Corruption and personalization of the government are some of the biggest threats to the development of democracy in Montenegro, prof. Dr. Čedomir Čupić at the final lecture of the School of Democratic Leadership.
"A dangerous form of corruption is when managers corrupt active and combative collaborators who keep the entire population in a state of complete obedience. This is a great danger that normally operates in these countries," said Čupić.
When the power is personalized, he pointed out, then there is no rule of law. He added that the opposition can corrupt its followers. "Promising him something to go against something."
Čupić emphasized that the development of democracy is also threatened by the possibility of usurpation by those in power.
"The usurper's fear is the most dangerous because it paralyzes his collaborators and is dangerous for society and the state. His fear is projected through the entire pyramid of the government or his own party. The more frightened the usurper is, the more they become," said Čupić.
The quality and speed of democratic changes and the development of democracy, he emphasized, depends, among other things, on the decentralization of power and authority. However, things should also be looked at at the local level.
"You do decentralization, and then some powerful people at the local level grab it. This then leads to some new form of centralism," Čupić warned.
When it comes to parties in Montenegro, he assessed that they are dominated by central party bodies and centralization and that this applies to everyone.
"Parties are authoritarian in their internal structure and are based on the principle of a leader with an unlimited mandate", believes Čupić and adds that such parties only engage in a naked struggle to win power.
That problem, he believes, can be solved by putting a limited mandate in the statutes, so that no one can be president of the party more than twice.
"A means of resignation can be introduced, that is, a leader who has not fulfilled pre-election promises must submit an irrevocable resignation," said Čupić.
He sees as a big problem the fact that there are still blocs of so-called pro-Montenegro and pro-Serbian parties in Montenegro: "We have to work on ensuring that all parties that aspire to win power value their country extremely".
Čupić said that in Serbia and Montenegro, the time has come "to create a mixed majority-proportional system, which will sober up all political actors, because the parties will have to find respectable people who will pass".
"The struggle for power in Montenegro is not subject to the criteria of reason, rationality and arguments, but is egoistic and particular," Čupić believes.
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