Good morning! The Democratic Front (DF) and SNP demand that the winners of the 2020 elections form a government. Dritan says “we already have a government”. Then why did we hold elections in the first place?
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30-August Prisoners
Everyone repeats platitudes about the European government and EU integration as a priority that will guide them during the negotiations. Bearing in mind that in principle all parties are pro-European, the question arises as to what the reason to disqualify someone from future negotiations is. Milan Knezevic threatens instability if they are not part of the government. He threatens with an empty gun, because the truncated DF is far from the DF that was capable of creating momentum for mass protests. It is more unstable to have DF in the government. We have seen that they are not averse to corruption and organized crime. And not only that, they are prone to intrigues and subversion, and Spajic would have big problems to put them – like a time bomb – in the government. Nevertheless, Knezevic insists on 30 August, which his party immortalized through the Agency for the Coastal Zone Management and by naming a ferry after the date of victory in the elections.
Now speaks out Dragoslav Scekic of SNP that made the minority government pay dearly with a massive loss of support, and that was barely saved by the fact that they held half of the government and half of its resources. SNP thus, with Miodrag Lekic, and with the abuse of resources, has barely managed to stay in the parliament. And Scekic now says “the government of 30 August”. Why? Wasn’t SNP the first to sabotage the majority after 30 August and form a government with the late SDP and the minorities, with the support of DPS? Where was the narrative about the results of 30 August lost at the time?
This is a very harmful tautology that has become established in Montenegrin politics, namely that everyone is acceptable except DPS and in general everyone who lost the elections on 30 August. “DPS is cancerous and radioactive, and you cannot join a coalition with it.” If you ask why – it is difficult to give a logical and meaningful answer. Djukanovic left. His shadow and power in the party is still unassailable, but they were disempowered as a hegemon three years ago! Is there a fear that Montenegro will return to the time of nepotism, partocratic captive state, corruption, organized crime, dysfunctional institutions? Let’s be honest and say whether the new political elites have ever given up those established habits. They haven’t.
What exists as a risk is that DPS can completely regenerate and once again become a dominant and authoritarian leviathan that can once again monopolize the system. Without Djukanovic, it’s difficult. After all, there is a fear of such a thing from every other major party and coalition.
On the other hand, the truncated DF is a means of external malignant influence and an instrument in the hands of Serbian and Russian foreign policies. They promote extremism and their leaders are on trial for it. They are prone to violence and see examples in other authoritarian regimes. Only for them there is a logical and rationally explainable reason why they should not be part of the government.
The story of the “30-August winners” is a collective psychosis of the new political elite and a fixation that they need to get out of as soon as possible. The story about the center between DF and DPS is a self-delusion that will cost us dearly if the political parties do not get out of it as soon as possible. Montenegro needs a stable and efficient government. Not to the detriment of democracy, of course.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
