You are reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous weekend.
By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM observer
Rulers’ irresponsibility and hypocrisy
Only a few days after the army was taken to the streets and the measures were tightened, the Prime Minister and ministers went to Trebinje to attend a mass gathering on the occasion of the late Bishop Atanasije. The footage shows the ministers and the Prime Minister taking off their masks and waiting in line to kiss the icon and the coffin with the remains of the deceased church dignitary. Minister Spajić, as one of the delegation members, attacked the critics, saying that the problem of individuals who criticize him is not the disrespect of the measures, but the religiosity of the Government members. With this comment, he provoked a fierce reaction on social networks, where users and former sympathizers accused him of hiding behind religion and that his actions were hypocritical.
URA is also accused of non-compliance with the measures. In the photo in this article, you can see Messrs. Dritan Abazović, Miloš Konatar, Filip Adžić and Tatjana Bečanović not respecting the measures. At the same time, on Facebook, Mr Adžić calls on his Government colleagues for irresponsibility I nterms of having attended the funeral in Trebinje. Hypocrisy squared.
Nikšić
Tensions in Nikšić are not subsiding. Yesterday, the so-called auto-procession led by a worn-out military Tam van on which tricolor flags of all kinds were flown. In addition to calling for the army, the For the Future of Nikšić coalition was also supported by veterans of the 1990s wars. On Twitter, users upload photos of Dutch cities and Dutch historical figures en masse and change them to Montenegrin ones. Also, the Wikipedia page about King Nikola in Serbian was changed and he was called the Dutch ruler there.
However, despite the comic reaction, the provocations continue. The family house of President Milo Đukanović was stoned. People are invited to start again with mass drawings of tricolors in Montenegro.
The Croatian Jutarnji List newspaper referred to the fact that the Serbian media cover the campaign in Nikšić as if the elections were in Serbia.
The interesting phenomenon of activists and supporters of URA throughout Montenegro calling for URA not to be voted for this time in Nikšić, but for the Democrats, speaks volumes about the strange movements within the opposition. We remind you that the Democrats were indirectly supported by PM Krivokapić, whose unofficial list We Won’t Give Nikšić Up is in a coalition with the Democrats.
URA’s ruffles
URA is drowning in its inconsistencies literally on a daily basis. First, it submitted an initiative to review the constitutionality of one article of the amended Law on Freedom of Religion, which it voted for. After this provoked a fierce reaction from the partners and after the PM’s close associates threatened to reveal some compromising information about Mr Abazović through their Facebook channels, and after Mr Leposavić said that the law was the end of the story, URA withdrew and Mr Abazović said that the law was a finished story for him.
Liberated Agency for Coastal Zone Management
A close associate of Mr Bato Carević and his Grbalj fellow-citizen Mladen Mikijelj was appointed director of the Agency for Coastal Zone Management. In addition to him, several of Carević‘s close associates and relatives were appointed to the steering committee. URA swallowed this very hard because its vice-president in Budva, the former partner of the DPS and advisor to the DPS mayors of Budva, Mr Blažo Rađenović, was appointed committee chair. Mr Mikijelj‘s appointment was greeted with skepticism and criticism by MANS, which reacted with a statement that “the Montenegrin Government has once again allowed compromises between politics and the profession that have always resulted in damage to the public interest”. MANS criticizes Mr Mikijelj for his participation in the controversial construction works in Budva, by which Mr Carević‘s company got a multi-million profit, and which was just made possible by Mr Mikijelj‘s management of investments in Budva.
Security sector dismissals
The proposal to appoint Mr Dejan Vukšić, the acting ANB director, as the director of the secret police was allegedly inexplicably removed from the agenda of the Government session on Thursday, Dnevne Novine wrote on Saturday. At almost the same time, the news arrived that the head of the military security service Aleksandar Šaranović would also resign. However, there was no official confirmation of this information.
It will be interesting to see the outcome, especially from the perspective that both of these appointments were wholeheartedly supported by URA, and that they were unofficially viewed with skepticism by the Western partners.
PM & Kosovo
After Mr Abazović told the Kosovo media that PM Krivokapić congratulated in a protocol manner, I was unofficially told by a Kosovo government source that this was a lie. PM Krivokapić indirectly defended himself against Mr Abazović’s misinformation by saying in an interview for Belgrade’s Blic that he would never recognize Kosovo if it was up to him at the time when Montenegro decided on this. Commenting on the message of the PM Krivokapić that he would not recognize Kosovo, the mayor of Tuzi Nik Đeljošaj said that we are the witnesses that the PM changes his views every now and then and that it is disgusting to comment on anything.
So much for today. See you tomorrow at the same time.
