Good morning! There was a big protest in Podgorica last night, a huge number of citizens from all over Montenegro. Three specific requests. Quick sequel announced.
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And there was a protest
While the Republicans are on the threshold of taking over the legislative power in America, and while yesterday in Budva the municipal officials celebrated the annexation of Montenegro by Serbia, Montenegrins are learning about protests and democracy. Very successfully.
The long-announced and expected protest of the parliamentary minority took place last night. Via the Viber group and through the organization of local party structures of the parties of the parliamentary minority, arrivals from other cities of Montenegro were organized. Cars convoys from Bar, Budva, Herceg Novi, Niksic, Bijelo Polje, Rozaje and other cities were posted all day on social networks.
Photos and aerial shots show a huge number of people on the street and square opposite the Parliament, in the stretch from the Blazo Jovanovic bridge to the Post Office of Montenegro. Although the police and ANB initially announced that there were 5,000 people at the protest, they had to correct their estimates, because the math says that in the most pessimistic estimates, there must have been at least twice as many protestors in the 6,000+ square meter area. Some portals exaggerated with the numbers “17,000 and more to come”, while the organizers were more realistic and said that there were about 15,000 people at the meeting, which is much closer to the real figure.
The number of protestants was so great that it impressed former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who posted a photo of the protests on Facebook, calling them “gigantic”, to motivate people to go to the anti-governmental demonstrations scheduled for 12 November in Tirana.
But in the end, the numbers are the least important. Anything over 5,000 in a country of 600,000 inhabitants must be considered a successful protest, which should make the politicians in power think twice. Because even these 10,000-15,000 people are just the beginning.
The organization was good, there were no incidents, if we exclude the cutting of the car tires of a woman from Herceg Novi, near the Alpe bar.
Danijel Zivkovic from DPS and Adnan Strikovic from SDP stood out among the speakers, according to many of those who were present.
The most important thing is that the demands of the protestors are clearly formulated: the withdrawal of the law on the president, the election of judges of the Constitutional Court and the calling of snap elections.
This is just the beginning, the parties must not be lulled by the success of last night’s protest, which exceeded many expectations. It should be clear to them that people did not come out because of their seats and privileges, but because of themselves and their fears and uncertainty brought by the illegitimate government of SNP and URA, i.e. DF’s pendants – the parties that together do not even have 8% support in the electorate.
It should be clear to them that the protest can be even bigger and more meaningful if the organization is more transparent and inclusive. Because it is no longer clear what the reason for hiding behind NGOs is. These protests can be an excellent introduction to a political campaign, if they are more meaningful and refined. Patriotic messages are ok, and that is the main mobilization tool against this kind of government, but they are not enough.
We need to stop feeding the toxic culture of exclusivity, which feeds mistrust and looks for traitors and misfits in everyone. It is not an atmosphere that brings people together, but on the contrary, it pushes people apart. Religious processions would not have succeeded if the organizers had spent energy on who should and who should not come to the event. Let everyone come who has the need to come, and who shares the same values and hopes.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst
