Early elections are the best solution to the political crisis in Podgorica, but also in the executive branch at the state level, after the Democratic People's Party announced its withdrawal from local and national governments, said the leader of the Civic Movement URA, Dritan Abazović.
"We need early parliamentary elections, strong leaders, people who can make brave decisions, people who have knowledge, integrity and who can push this country forward. We need to build Montenegro as a country of rich and happy people, not a country where everything will be treated through topics closely related to some interest, where we return to nationalism, where we are consumed by topics from the past and where we have no sense of how the country should develop in the coming period," he said in the author's podcast "Friday with Dritan".
As part of the new GP URA program "Montenegro 365", the party announced the initiative "Active Children of Montenegro", i.e. raising the physical development of children to a higher level, with free skiing and swimming schools, the party announced. This would be useful, he said, because it would "also remove them from social networks, where they spend a lot of time."
He also assessed that the parliamentary majority had "disintegrated":
"Montenegro is, unfortunately, once again facing an irresponsible political elite in power and the lightly promised speed that everything would flourish and that we would be dedicated to the issues of development and progress. However, that fell through. Personally, I am not surprised at all. I knew that these people had neither the political nor the moral capacity to keep their word, so it is not surprising that we have come to this situation. The parliamentary majority has collapsed. Already today we have Podgorica in which the DNP, according to its own claims, no longer wants to be part of the government, nor does Free Montenegro, which means that they no longer have the legitimacy to govern Podgorica."
He believes that the situation will likely become even more complicated, explaining: "This government is its own worst enemy, because everyone in it can't stand each other, no one is a team player, and everyone cares only about their own office."
Abazović said that holding early elections depends on the political elites, but that they are necessary so that the state can get a government that can "put Montenegro back on the right path."
"I notice that now there is an attempt to create a narrative, which I am fighting against, that supposedly milk and honey flows in Montenegro and that this is actually Switzerland, and that Botun is just a problem that was 'imported' from another country. In October, we had a situation with Turkish citizens, where they actually expelled nine thousand people from our country. Before that, in August, instead of the tourist season, we were dealing with finding a monument to Pavle Đurišić," he reminded.
Speaking about what he believes are bad investment decisions by the government, he claims that the project to relocate the Ćehotina riverbed has "failed", which will "problem transporting coal" to the thermal power plant, as well as the poor outcomes of numerous other contracts. He pointed out that the Pljevlja coal mine is run by the Europe Now Movement.
"The Minister of Energy, the Director of the Coal Mine, the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Company of Montenegro and a few other people came out, took pictures and stated that the Ćehotina had started to flow in a new bed, and that the old bed should be put out of service so that coal could be mined. Less than 15 days had passed, and the Ćehotina had returned to its previous bed. Now they were in a state of astonishment because, if everything is not repaired quickly, it will not be possible to deliver coal to the thermal power plant. An investment of several tens of millions of euros, a tender in which they invited some companies to withdraw so as not to 'waste time' and now they have found themselves in a situation where the works were not carried out properly. So much for the expertise of the Europe Now Movement and the experts who promised that they know how to work differently and better than all their predecessors."
Abazovbić also says that the infrastructure on the Jelovica-Berane road has been destroyed, as well as on the road leading to the Žarski ski resort, that the Mojkovac-Đurđevića Tara road was closed again a few days after it opened, and that the deadline for the construction of the Jaz-Budva boulevard, which was supposed to be completed by the end of last summer, has been extended.
Abazović warned of a "huge price increase" in the continuation of construction of the second section of the highway from Mateševo to Andrijevica, 23,5 kilometers long.
"Our government estimated that the road should cost 420 million euros, and at that time I publicly promised that we would start the work from our own funds and those obtained from economic citizenship. The new government first lied that the work would begin with a 'quick tender' and that the first shovel would be driven into the ground on September 1, 2024, with the famous 'puff, puff'. That did not happen, and now we are in 2026. In the 2025 budget, they put the cost of the road at 600 million euros, or 180 million more. The entire 2025 went through tender procedures, and a few days ago the best bidder was selected with a price of 690 million euros. So, from 420 million, we arrived at 690 million euros for 23,5 kilometers. When 700 million is divided by 23,5 kilometers, it turns out that a kilometer costs about 30 million euros," he said.
Abazović said that the DPS was "satanized" when it signed the contract for the first section of the highway, whose kilometer cost 27 million euros. The opposition at the time, most of which is now in power, he recalls, said that it was the most expensive highway in the world. Now, the government of Milojko Spajić, he points out, has increased the price per kilometer by about three million euros compared to the first section.
"Some will say that everything has become more expensive, and there is some truth to that, but there is a huge difference between the 2023 projection that it would cost 420 million and the fact that it ended up at around 700 million euros. Secondly, it was said that DPS worked with the Chinese, and that they wanted to work with the West; the European Union gave a grant, and yet the Chinese company was chosen because it was the best ranked. I just want to say: whenever you hear something from them in public, think carefully about whether they are telling the truth or doing cheap political marketing," he said.
When asked by citizens to comment on the fact that both those with 15 and 48 years of service receive a pension of 450 euros, he said that this is unfair and that serious reform of the pension system is not being done "on the spur of the moment".
Asked whether he would vote for an increase in MPs' salaries, he answered negatively, stating that the GP URA MPs' Club has never supported such initiatives.
"We support the initiative to double the child allowance, from 30 to 60 euros, but we did not receive support from our colleagues in power. We did not propose an increase in the salaries of MPs, and I personally would be ashamed not to give my children a higher allowance, while increasing my own salary. Take my word for it, I do not and will not support an increase in the salaries of MPs, but we will again propose an increase in the child allowance."
Asked about initiatives to introduce dual citizenship, he said that the ideas of the parties that are part of the former Democratic Front are primarily a matter of political positioning for the next elections and "internal friction."
"We need to work on a new Citizenship Law and find models that will correct existing injustices, but we cannot do that in this atmosphere, because at this moment no one is interested in it from a strategic perspective," said Abazović.
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