, and that, in general, it allows young people "to gain valuable experience through real work and practice."
"Also, parties can offer a variety of tasks and responsibilities from administration, organization, analysis, planning to financial and accounting tasks, which is often interesting to young people who are just entering the world of work," he adds.
In previous years, as Leković said, the number of young people who were beneficiaries of the program through their party was at approximately the same level as now, while, he claims, all those who completed the internship - demonstrated a high level of professionalism and responsibility.
"After completing the professional training, some of them remained engaged in accordance with the needs, taking into account that the program itself provides for professional training without the obligation to establish an employment relationship," Leković reminds.
The interviewee stated that the analysis so far has shown that the candidates were "really of high quality and that they respected all the contracted obligations."
"In this sense, we believe that the program serves not only as a temporary solution, but also as an investment in young people and future staff. Ultimately, we are aware of our responsibility to provide them with quality practice in the areas they applied for. The benefit of their engagement is twofold - they receive real work practice, and the employer, in this case the party, has the opportunity to meet and possibly retain quality young staff through practical engagement," concluded Leković.
Most interest in NSD
In 2026, the most university graduates will work as interns in the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) - 10 of them, while there will be five in the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Four lawyers, two political scientists, a journalist, an expert associate for European integration, a tourism consultant and one manager will be doing their professional internship at NSD.
The internship at SDP will be carried out by an IT expert in Cetinje (the candidate studied software engineering), one administrative worker in Rožaje and Podgorica, and two in Ulcinj. These university graduates have completed social policy and social work, management in customs, freight forwarding and agency business, law and economics.
The Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP) will have an intern psychologist, a translator, an economist and a lawyer in Budva next year.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) will have an intern in Rožaje who has completed international hotel management, a university graduate with a degree in English language and literature in the DPS directorate, an economist in Budva, and a university graduate with a degree in port management in Bar.
The URA civic movement will have an intern in Budva who studied visual arts, a university graduate who studied environmental protection in Podgorica, and a lawyer in Pljevlja.
The Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) will also have three interns next year, two of whom in Ulcinj - who graduated in tourism, or management in customs, freight forwarding and agency business - and one in Plav, who studied computer science.
The Democrats will have an intern in their headquarters in Podgorica who has completed accounting, finance and banking, a political scientist in Bar, and an economist in Budva.
Next year, the Europe Now Movement will have an economist and a university graduate who studied electrical engineering and computer science in its Podgorica committee.
The Social Democrats will have a legal intern in Herceg Novi. The Albanian Alternative will have a university graduate in the Gusinje office who graduated in English language and literature, and an intern in the Plav office who studied information technology.
The government's website announced that around 13.000 job vacancies have been advertised this year. 2.344 university graduates applied for the fourteenth cycle of the vocational training program, of which 2.072 were given the opportunity to receive vocational training with their desired employer starting in January 2026.
Đukić: Vocational training program requires "overhaul"
Stefan Đukić assessed that the vocational training program, "which was successful to a certain extent," requires an overhaul, because, he claims, it has long since ceased to fulfill its purpose.
"It's more for young people who are between studies to consider whether to enroll in postgraduate studies or get a job," he says.
Then, according to him, the program serves them "so they have a place to receive a salary."
"And it also happens that people who are going to get jobs come here for a short-term engagement, which the state will cover, etc. Therefore, the program, which was well conceived, has been going on for a long time and needs to be renovated in some way," said Đukić.
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