By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM analyst
Having in mind that delivered election and post-election promises were mentioning an expert government and a government of no politicians, we have done an analysis of the expertise and political affiliation of the candidates for ministers.
In order to make this analysis as objective as possible, we devised an index of expertise, political engagement and cronyism with a scale from 1 to 5, evaluating five categories:
- Education – from secondary school to PhD.
- Scientific work – number and time of published scientific papers and researches, participation in experts’ forums and conferences, relevance for the given department.
- Work experience – years of experience and relevance for the department.
- Political engagement – date and type of engagement.
- Cronyism – ties with the church, political leaders and parties.
For the first three categories, the grade is positive, i.e. the higher the education or work experience are, for example, the higher the grade is. For the other two categories – negative scoring – the greater the political engagement or closeness to leaders and parties, the lower the grade.
We wish to note that we used public data from the internet for the afore-mentioned analysis. We didn’t take into consideration gossips and semi information.
This is not about assessing how good any of the candidates is, but how well someone is fulfilling the campaign promises made by politicians who will vote for them, and also run this government.
Grade 1 indicates completely betrayed promises and criteria, 5 fully fulfilled promises and criteria. Therefore, all average scores lower than 4.5 represent breaking the campaign promises.
Minister of Defense, Ms Olivera Injac
Education – PhD – 5
Scientific work – a large number of scientific papers, research, conferences relevant to the department – 5
Work experience – University engagement as well as frequent contribution to the strategic documents related to the area of defense – 5
Political engagement – we didn’t find anything – 5
Cronyism – we didn’t find anything – 5
Average score – 5.00
As a candidate, Ms Olivera Injac represents a fulfilment of promises and criteria
Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Sergej Sekulović
Education – Faculty of Law and bar – 4
Scientific work – no available data on the internet – 1
Work experience – he worked in public administration and civil sector, and is acquainted with the political system – 4
Political engagement – used to be a candidate for the parliament member but that was more than 10 years ago – 3
Cronyism – based on available data, he maintains close ties with the leaders of URA, but doesn’t belong to any party – 3
Average score – 3.00
As a candidate, Mr Sergej Sekulović partially does not fulfill campaign promises and criteria
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Đorđe Radulović
Education – we couldn’t find anything about his postgraduate education- 3
Scientific work – no data available – 1
Work experience – high-ranking official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – 5
Political engagement – no data available – 5
Cronyism – no data available – 5
Average score – 3.8
Mr Đorđe Radulović partially fulfills campaign promises and criteria.
Minister of Finance and Social Welfare, Mr Milojko Spajić
Education – Master’s degree at the prestigious HEC Paris – 4
Scientific work – no data available, except for participation at some conferences- 2
Work experience – he gained experience in the area of finances in some large companies until 2017 (according to his own claims). After that, he was working in the start-up companies – 4
Political engagement – he was actively engaged in the campaign of For the Future of Montenegro bloc and took part in religious processions – 1
Cronyism – closely associated with Mr Zdravko Krivokapić, the church and IN4S- 1
Average score 2.4
Mr Milojko Spajić mostly doesn’t fulfill promises and criteria.
Minister of Justice and Minority Rights, Mr Vladimir Leposavić
Education – PhD – 5
Scientific work – five scientific papers relevant for the justice department, but not the minority rights – 3
Work experience – lecturer at the University of the Mediterranean – lawyer experience – 3
Political engagement – he doesn’t belong to any party but was actively engaged in the election campaign in many other ways – 2
Cronyism – chief legal advisor of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro – 1
Average score – 3.2
Mr Vladimir Leposavić doesn’t fulfill promises and criteria at all.
Minister of Capital Investments, Mr Mladen Bojanić
Education – no data available on his Master’s degree – 3
Scientific work – no data available – 1
Work experience – little relevant experience for this department – 2
Political engagement – official of Positive Montenegro (political party), Presidential candidate of the united opposition in 2018 pres. elections – 1
Cronyism – close ties to URA but he’s neither the member nor the official – 3
Average score – 2
Mr Mladen Bojanić mostly doesn’t fulfill promises and criteria
Minister of Economic Development, Mr Jakov Milatović
Education – Master’s degree from the University of Oxford – 4
Scientific work – a large number of research pieces during the engagement at EBRD – 4
Work experience – relevant engagement in the banking sector – 5
Political engagement – no data available – 5
Cronyism – no data available – 5
Average score – 4.6
Mr Jakov Milatović mostly fulfills given promises and criteria
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Ms Vesna Bratić
Education – PhD – 5
Scientific work – 17 papers but irrelevant for these areas- 3
Work experience – engaged in the area of her expertise, associate professor at the University of Montenegro, but possesses little relevant experience for the department – 3
Political engagement – actively took part in religious processions and the campaign of For the Future of Montenegro bloc, media presence – 1
Cronyism – Prime Minister-designate’s successor to take over as leader of his NGO, close ties with the church – 1
Average score – 2.6
Ms Vesna Bratić mostly doesn’t fulfill promises and criteria
Minister of Health, Dr Jelena Borovinić Bojović
Education – Dr of medicine – 5
Scientific work – no data available, a teaching assistant at the faculty – 2
Work experience – as a doctor – yes, at the academy or in the administration – no – 3
Political engagement – no data available – 5
Close ties to church, leaders and parties – close ties with the church, her husband is a DF MP – 1
Average score – 3.2
Dr Jelena Borovinić Bojović somewhat fulfills promises and criteria
Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, Ms Tamara Srzentić
Education – MBA – 4
Scientific work – a large number of relevant researches, cooperation with education institutions- 4
Work experience – Extensive experience both in Montenegro and in the United States – 5
Political engagement – no data available – 5
Cronyism – no data available – 5
Average score 4.6
Ms Tamara Srzentić mostly fulfills campaign promises and criteria
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Mr Aleksandar Stijović
Education – PhD – 5
Scientific work – a large number of relevant researches in the area of forestry, but no papers from the other two areas – 3
Work experience – advising services, he took part in drawing up the strategic documents – 5
Political engagement – no data available – 5
Cronyism – no data available – 5
Average score – 4.6
Mr Aleksandar Stijović mostly fulfills campaign promises and criteria
Minister of Ecology, Urbanism and Spatial Planning, Mr Ratko Mitrović
Education – PhD – 5
Scientific work – he was involved in the preparation of strategic and zoning documents, irrelevant – 2
Work experience – a university professor, subject irrelevant for any of the three areas – 3
Political engagement – no data available – 5
Cronyism – maintains close ties with the church – 1
Average score – 3.2
Mr Ratko Mitrović somewhat fulfills campaign promises and criteria.
