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Medojević: URA has formed a huge capital that wants to prevent reforms

In coming days, Movement for Changes will inform prime minister-designate, Mr Zdravko Krivokapić, on the departments this party is interested in, said in the interview for Nova M Mr Nebojša Medojević, leader of the Movement for Changes.

Speaking about the security sector in which the Black and White coalition led by Mr Dritan Abazović is interested, Mr Medojevic says that URA is a political organization founded by large transitional capital, i.e. the owners of Vijesti, hence the interest of one green party in this sector. This is actually the wish of the owner of Vijesti, that is, that large capital, to prevent reforms, Mr Medojević underlined.

The leader of the coalition For the Future of Montenegro, Mr Zdravko Krivokapić, has been officially proposed as the prime minister-designate for the composition of the new government. He has already talked about the formation of the Government with certain leaders of the parties that are part of the DF. Did you have a meeting with Mr Krivokapić in the meantime on that topic and were any personal solutions agreed?

Mr Medojević: We had a meeting at the level of the leaders of the coalition For the Future of Montenegro before Mr Krivokapić received mandate from the President, so we clarified all unclear things regarding the principle of functioning and formation of the Government. On behalf of the Movement for Changes, I informed the prime minister-designate about how we see the way of forming the Government, and these days, we will inform him specifically about the areas we want to participate in this Government.

I think my associates and I have more or less already said publicly what are the areas that interest us. Politics is a public activity and I believe that everything should be said publicly and that nothing should be hidden and it is clear that the Movement for Change is interested in those areas that are close to the program of the Movement for Changes. These are democratic transition, reforms, the fight against organized crime and corruption, the fight against organized crime and corruption, strengthening ties with the NATO alliance and, of course, those areas where we have competent personnel, i.e. science, technology, development and education.

Of course, we have more quality people who need to be agreed with the prime minister, and it concerns spatial planning and some development institutions. In any case, that part of the mandate of the Government and the department that is compatible with the program of the Movement for Changes.

We could hear your position in public regarding URA’s request that the security sector should belong to that coalition. We heard the statement of the leader of the Black and White coalition, Mr Dritan Abazović, that people who are loyal to the state and who are not politically colored should be in that sector. What’s your comment on that?

Mr Medojević: It is a little strange for the party that belongs to the Green Movement to show interest in defending the army and security. This is not common. Usually these parties in the European Union show interest in ecology, sustainable development, human rights, possibly justice depending on their interests, and this is really the first time that URA shows interest in this very complex, very complex and very risky area.

Is a compromise possible in that sense, given the still strong position of URA? Do you remain of the opinion that you will not give up the security sector so easily after all?

Mr Medojević: Here we now have one specificity. That is the question for the prime minister. So, the Movement for Change is a party that was formed by a group of intellectuals and experts from various fields, who were dissatisfied with the current political situation and decided to transform the NGO Group for Change into a political party whose name only says that we are reform-oriented and that since its founding, we have fought for reconciliation, primarily of Montenegrins and Serbs in Montenegro, i.e. those who voted for independence and those who voted for a common state.

So that’s how we were established. URA was created by large capital, the transitional capital of the owner of Vijesti and a circle of transitional businessmen who acquired their capital in the affairs of the first Djukanović family and of course with certain communications with this corrupt security service and other structures that enabled the acquisition of that capital.

There was a lot of controversy in the public about the interference of the church and church dignitaries in general in the formation of the government. Even certain negotiations were conducted in monasteries. You said earlier that the church should return to its role. How do you comment on the fact that the church interferes in politics in a secular state?

Mr Medojević: This is simply a matter of protecting the principles of democracy, parliamentary democracy and constitutional relations between the state and the church. Democratic Front and Movement for Changes, having in mind the challenges we face, will extremely need the spiritual, moral support of prayer and in general the support that the church has as an authority. But we don’t need the church to interfere in operational daily political issues, to decide who will be the minister, whether the police will be within the Ministry of the Interior, who will be the head of customs … These are simply daily political issues and there is no place for the church. We think that it is in the interest of both the church and democracy and the new government and the church that everyone does their job.

There are big ideological differences between the coalitions that will form the government. Do you believe in the survival of the future government?

Mr Medojević: At the moment, there are no big ideological differences because, to be honest, I can’t tell you what the ideology of the URA is or what the ideology of the Democrats is. I know about colleagues from NOVA and DNP who take into account the national interests of the Serbian people in Montenegro, Orthodoxy and Christianity in a broader sense, but I think that the Movement for Changes shows that this must be taken into account.

We have been following certain princioples from the beginning – democracy reform, reconciliation, zero tolerance for crime and corruption, radical change in the country and of course the protection of these values that our ideology speaks of – free market, primary property, respect for human rights, respect for identity, our past, traditions but of course in a modern sense.

This does not mean going back to the Middle Ages, and negotiating tax policy in monasteries or deciding who will be arrested there, going back to the time of the Inquisition. It is not a good path and that is why I think that my message to our leaders in the church that everything should fit into the challenges that await us is extremely well-intentioned. The interests of citizens are above anything else, the people are looking for changes, the people are looking for harmony, it is not easy to always agree people who have different interests and different views on the future of Montenegro, so the important principle is to agree and compromise, not to blackmail or condition.

You have been at the head of the Movement for Changes for a long time. Now a part of the public fears that the Montenegrin identity is endangered. Is the independence of Montenegro on the exam and what, apart from the letter on paper – the Agreement signed, guarantees that the basic state and civil Montenegrin values are not endangered?

Mr Medojević: Montenegro is an independent state, a member of the NATO pact, we have seen that all signatories, regardless of ideology, have accepted that international agreements of the state of Montenegro are state agreements, not agreements of political parties. However, we now have a broad coalition government and we must harmonize state policy and not insist on party policies or personal perceptions of some identity issues.

In any case, citizens can be peaceful. As a Montenegrin, as a sovereign, I often feel that my rights are also endangered. On the one hand, these prepaid Montenegrins and nationalists, and on the other hand, members of other extreme nationalism forms. Not only Serbian nationalism in Montenegro is active, but also Albanian and Bosniak, and everyone has aspirations for parts of the territory, and that can only be resolved by agreement.

The progress report states more or less the same weaknesses in Montenegro. Ms Vesna Medenica announced her resignation. The system also appears to be blocked by acting states in important positions. How do you see the unraveling of that tangle?

Mr Medojević: This is a consequence of the lack of will of the government to radically change the system because those changes would not suit the former regime and the former government. They wanted to formally change what they could and what did not harm them, and where it interferes with their interests, they did not change it.

It is this area that we talked about – it means security, judiciary, prosecution. It has been so contaminated with corruption in these 30 years that radical reform measures are needed. It is not enough just to coordinate the security service, but to radically change them + everything depends on the political will of the government and the movement for change is looking for these positions in the Government that would deal with reforms and coordination of reforms.

 

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