Good morning! This week, through an intergovernmental agreement, showed us the difference between the sound and the power. And once again, it reminded us of who really decides in Montenegro.
The sound and the power
The Parliament of Montenegro voted for an interstate agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which opens the way for the implementation of one of the largest investments in the recent history of Montenegro, which will be led by an investor with a pedigree, but not without controversy.
When I say pedigree, I mean the Burj Khalifa. When I say controversies, I mean protests against Belgrade Waterfront, and journalistic investigations that call into question the conscientious business practices of this investor.
Partner country – the Emirates, which has been present in Montenegro for a long time: from the Atlas Capital Centre to Porto Montenegro, the unsuccessful attempt at the Queen’s Beach, all the way to the tobacco trade and contacts with the old regime.
Support for the project – politically convincing. Only 10 MPs out of 81 voted against. And at the same time, the NGO sector, the largest private media copmany, part of the opposition and the intellectual public voted against it. On paper, it looks like a collision of two forces. In reality – as a collision of two worlds, one of which lives in the illusion that it can match the leviathan in whose creation it participated.
A fair share of that critical public gave a relativising tone to the changes in 2020. And then, with the best of intentions, they came forward against Djukanovic. Even then, they criticised corruption, nepotism and captive institutions. But they consciously ignored the fact that changes would not have been possible without far more powerful and darker partners in that story: Serbian nationalism and the Serbian Orthodox Church. Their mobilisation was crucial. They had social power, and the environmental and anti-capitalist narrative served only as a bridge to political power.
And that urban, civic, anti-corruption elite, with a learned reflex, ascribed to itself an epoch-making role. In their version of history, they deposed Milo. But their political reach did not survive Abazovic’s fall. And since then, their influence has only faded, from PES to some new URA in the future.
This is where we come to the key problem. The largest private media company in the country is persistently trying to present noise as a political power. And now, when only ten MPs say “no”, we still have the feeling that there is resistance to the government’s policies. Alabbar and Long Beach are just examples here.
The truth is, however, that the political reality is clear: power has been handed over to Mandic and his followers. And they use it as they know – for agreements, for positions, for projects.
Today’s pluralism is only an intermediate stage. Side effects of political changes from 2020. The illusion of democratic colourfulness through which a new form of authoritarianism is created, based on clientelism and a new vision of ethno-cartelized Montenegro.
And the intellectual elite are all fed up with anti-capitalism. Instead of creating a class of rich, independent citizens, we still dream of a mother state that will plan everything, give to everyone according to their needs and take from everyone according to their possibilities.
That’s the biggest problem of our progressive class – they don’t know what power looks like. Their media presence has turned into an illusion of political capital. And now, when real politics has stepped on the pedal, they are clamouring – but no one hears them. Their readers are numerous, they like Vijesti and Vanja, but they vote in favour of the government. Then as now. And the system is deeply imbued with a partocracy that corrupts everything – from those who understand everything, to those who are functionally illiterate, of which there are quite a few in this dear homeland of ours.
I do not doubt the intentions of those protesting – I am convinced that most of them act out of sincere concern for the public interest and the future of the country. But if they want to remain relevant, they must be politically smarter, strategically wiser and more realistic in assessing their own influence. Instead of getting stuck in a radical opposition that always denies everything, they need a cool head and the ability to recognize when to stop, when to negotiate, and when to retreat. Because, if reality overtakes them, they will be threatened with the fate of remaining only loud commentators of processes in which they no longer participate. And that would be a shame – both for them and for Montenegro.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(Columnists’ opinions and views are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
