The Civic Alliance calls on all subjects in society to contribute to the building and development of democracy in Montenegro.
Tomorrow marks 15 years since the decision of the UN General Assembly to declare 15 September as the International Day of Democracy, calling on all members, governmental and non-governmental organizations to mark that day as a day of struggle for the realization of democratic ideas. Montenegro joined the marking of this day in 2013.
The concept of democracy has undergone various changes, but essentially democracy is understood as equal rights for all citizens. Montenegro presents itself as a democratic state, equal for all its citizens. The equality of citizens is reflected in the same possibility of access to justice, education and healthcare systems, equal employment rights, in short – equal rights in all areas of life. Montenegrin citizens do not have or are denied many of these rights. A democratic state requires strong and independent institutions, an independent judiciary and, crucially, the absence of political influence in making decisions that do not have a political character. The political crisis in Montenegro has certainly shown an even deeper gap between what the political elites call democracy and the actual situation. Essentially, there are two types of democracy – representative and direct. It could be said that Montenegro is a representative democracy, where citizens choose their representatives in elections, which has led to the situation that democracy is today captured in the hands of citizens’ representatives.
The Government of Montenegro must be aware that it bears the greatest responsibility in society, because it makes decisions and has the most resources at its disposal. With the change of government on 30 August 2020, important and positive changes took place, such as good social programs and work towards a better standard of living, increased transparency in the work of the Parliament and the Government, and a more effective fight against corruption. Nevertheless, the citizens expected changes, freed institutions, the rule of law, absence of party employment – which did not happen. This caused great disappointment among the citizens and proved once again that the path of development and progress towards a democratic society is very difficult, which must push the authorities to work much harder to build democratic principles and thus create a solid, realistic foundation for the path to the EU.
