By Andrej Nikolaidis, CdM columnist
The story about the presidential candidacy of Milojko Spajic is about to become a good example of the demise of Montenegro.
Formally and legally, Spajic has or doesn’t have the right to run for the president of Montenegro. Maybe he has that right after renouncing his Serbian citizenship.
And maybe he doesn’t. There is no institution that has the credibility and integrity to decide on this. There is no institution that has the credibility and integrity to decide on anything. There are no institutions in Montenegro anymore. There is only bare power which, trampling principles and people, decides and imposes their rules. That’s what they wanted. They succeeded in that.
If Montenegro was far from the rule of law before 30 August 2020, now it’s thousands years away from it. Law and justice in this country mean nothing anymore. They don’t even exist as a promise, not even as a glimmer of hope.
Everything is arbitrary, here and now. Whatever the so-called institutions, which are now the vassal service of the vassal government, decide on Spajic’s candidacy, it’ll only mean a further loss of citizens’ trust in the state and its institutions.
If they say ‘no’ to his candidacy, every citizens will have the right to ask: if everything’s allowed in this country – even for the parliament to pass unconstitutional decisions being fully aware of it – if the dismissed government enjoying 2% or 3% support can rule the country – then why Spajic?
If they say ‘yes, he can run for the country’s presidency’, it’ll mean that the president of Montenegro can be anyone. Even Barack Obama, for example. He’s also an expert, just like Spajic. He’s also a foreign citizen. Why wouldn’t the parties of the blissfully rested sovereignist bloc nominate him? After all, wouldn’t his victory be a clear signal of Montenegro’s pro-Western orientation? At the same time – the irrefutable proof of the openness and liberality of Montenegrin citizens? After all, if Scepan Mali and Milojko Spajic led this country, why couldn’t Barack Obama?
Things are so bad that even sarcasm offers no comfort – not even for a moment. It’s so bad that even the most lucid irony doesn’t work as a defense mechanism.
It’s simply disgusting. Yes, it’s disgusting that the Montenegrin government and political elite called Serbia to declare on Spajic’s candidacy. So what, Serbia’s meddling is okay when it suits us? And what does suit us?
We obviously don’t perceive things in the same way. I, for example, don’t even think about voting in the election, which are going to be organized by bodies of the state of Serbia with the consent of Montenegrin actors. Right now, having in mind the current situation, only Serbian citizens should vote in the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. It’d be a fairer option.
Montenegro has been conquered, it’s clear to anyone who’s not blind or paid to be blind. But it’s one thing when Serbia interferes in our elections while we’re opposing it, and another when it does it because we asked it to do so.
All the afore-mentioned is the problem. And possibly the biggest problem is that Spajic, who is clearly lying, can win the elections – if he’s allowed to participate. In any democracy, Spajic would have to withdraw from the election race.
This is played out so that there is no good solution. No happy end. Montenegro remains stuck in the logic of choosing the lesser evil.
(The opinions and views expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of the CdM portal)
