Good morning! Yesterday, URA and the opposition voted for the president of the State Election Commission (DIK) and thus responded to DF’s blackmail. Will this be a hint of a stormy Monday? Minister Milatovic is well on his way to sending 500 KAP workers home, Ibrahimovic is almost unanimously supported for the Deputy Parliament Speaker, and the agony in Budva continues.
URA’s cooperation with the opposition
Yesterday, URA unannouncedly elected the current official of that institution, Nikola Mugosa, as the head of DIK, together with the opposition. The Democrats abstained, although they had previously supported DF candidate Nikola Medojevic at the meeting of the administrative board. While their coalition colleagues are attacking them because of “cooperation with the DPS”, URA says that they are guided exclusively by the interests of the citizens and the state.
Because URA, like Bajcetic from PZP, is voting for the sixth time with the opposition from, as they say, national interests. And at the head of the ANB, ministries, universities, schools, and in the cities, we have very problematic people. Why is the DIK more important than these institutions?
These are questions we must ask, because if this is a signal that the URA is sobering up, then it is time to push things to the end, and to completely disempower people who work against the interests of citizens and the state. The government will be discussed on Monday, and if it is possible to reach an agreement on the DIK, it is possible on other important strategic interests as well.
So, whether URA showed yesterday that it can resist the DF’s pressures and blackmails will be seen on Monday. If they decide on such a move, it will be proof that we, who criticized them, made a mistake, and that they are really people of great courage and with an extraordinary sense of responsibility. But I, unlike President Djukanovic, am pessimistic that they, or anyone else from the ruling majority, are ready for such a serious step.
Shutting down KAP?
This government has had a problem with the KAP aluminum plant from the beginning. And we have already gone through similar setbacks once this spring. Now, when the energy situation is not in the best shape and when their poor management has led them to not having money to pay for expensive electricity, they want to make up for it by raising prices for their biggest consumer. On the other hand, KAP obviously does not have the calculation that it can make the planned profit with the increase in the price of electricity and plans to shut down its production. Clear business logic.
Minister Milatovic obviously does not understand that the economy does not work for him, nor can he be a donkey that will take money for the salaries of him, his wife and friends, and then enters political confrontations with businessmen, calling them allegedly sharks of the former regime.
Let’s be clear, if the owner of KAP or any other businessman has violated any law, he should be held accountable, just as Pejovic will answer if it is proven that he threatened the director of the Environmental Protection Agency. But he cannot be judged by ministers and heads of agencies, but by courts. And these are separate things.
In addition, it is very interesting to mention that the pressure on businessmen in the form of astronomical penalties is happening right in the middle of the energy crisis in which KAP should be persuaded to agree to work for this government, to its detriment.
Ibrahimovic as Tito
Today, the Parliament of Montenegro has elected Ervin Ibrahimovic, a member of the Bosniak Party, as the Deputy Parliament Speaker. The MPs elected Ibrahimovic through a secret ballot with 76 votes. A total of 76 MPs voted for his election, and one was against. It is nice to see all the MPs unite around one of them. The logical question is whether this is a recipe for the executive power as well. Should we give it to BS?
Bratic vs Uljarevic
A direct attack on NGOs as a whole is the worst idea of any government, but Minister Bratic does not care. It is a bad idea, because it shows undemocratic aspirations of the authorities, and a lack of understanding of the civil sector’s role. This time, she accused “Uljarevic and the rest of the NGO bunch” of being guided by personal interests and having betrayed expectations. Bratic’s statement is full of ad hominem attacks on Uljarevic. It is stated there that Uljarevic met with Minister Bratic and that she expected some funding from her, if I understand correctly. Additionally, Bratic accuses Uljarevic of being a plagiarist and of usurping the position of the civil society leader, blocking other organizations from growing and developing, and that she, Bratic, will change that.
Forced administration in Budva?
Councilors of the Democrats, the Right of Montenegro, the Socialist People’s Party and URA in the Municipal Assembly of Budva, even at the cost of introducing forced administration, will not give a quorum to hold a session of the local parliament. This was unofficially announced to the media regarding the information that the DF caucus will send an initiative to the head of the local parliament and Democrat official Krsto Radovic to convene the continuation of the 10th session of the local parliament in the next seven days, which was interrupted in September.
That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CDM analyst
