In an interview to Dan daily, Pajović said that the list will accurately represent Positive Montenegro. Responding to accusations of political corruption, Pajović said that the accusations are made from addresses of those who are themselves deep in the clutches of corruption.
The leader of the list will be decided in the party committee, but it is reasonable to expect that it will be the president of this party. The list will be submitted tomorrow, and Pajović said he is looking forward to present the official list of Positive Montenegro.
Who are potential partners of Positive Montenegro, before or after the elections? Will it be DPS and SD of Montenegro?
-I can tell you who will not be our potential partners. They are not the parties who are still raising the question of our independence and Western integration. Both you and me know who are those parties. All the other parties are following Western integration, as a course of Montenegro’s sovereignty defense, and they are our potential partners. In that regard, among others, DPS and SD fill the role, with one big issue. Both parties are liberal, while Positive is on the left. We want a higher degree of state involvement in the economy, and these two parties often blindly believe in the power of free market.
You have been the President of the Parliament for a few months now, and your officials are in the Government. What do you think about accusations that you have done practically nothing to ensure free and fair elections in October?
-I can tell you what I have done in the Parliament and in my public activities. In this difficult situation, I managed to keep the stability in the Parliament, with the support of all representatives’ clubs. There were no boycotts in the Parliament. I ensured parliamentary dialogue. Regarding elections, I formed a committee for monitoring and control of electoral process. I have been closely following the work of this body and I am pleased with their results. I signed an agreement on cooperation with civic society and ensured support in electoral process. I signed an agreement on cooperation with local administrations, in order to strengthen their capacities, in order to improve electoral process. In cooperation with international partners, I pointed to weaknesses in the system and insisted on their resolutions. Perhaps this does not look like a lot, but it was the most it could be done in two months. Every tangible progress is preceded with many preparations, procedures and such, and I would love it if citizens knew this. My predecessor was head of the Parliament for 13 years, and he has done a lot less. He had all the same mechanisms I have, and he did nothing to improve electoral process. Today he is very vocal when it comes to its control. So, I have done ten times more the work in two months than my predecessor did in 13 years, so you can judge for yourself whether that is enough.
What is your comment about the insinuations that Positive Montenegro has been a part of a corrupt political arrangement since January this year?
-Those stories are shameful and told my shameful people. Without hesitation, I can tell you that people who say that are people without integrity. Why are they making these claims? For two reasons. The first one, they judge us based on their conscience. If they were in my position, they would have taken the money, so they believe that I did. When they accuse me of political corruption, they are speaking of themselves, not me. Those who are the most vocal in these accusations have been deeply corrupted years back. This is their standard behavior, so they believe everyone behaves that way. So this is the problem. What is the truth? It is simple. Positive did not allow the overthrow of the Government to change our foreign course. We did not want to consider this possibility that would endanger Montenegrin sovereignty. Finally, our attitude is that changes are necessary, but they must be in accordance with legislation and happen on elections, not with anarchy on the streets. That is the simple truth, and nothing else is true. It was not an easy decision, but we had a choice between destabilizing the state and leaving our Western integration course, or defending these two principles, so we chose the other possibility, whether someone likes it or not. They call it corruption, I call it patriotism. If this is the same to them, to me it is not.
What will be the key messages of Positive’s campaign?
-The first message is that we all need changes. To change, it does not mean to break or destroy, and start over. We need to keep the positive in our policies and our society, develop them, and locate the negative and change it. The second message is that the changes must not endanger state integrity and our Western course. Those are constants in our policies. Our third message pertains to economy, and we must stop the tyranny of free market, we need the state to actively participate in the economy. Neo-liberal economy brought about many negative things in our society, and the state has the ability to intervene in encouraging small and medium entrepreneurship in our society. Our fourth message, we must return to solidarity and social justice as foundations for future. Every citizen over 40 years old remembers the time when we as a society were much more sensible to issues of the people around us, and these are the values that we consider precious and want to nurture. These messages are the founding principles of Positive Montenegro, and we shall not abandon them.
Do you believe that the matter of Montenegrin membership in NATO should be decided in a democratic referendum?
-Positive Montenegro supports NATO integration, and we have stated this many times. We contribute to this integration daily. For us, NATO is the best way to ensure stability in Montenegro that finds itself in the war every 50 years. We understand the citizens who believe differently, and we respect their attitude. Politically, both attitudes are correct. The Parliament of Montenegro will decide on Montenegro’s membership in NATO, or whether this will be decided in a referendum or in the Parliament.
