You are reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous day.
By Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM observer
This is how Petar Martinovic, Cetinje URA’s deputy leader and an activist of the Church of Serbia, characterized the diaspora during the URA’s promotion in that town. During his speech, in addition to having said that the diaspora “comes for a week, and then loves Montenegro over the phone”, URA promoted his short speech on its website. During his speech, Martinovic also spoke with disgust about Montenegro, and the public recognized him long ago at rallies in support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and during the protests in Cetinje he was with nationalists gathered throughout the Serbian World and “defended the monastery” with them.
That is URA today, and it should be clear to everyone. That party has changed and its membership and activists are dominated by attitudes closer to the DF than to civic parties.
The diaspora reacted because everything that the diaspora did in known and unknown ways, and how it helped Montenegro, especially during the pandemic, should embarrass both Martinovic and Minister Sergej Sekulovic, who similarly insulted the citizens of Montenegro who live and work abroad.
Handing over local candidates lists and asking for postponement
While the ruling parties are demanding the postponement of the elections in Petnjica, Mojkovac and Cetinje, they are all handing over local candidates lists in the cities where they can collect signatures. Thus, in Mojkovac, even the United Montenegro managed to collect signatures. In Cetinje, the Democrats and the URA collected signatures, and it is clear to everyone that this political move to postpone the elections is legally impossible. The fact that the Democrats are looking for a reason to delay based on the postponement having taken place in Tivat at the beginning of the pandemic is ridiculous.
Escobar in Montenegro as of today
President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic is to receive the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs of the USA, Gabriel Escobar, and thus Escobar’s visit and talks with politicians, media and civil society leaders will begin. After a very strenuous visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Escobar is coming to a somewhat simpler, but also complex political field in Montenegro. In the interviews that preceded his visit, he did not spare words of optimism and support for a part of the ruling majority. Abazovic pompously announced his arrival and hinted at “big surprises”. Let’s see that miracle too.
Situation in health system
While the pandemic is heating up again, protest actions are being prepared against the policies and decisions of Minister Jelena Borovinic Bojovic, who spends most of her working time on political messages and revenge. On the other hand, the shortage of medicines is knocking on the door, while private pharmacies are complaining about the non-payment of invoices by the Fund, headed by the former mayor of Berane. The Fund is late in settling its obligations to private pharmacies, and owes them about €6m.
Teachers won’t be paid overtime hours
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vesna Bratic, commenting that the Ministry did not pay for overtime work during the pandemic, when classes were organised in both schools and online (which is why teachers worked more shifts), said in an interview for Vijesti that it is not clear nor is it precisely determined whether that right belongs to teachers. Read this excellent Pobjeda’s analysis of this topic.
DF members tapped in Palas?
The Special State Prosecutor’s Office has formed a case regarding the allegations of the DF leader that their members were wiretapped in the Palas hotel in the period from 5 to7 July 2020, Dnevne Novine has learned. As Milan Knezevic, one of the DF leaders, recently stated, according to their operational information, which they allegedly received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they came to the information that the National Security Agency wired the entire Palas hotel in the period from 5 to 7 July 2020 in order to eavesdrop on the 278 interviewers, activists, MPs and DF officials who attended the seminar.
That’s it for today. See you tomorrow at the same time, in the same place.
