The fact that his coalition partner, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic criticizes him for braking development projects, Krivokapic calls labeling and not giving facts.
“The sale of non-urban public land is everywhere in the world democracy a sign of corruption. It’s like that in the west. This is the legal practice established a long time ago. As far as development projects go, only one made it to the parliament, and that was the construction of cottage housing in the protected zone of St. Stefan. Queen’s Beach never came to the Parliament, so the Parliament of Montenegro so far prevented a single development project. This is the only fact that’s true”, said Krivokapic.
Asked by CDM reporters when the announced case studies will be presented and messages from the first man of the government thus answered, Krivokapic said preparations are ongoing.
“The Assembly is preparing all the decisions that the Parliament made, legal analysis will follow, the Government will give the economic effects of it all, and then, as a serious society, we will see which one of these large-scale projects was realistically achieved. We have sold 80 percent of state property, now let’s see how many jobs we have, how much money in the budget, taxes and contributions, what funds our healthcare, education, social welfare, pensioners. This is what serious countries talk about, so I want to talk about it too. Let’s see which of these numerous decisions on sale state property returned to Montenegro as a positive effect. This is how we will know if the decisions were good, and if they are, to continue to make them, but if they are not, to never make them again”, said Krivokapic.
He also commented on leaving of some members of the Municipal Committees of SDP, stressing the party is not dissipating.
“This is where even the Prime Minister and I agree. A similar process happened with DPS and SNP in 1997. DPS then came out stronger, and the SDP is now more directly strengthened. It’s just that those who did not follow our policy left, and our policy was democratically elected at the Congress. Ten, fifteen or a hundred people leaving a party of 10.500 people which SDP counts as members cannot be called dissipation. I will give you the best example, so that we can get out of the sphere of speculation. Our strongest municipal board, which was led for 25 years by one man, and we are talking about Bar, has three-quarters support of the Municipal Board, and three-quarters of the Presidency. Everything else is a media game. The strongest municipal board did not follow a man who led it for a quarter of century. I think our party is becoming stronger by unity, throughout its 25 years of program that kept it at the right side of history. I’m sure we will be even stronger, and this is already evident from the coming of new members. The fact that a few small boards, with two members, like Mojkovac or Plužine which endlessly revolve on television, and a couple of people resigning several times a day, cannot be interpreted as falling apart of a party”, said Krivokapic.
He also commented on the message of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic that ministers Ivan Brajovic and Vujica Lazovic have indisputable legitimacy:
“I saw what I had expected; that both the Prime Minister and I will honor the coalition agreement, that we need to learn about democratic behavior in a sense that all agreements, words and obligations must be respected. Meaning, that what has been stolen from the SDP must and will be returned to the SDP, without major procedures. Those who need to do so, should also demonstrate that they stand by their word and not hamper the Government’s position on the international scene in the process, especially in the decisive months for NATO, because this could downplay our credibility and legitimacy of the government”, said Krivokapic.
However, Lazovic and Brajovic previously stated that they won’t return mandates, so Krivokapic answered about when he plans to request this from them:
“For us in the SDP, it is very important to show that Montenegro does not work only on coercion, on conditionality, but is rather creating a political culture and standards in which politicians will be responsible and able to make big moves without major procedures. Let’s give a little more time to our former colleagues to prove in action their democratic commitment to both NATO and Montenegro”, said the leader of the SDP.
He also commented on the experience from 2003:
“I have a very important experience that can be easily verified. In 2003, when I said that then Attorney General should resign, I got the same response as now – that he will not. I then said I would not accept the presidency of the Assembly. As you know, he then resigned. I reckon that democracy in Montenegro is much stronger now than in 2003, and that we are wise enough to have public figures, politicians and judges respect our democratic standards and give examples of how it all works”, says Krivokapic.
Krivokapic did not want to comment on the establishment of a new party of Social Democrats of Montenegro.
“I want to remember them as they once were. They are former comrades, so I would not comment. Before each election there’s a flood of parties in Montenegro; some are new parties, some are satellite outlets, so we’ll see what happens”, he said.
Asked whether cooperation with former party colleagues will be possible after the elections, Krivokapic said that SDP never “went” with anyone.
“We never went with anyone, but others were coming to our program. Just like the DPS did in 1998. Yes they were bigger, but our policy was greater. Everyone who wants our policy, will be with us. Of course, they would need to prove it in action”, concluded Krivokapic.
Krivokapic presented today the July 13th Prize to laureates Ljubomir Djurkovic for dramatic trilogy “The Greeks”, Vesna Kilibarda for her book “Njegoš and Italy” and Srdjan Vukcevic for the exhibition “Hipson’s lake”.
