Clientelism has become the "modus operandi" of our political subjects and there is no sign of intention to stop the practice of hiring and rewarding according to the party key, the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) said today.
"Both "ours" and "theirs" equally cleverly use all available models of abuse of state resources whenever they have the opportunity," said CDT Deputy Executive Director Biljana Papović.
She explained that these are the key findings of the publication Clientelistic Democracy in Montenegro, which was published as part of the "Undermining Democracy" series.
Papović said that the CDT, through ten examples, points to the disastrous politicization of the state administration to the detriment of efficiency and professionalization, the obvious abuse of public resources, the predominance of private interests of political subjects in relation to the public interest, as well as the instrumentalization of the judicial system that enabled impunity for these practices.
"It turned out that in our country there is a general political consensus only on the issue of accepting the state management model based on clientelistic ties and abuse of resources," said Papović.
She believes that clientelism and nepotism have been asserting themselves from high positions for decades, which has created an environment in which it becomes "part of the mentality".
"It is an open secret that the safest way to get a "state job" is through loyalty to a certain political option. Although it represents one of the key strategic goals of the public administration reform, there is no longer a word about optimization," said Papović.
She added that the records of the number of employees in the administration have long been a "Pandora's box" that no one dares to open.
Papović assessed that state companies, instead of operating in accordance with corporate governance standards, represent a political nursery, in which unqualified party activists find their place, and even in governing bodies.
"A secure state job did not satisfy the appetites of high-ranking public officials, so taxpayers had to reward their clientelistic way by solving the housing issue, for some even more than once," Papović pointed out.
She said that during the generous distribution of apartments and housing loans, the constitutional balance of power and independence was not taken into account.
"So, in the manner of Santa Claus, the Governmental Commission for Housing issues rewarded the best and most loyal with attractive real estate and significant sums year after year. The "fighters against corruption", embodied in the narrative of the new ruling majority, never showed the determination to oppose this phenomenon beyond the pre-election promises," said Papović.
She believes that it must not be normal for citizens to pay high fees to all former public officials, compensation for victims of political jealousy, or the expensive lifestyle of public officials for decades.
"However, the judiciary, captured by political influence, is equally based on the malignant principles of the functioning of the entire state apparatus. This very fact enabled impunity, lack of responsibility and the flourishing of abuses decades ago," said Papović.
She pointed out that in this struggle for the destruction of public resources and the establishment of political control over the public administration, Montenegro was expected to lose the status of a democratic state in international reports and stagnate for years on the path to European integration.
"All truly progressive citizens must actively work to ensure that that formula - "one employee, four votes" - never becomes normal for anyone, Papović said.
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