Ahead of the local elections in Herceg Novi, parties are presenting their promises and projects.
The current mayor of the municipality, Stevan Katić, the leader of the Democratic Montenegro list, highlights the infrastructure successes so far and announces new projects.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), which, in jargon, is, after 20 years, an opposition veteran in that city, expects that the people of Novi Sad will make a new choice in the new elections.
After four years of governing Herceg Novi, Katić says that his actions recommend him for another term.
"Because a lot has been done in Herceg Novi in this previous four-year mandate, and it is visible at every step," Katić pointed out.
He points out that they are completing work on the bus station, on Njegoševa Street, on the promenade in Igalo and towards Savina, and they have other plans as well.
"This is primarily this local bypass, which is also something that is desperately needed, and we have already completed a significant part of the project documentation, funds have been provided in the state budget, around 25 million. Also, one of the more significant projects is the construction of an Olympic swimming pool," said Katić.
All of this, adds the Vice President of the Municipality and leader of the Nova List Miloš Konjević, is not possible without good coalition cooperation at the municipal level, but also with those at the state level.
This list is supported by the Europe Now Movement (PES), led by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.
"Citizens know how much construction was done, in the first term and especially in the second, where the bus line ends, the promenade, the Institute was saved, thanks to our cooperation with Mr. Spajić. I think our people in the positions they held did a great job," said Konjević.
In Herceg Novi, out of 35 councilors, 27 form the government, namely the Democrats, For the Future of Montenegro, the Socialist People's Party (SNP) and the Civic Movement URA.
DPS is the only opposition, and has held that position for over 20 years. Their leader on the list says that the burning problems are the lack of care for citizens and the closed nature of the municipality.
"Local government has missed everything it could have missed in the previous period. So, a partitocracy has taken hold seriously in the last 7-8 years and I think these are the key things that must change. We must embark on a new process of re-election of directors of public enterprises and mayors, secretariats and everything," said Dejan Stojadinović, the leader of the DPS list.
Ivan Otović, the current president of the Municipal Assembly and the leader of the list "For the Future of Herceg Novi and Boka", which consists of New Serbian Democracy, Democratic People's Party, Rights and United Montenegro, states that infrastructure projects are not enough.
"It's not just about economic development, it's also about social development, Herceg Novi should once again be a place for families. We see that much better days lie ahead for the Dr. Simo Milošević Institute. We believe that the time has finally come to start building a new hospital in Meljine. These are two systemic problems that we started to solve in the previous mandate," said Otović.
"You can give apartments to doctors to motivate them to come to work in Herceg Novi, give them some benefits," said Stojadinović.
Otović says that he will continue to cooperate with his current partners in the coming period, but the coalition agreement must be respected.
"In the previous period, there were quite a few, let's say, problematic situations, where, even though we were part of the government, we were often not sufficiently familiar with some things," said Otović.
Both the government and the opposition already know who they definitely won't be with after the elections.
"I think we will only not negotiate with the Democrats because they are the key culprit for all of this. And I think we have to simply break up that structure, to put it simply, in order to move forward. The rest are welcome if they love Herceg Novi and love Montenegro," said Stojadinović.
"Our partners are all those who love Herceg Novi and with whom we have cooperated, and we will certainly not cooperate with the Democratic Party of Socialists and the SD (Social Democrats)," said Konjević.
The interlocutors of Television Vijesti are unanimous in their position that the party that wins the most votes should nominate the mayor.
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