By Andrej Nikolaidis, CdM columnist
Yes. If Prime Minister Spajic agreed to all the demands of the opposition, that is its victory. I would also add that it is the first political victory of the opposition since 30 August 2020.
The boycott was never the goal: it was just a chip in a game of nerves, in a poker game in which the government raised the stake and the opposition followed and, on top of that, doubled the stake.
The boycott, I say, was not a goal, but a means to arrive at as fair a census as possible. A means to prevent Vucic from carrying out the census as he imagined and with the result he projected. This was obvious to everyone, including Spajic, who clearly understood that the opposition actually wanted an agreement.
The anti-census campaign was more than pale – if it existed at all. If the boycott had really been the goal, such an anemic campaign would have led to its failure. It was a classic damage control action: a controlled census is better than a failed boycott.
The census would definitely be held. This way, if the agreement is reached, it will be held under the full control of the opposition. Of course, under Vucic’s full control. It’s an old game, known by the name: fair, so who’s screwing who. Spajic played wisely: by postponing the census, he made it clear that he wanted a compromise. By agreeing to the demands of the opposition, he would make it clear that he does not want a compromise just rhetorically, but actually.
After highlighting the demands and after Spajic accepted them, the opposition had no choice but to agree to the agreement on its own terms. Anything else would mean that they were the ones who feigned a desire for an agreement, that they were the ones who were only rhetorically asking for a compromise. It would look like this:
Opposition: We demand this, this and that.
Spajic: Yes, agreed. Everything will be as you ask.
Opposition: Well, OK, but we won’t, so it’s not OK.
After all, if what has been announced is agreed upon, it is not a compromise. Not that they met halfway. Spajic simply gave everything the opposition asked for. If the opposition’s plan was a boycott from the beginning (and elementary logic says it wasn’t), then they shouldn’t have played democracy and dialogue, but rather heated up a (non-existent, let’s say) boycott campaign. In that case, it would be necessary to play so that Spajic could not realize the bluff.
With all the shortcomings of Montenegrin democracy, and there are a thousand and one of them, each worse than the last, the opposition’s refusal to accept the agreement on its own terms would mean being in serious offside. Neither the Montenegrin public nor our famous “western friends” would have this position of understanding.
The agreement between Spajic and the opposition, if reached, means progress compared to the short but nuclear-destructive rule of Abazovic, who would carry out the census the way he signed the Fundamental Agreement: in a servile, manipulative, disgusting, regardless-of-the-cost way, ignoring every voice against and rudely insulting all those who are against.
If he agreed to the demands of the opposition, Spajic made a democratic step forward. He just did. In that case, he legitimized himself as a man ready for dialogue and compromise. “No” by the opposition would mean serious democratic self-legitimization.
Last but not least: something that is not an “if”. I believe that the aggressive pre-census campaign that he is leading will return to Vucic like a boomerang. Vucic does not understand Montenegro. Actually, he does not thoroughly understand Montenegro. If he understood, he would not have dealt so brutally with Amfilohije’s legacy – which was nothing else but his score-settling with authentic Montenegrin Serbs.
Primitive, Pink-like (*referring to Pink TV) jokes which he uses to rule in Montenegro do not work. Just as Seselj’s nastiness about Draginja Vuksanovic did not work. Let’s remember: even when he was the strongest in Serbia, Seselj was not accepted in Montenegro. Vucic does not understand this, because he is the chicken hatched under Seselj’s overcoat.
Vucic, I say, does not understand Montenegro, and one way or another, he will understand that in the end. Njegos is not the same as Kocic. Njegos is not the same as Andric. The anger of a servant is not the same as the anger of a proud and free man.
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
