Albanians residing in Montenegro, who are temporarily working abroad, should be encouraged to come to their homeland at the time of the upcoming population census, in order to directly participate in it.
According to the unofficial information of "Vijesti", this was concluded at yesterday's meeting of current and former political representatives of Albanians, held in Podgorica, which was organized by the president of the National Council of Albanians in Montenegro, Faik Nika.
The council told "Vijesta" last night that the "dominant position of the majority" was that the census should be postponed. Despite this, they stated that they are sending a special invitation to "Albanians from Montenegro who are temporarily outside of Montenegro and have Montenegrin citizenship, to immediately get involved and apply", because, as they state, the result of the census "is of vital importance ” and that “the national interest of Albanians in Montenegro will directly depend on it”.
"In this process, it is important to declare that we are Albanians and that our mother tongue is Albanian. We invite you to declare your national and linguistic identity with pride", they said.
The meeting, the only topic of which was the census, was held in the Cue hotel, and was attended by representatives of several parties, including those without an Albanian sign.
At the meeting, among others, were the leaders of the Democratic Party Fatmir Đeka, the Albanian Alternative Nik Đeljošaj, Force Genci Nimanbegu and the Democratic Alliance of Albanians Nikola Camaj. High-ranking official of the URA Civic Movement Omer Bajraktari, current and former deputies of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Drita Lola and Luiđ Škrelja, representative of the Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) Hatidža Đoni, former leader of the Democratic Alliance in Montenegro Mehmet Bardhi...
The census should be held from November 1 to 15, and according to the international standards that the Directorate for Statistics (Monstat) must respect, it registers people who "predominantly reside" in the place where they will be enumerated. This definition implies that this person lives in that place of residence for most of the year (over six months), regardless of whether he is a citizen or a foreigner with a registered residence.
At the recent Monstat press briefing, it was explained that those who are temporarily absent during the census period can be registered by a member of the household and the requested information can be provided for them. It was also said that the definition of "predominant residence" is used by all countries during their censuses, as well as that Montenegrin citizens or persons originating from Montenegro who mainly reside abroad will be enumerated in those countries, whether it is through a classic census through a survey or an administrative one that is carried out using institutional databases.
Censuses are also conducted due to international needs, in order to see the movement of the population between countries, as well as the demographic picture of the entire region, the European continent and the world, so "double counting", both in Montenegro and abroad, would give a false picture.
Some Albanian parties campaigned before the last census, held in 2011, and called on Albanians not to forget to register "close relatives who are abroad".
"It is a civilizing procedure and a moral obligation, because they are also part of our people," said the Force.
They called on the citizens of Montenegro of Albanian nationality to "declare their national and linguistic affiliation without hesitation". They appealed to Albanians to "show dignity and awareness of knowing who they are and what their mother tongue is" in the census. The appeal, as they announced, particularly referred to areas with a mixed population such as Bar, Podgorica, Plav and Rožaje.
Part of the parties, primarily the DPS and the Social Democrats, demand the postponement of the upcoming enumeration, as they claim that there are no technical conditions for its implementation and that the government does not have the legitimacy to implement it, as it was voted no-confidence. DPS, as reported by "Vijesti" a few days ago, is considering several options if the Government does not postpone the census, and one of them is a call to boycott that process.
A part of the political representatives of the Albanians (Đeljošaj) and the Bosniak Council also asked for a postponement, but only for one month. They insist that the "necessary conditions" for the census be created during that time, primarily in the sense of printing census material in all languages in official use.
On the other hand, some political actors, such as the Coalition for the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG), are already in that campaign, and say that the census will be held "to the great regret of the former regime", that it will be "the first free census in the history of Montenegro." Gore", that "fear grips the DPS and their satellites due to the fact that there is no longer political and systemic pressure on the Serbs"...
The Government, which is the only one that can delay the process, has announced on several occasions that this will not happen, saying that this issue should not be made into a "spectacle".
The census was originally supposed to take place in 2021, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, while it was not held in 2022 due to disagreements between the ruling parties at the time. A potential third postponement would be problematic because it would create too much of a time difference compared to the previous census, and its maintenance is also an obligation from the accession negotiations with the EU.
Modified list logo
About twenty days ago, Nik Đeljošaj demanded from the Government to dismiss the management of Monstat and replace them with "experts who know and have no chauvinist motives". He told Monstat, among other things, that the logo of the census was made "after the appearance of Njegoš's chapel".
The logo has been modified in the meantime, which Đeljošaj also announced on his Facebook account yesterday. The change refers to the addition of the Albanian word "registrim" (list) to the existing logo.
"And Albanians to process data"
The National Council of Albanians announced that the dominant position of the majority of those present at yesterday's meeting was to postpone the census "until the creation of positive legal and technical assumptions related to the transparency of drafting and adoption of by-laws, as well as appropriate forms and regulations, during which no Albanian participated or has information about it".
From the meeting, they add, it was proposed that members of the Albanian minority be included in the commission for data and information processing.
"... We appeal to all Albanians in Montenegro to actively and seriously get involved and participate in this process on the occasion of the census, to freely declare their national identity and their Albanian mother tongue", they underlined.
According to them, the meeting was attended by independent intellectuals and eminent personalities, in addition to political representatives of Albanians.
Note: In the version of the text published in the printed edition of Vijesti, it is written that the president of that party, Mehmed Zenka, attended the meeting of Albanian leaders on behalf of DUA, instead of Hatidža Đoni. We apologize to our readers for the error.
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