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Ten to Eight – A lie has no legs

You are reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous day.

By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM observer

Although Mr Milan Knežević told us that they harmonized the amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office, which were “proposed by the European Commission and Mr Dritan Abazović“, or which were “harmonized with the requirements of the EC and the Venice Commission”, as Mr Abazović himself said, the Democrats distanced themselves from this which aroused suspicion in Mr Abazović‘s words that he really harmonized the text of the law with European partners. It turned out that he didn’t, which he himself later admitted. Apart from these lies, the fact that the bill could not be seen anywhere, and that the law is being written without a public debate, after which it is to be sent to Parliament, further compromised the already heavily compromised Deputy Prime Minister.

Such announcements of changing the law have been condemned by numerous parties and associations. Ms Marijana Laković Drašković, the former negotiator for Chapters 23 and 24, criticized the non-transparency of the process and recalled that the same mistakes were made as the first time, when the first changes were sharply criticized by the European Commission. A member of the current Prosecutorial Council, Mr Velimir Rakočević, told TVCG that, judging by what was heard in public, regarding the agreement on prosecutorial laws, the positions of the Venice Commission were still not fully respected. The opposition DPS and SDP reacted to this development of the situation.

Reaching out

President Milo Đukanović has previously announced a paradigm shift from the “unionist-sovereignist” level to the “pro-European and anti-European” level, and has elaborated on this several times. Last night, he concretized it a lot, saying that he “sees certain democratic capacities in the Democrats and the URA”. You can read everything that the President said during the Teleskopija show in this text.

Double voters in Herceg Novi

The electoral roll in Herceg Novi includes 2,691 voters residing in another country, which represents more than 10% of the electorate of that municipality, according to data from the Center for Monitoring and Research (CEMI). CEMI’s Zlatko Vujović spoke for Belgrade’s N1 about the problems in Montenegro, referring to, among other things, Minister Leposavić, who, together with Minister Spajić, is one of those suspected of having 2 illegal places of residence. Instead of answering the questions, the Ministry of Interior gives a bureaucratic answer, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spins and defends something that no one has said, and that is that anyone’s citizenship is endangered.

To Belgrade for instructions

Yesterday, the internet was “flooded” with photos of the DF leaders from the airport and their alleged trip to Belgrade. We saw that Mr Andrija Mandić appeared on the propaganda B92 TV to defend the Serbian World and the Republic of Srpska from the Government that he himself politically supports. Minister Bojanić is already there and announces the merging of the border crossing with Serbia, and joint political-infrastructural projects. He may find himself with the DF trio somewhere along the way as they have significantly brought their positions closer lately. While they are there, Mr Ivica Dačić calls the Prime Minister a lukewarm. Of course, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs says nothing about this or about Mr Vulin‘s announcements about the “inevitable unification of all Serbs”.

Debt to China

After yesterday’s cold shower from the EU, Montenegro is once again becoming a world topic, now mostly due to its debt to China. The German DW wrote about it yesterday. The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Podgorica also reacted and conveyed the position of the spokesperson of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which it is said that Chinese investments in Montenegro are not geopolitical and that they are not a threat to our country’s security. It seems there will be a lot of talk about this in the future.

Miscellaneous

Mr Nik Đeljošaj criticized the 2021 Draft Budget in the part in which, in his opinion, fiscal centralization is being done by reducing expenditures for less developed municipalities.

The Basic Court in Podgorica accepted the request of Dr Aleksandar Mugoša and temporarily returned him to the position of the President of the Medical Chamber until the expiration of his mandate in 2022. We remind you that the new authorities aspire to that position and that there was physical violence there with the intention of appointing Dr Samardžić to that position for her merits in the election campaign.

There were numerous calls to police over last week’s protests. People are also punished for flying state flags and the fines are very high. It would be good to compare how many misdemeanor and other fines have been issued for the so-called “religious processions” and for these recent protests. Has the NGO sector reacted the same and stood up for these today’s protesters as it did during the last year?

That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.

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