The split within the Budva board of the Civic Movement URA, a party that has been part of the ruling coalition governing the municipality for a full year, will most likely lead to the replacement of personnel who, according to party affiliation, took over the management of certain municipal enterprises.
This was confirmed to "Vijesti" by several sources close to the Budva authorities.
The breakaway part of the municipal board, 20 of them, who left the Civic Movement, made it clear that they support the current mayor. Nikola Jovanovic, criticizing his former party colleagues for making the decision, without consulting the municipal board, that the GP URA councilor would not attend the December 31st local parliament session, whose agenda included the city budget, they made a bad move for the city and its citizens, and put the party in an extremely bad situation.
There has been speculation for a month that the GP URA will disband, and that part of the municipal board will join Jovanović's political current. Statements by political representatives of the GP URA from the leader Dritan Abazović to local officials, who criticize Jovanović's government for supporting the demolition of the "Slovenska Polaža" tourist resort and approving the construction of apartments for the market in Miločerski Park, was just the last straw and led to the division of the party in Budva.
Although the councilor GP URA Živan Mudreš has not declared which of the two parties she will support, her vote cannot threaten the ruling majority. Namely, Jovanović's group "Budva our city" with its nine councilors, two councilors of the European Union and seven councilors of the Democratic Party of Socialists, a total of 18, have a secure majority in the Budva parliament, which has 33 councilor seats.
That URA will be excluded from power will become clear in the coming days, because as "Vijesti" was told, party cadres who do not support the breakaway part will be dismissed.
What can be expected is the replacement of the current director of the municipal company Mediterranean Sports Center (MSC). Milice Ratknic, otherwise the president of the Budva Municipal Board of GP URA.
Ratknić, who was appointed acting director in July by a coalition agreement, was then elected director of the company after a public competition. Her continued tenure in that position is now uncertain, given that she heads the board of GP URA and part of the party that made the decision for the councilor not to attend the Municipal Assembly session.
Through a political maneuver, Jovanović managed to pass the budget at a completely uncertain session of the local parliament, because after learning that councilor URA would not appear at the session, he lacked two councilor votes to have a majority.
He called on the opposition to “help.” Knowing that two councilors from the European Union, including the president of the Municipal Assembly, Petar Odžić abstained due to the budget item to approve a million-dollar donation to the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, Jovanović managed to replace the necessary two votes by having councilors from the opposition PES and the Movement for Change vote in favor of the budget in a secret ballot.
The political "betrayal" of the Civic Movement URA, as "Vijesti" was told by the ruling coalition, will now come to fruition, with the replacement of their personnel.
In addition to the director's chair at MSC, another management position is held by a GP URA staff member - the director's position at the municipal company "Funeral Services". In July last year, she was appointed acting director. Slavica TodorovićWhether it will be resolved remains to be seen and depends on which current it will lean towards.
He will most likely retain the position of Acting Secretary for Economy of the Municipality of Budva. Misko Konić, who was also the first signatory to the breakaway group's notice that they were leaving the URA.
Who will take the top positions after the personnel and other positions are replaced "in depth" will be known after the ruling majority reaches an agreement.
The vice president, secretary and founder, as well as 17 other members of the municipal committee of the Civic Movement URA, left the party the day before yesterday.
"The reasons for our decision are long-standing and serious, and primarily relate to the manner of decision-making, which is continuously implemented without consultation and consent of the Municipal Board, which directly violates basic intra-party principles," the statement submitted to "Vijesti" states.
"We consider the decision that the GP URA councilor in the Budva Municipal Assembly not attend the session and not vote for the 2026 budget to be politically incorrect and that this move has caused serious reputational damage to GP URA. Absence from the session at which such a budget is decided means giving up on the assumed political responsibility and moving away from the goals for which we received the support of voters. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case, but a continuation of a series of contradictory and inconsistent decisions that have led to a loss of trust in the way party politics is conducted at the local level," they point out and add:
"We believe that the budget represents the most important act of every local government and a key instrument that determines the development of the municipality, the implementation of infrastructure projects, support for citizens and the functioning of institutions. Specifically, the budget that was on the agenda is an investment budget, which precisely defines projects and measures that are fully aligned with the Platform for Saving Budva, a document on which we have together built the political trust of citizens and accepted it as such. By ignoring certain members of the Executive Board of the URA Budva, the problems deepened and left room for suspicion that this party is not following the agreed political platform and principles," they stated.
They added that they no longer want to be members of a party "that consciously leads to political isolation and decline," nor, as they said, have their name and personal integrity abused for the sake of individual ambitions.
Budva's URA announced today that it wishes all the best to its former colleagues and all the best in their engagement in other parties.
They said in a statement that they remain committed to the general interests of the citizens of Budva, and that since their founding they have been fighting to preserve space "which is the most valuable resource we have, and which is becoming increasingly scarce."
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