From the third protest it was said: Montenegro is not for sale, we demand elections

By Nevena Kovačević

The new protest of the "Ima nas" movement was held tonight on the plateau in front of the Montenegrin parliament building. Thousands of citizens from all Montenegrin cities gathered, repeating demands for the organization of early parliamentary elections, the withdrawal of the unconstitutional Law on the President, and the unblocking of the Constitutional Court.

After the state anthem was played, torches were lit, and the Montenegrin flag was raised, speakers addressed the crowd.

Civic activist Predrag Vušurović said that the gathered citizens demand early elections so that Montenegro gets a state responsible government that will work for the benefit of the citizens.

“Montenegro, on its streets and sidewalks, is gathering strength and people, and it will continue to do so. To clearly tell everyone that you are not afraid and what you will not allow. Never Montenegro - the kind Vučić dreams of,” Vušurović emphasized.

He also conveyed a message to the Prime Minister in technical mandate, Dritan Abazović.

“Someone should tell Dritan Abazović - the show is over,” Vušurović stated.

Actor Zoran Vujović addressed the crowd with the verses of “Zakletva” (Oath), which is based, as he said, on anti-fascist virtues, values, and heritage.

“I swear by everything that is most sacred to me in life - Montenegro! (My morning, my night, my dawn) That I will preserve peace and defend the borders of your East, West, North, and South! That I will respect your symbols, your flag, your coat of arms, and your colors! That I will love and respect all the nations that always stand by your side! Sisters and brothers - Equal before your law, all your laws, and your Constitution! I swear, Montenegro - For yesterday, for today, for tomorrow, Land of May 21st, Land of our beginning, and Land of eternal glory! Ojha!”

Student Ilija Vujačić said that prices are rising, living standards are falling, and schools have no heating, and stated that someone will have to answer for this.

“Raise your hands and flags high, let them see what a united civic Montenegro looks like. What their nightmare looks like! You will no longer play politics, nor with your people! From today, we are in charge! We were sleeping, but we are waking up! You are finished! From tonight, there is no more talk! From tonight, we are working! We are the change, we will bring the change,” Vujačić emphasized.

Pobjeda journalist Kaćuša Krsmanović, whose name appeared on BIRN's scandalous map of right-wing and extremist organizations as a member of the informal group Bogougodnice, said that civic activists and journalists labeled as extremists in the BIRN analysis are not afraid and cannot be silenced.

“Good evening, rebellious Montenegro! Good evening, citizens who have been defending the newly re-enslaved state for over two years. We are here,” Krsmanović began.

As she added, “we are here to defend the Constitution, the damaged reputation of Montenegro, the destroyed institutions.”

“We are here to defend and uphold our right to raise our voice in defense of civic Montenegro,” Krsmanović stated.

She said she was there to send a message to the outgoing Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and those who tasked him with returning Montenegro under the Serbian boot and Russian influence.

“It won’t happen,” Krsmanović emphasized.

She is there, as she stated, to clearly tell those who want to force us into silence – “it won’t happen as long as we are here.”

“And we are here. And there will be more of us. Abazović, your lists of the undesirable are in vain. Your threats are in vain, your media service is in vain. The nine of us – Predrag Vušurović, Nebojša Mrvaljević, Tanja Knežević-Perišićić, Draško Didi Martinović, Aleksandar Saša Zeković, Maja Miličković, Tijana Lopičić, Tanja Pavićević, and I – whom you have now targeted to discredit us – and others for whom you are preparing lists for media and political elimination – we say: we are not afraid. And we will never be silent. Our duty, as free people, is to raise our voice,” Krsmanović emphasized. She added that they are here to decisively and unwaveringly say: “Enough is enough.”

“Montenegro is our sanctuary. Our home and our state. And we are not radical right-wingers, extremists. We are dignified and worthy pillars of this country. You will not crush and erase us,” Krsmanović said.

They did not succeed in that, she said, even in 1918, the ideologues of the current government, adding that even after that terror and the erasure of our country's name from the map of European states, Montenegro survived.

“There were enough of our ancestors to leave a legacy to their descendants to return Montenegro to where it belongs. And we returned it on May 21, 2006. And we are here to preserve it, to defend its anti-fascist foundations and civilizational values, its European future, which you have shamelessly attacked. We are not afraid. and we will never back down. Your lists are in vain. We will not budge an inch. We are here,” Krsmanović concluded.

Member of the Liberal Party, Vido Drašković, said that enough sleep has been had and it is time to rebel.

“Podgorica, it is high time. Enough sleep, night, and darkness, so I will not wish you good evening, but coming from UNESCO Kotor, I will wish good morning to awakened Montenegro. The Montenegrin dawn is breaking. The light of the ignited torch will dispel the darkness that is dangerously looming over Montenegro. In its millennium of existence, Montenegro has not had peace. It remembers Nemanja, Murat, Bonaparte, who tested their swords on it, but they passed, and Montenegro survived, building its identity woven with honor, justice, and freedom,” said Drašković.

As he added, the klero-nationalist government claims to have liberated Montenegro.

“It is true, it liberated us from all good, which confirms that there is no happiness in the people whose hats are black. The result of their two-year rule is a state of emergency. Their goal is to overthrow the only legitimate and legal institution, the president of the state, in order to present Montenegro as unsustainable. Are there enough of us to prevent the overthrow of the constitution?” Drašković asked.

Those who, as he says, kiss foreign hands, those who spit on their own house from a foreign threshold, who are someone else's broom and shovel, want to push Montenegro into the Open Balkans.

“This is nothing else but the 'Serbian world' in order to stop Montenegro on its path to the EU for the interest of the despot, their master from Andrićev venac. The small man, a big liar in a high state position, is leading this. Are there enough of us to stop this? By signing a shameful contract with the Serbian Orthodox Church, he knew that he would destabilize Montenegro, which was his goal - to divert Montenegro from the European path. Our obligation to our ancestors, and our duty to our descendants, is to preserve what our ancestors fought for and left us as an inheritance, to pass it on to our descendants. Are there enough of us to meet the challenges ahead? We have two paths ahead of us - Open Balkans – the abyss of the klero-nationalist jaws, and the European Union – a society of developed and prosperous nations. Come to your senses, citizens of Montenegro, if we do not think and plan, we will face trouble right at our doorstep,” Drašković concluded.

The parliamentary majority, created without any electoral program that would bring improvement to Montenegro, was formed with only one goal - to humiliate it as much as possible, to turn it back 30 years, to divert it from the European path, and to question its survival, said the president of the Bar Municipal Board of Social Democrats (SD), Branislav Bane Nenezić.

“A lot has happened in these two years under the direction of the first experimental, expert, and extreme government, and then the 'census' government, which, as the culmination of its work, took the liberty of proposing laws that are in direct conflict with the Constitution of Montenegro. Today it is the law on the president, what is next? The law on state symbols, flag, and anthem,” asked Nenezić. He reminded that our athletes go to championships thanks to the enthusiasm of a few people in the federations who love this country, and then those same people, as he said, who cheer for athletes of other countries, take the liberty of congratulating our sports heroes on their successes.

Nenezić also reminded that the prices of basic foodstuffs are rising, the consumer basket is getting bigger day by day, and no one is proposing any measures.

“And how could they, when those in charge of the economy have no intention of dealing with the economy, as they themselves say. And as a culmination, from this school year, our children, when going to school, have to dress in layers to be able to write at their desks because our schools have no heating! Well, enough is enough. And among them are those who are aware of this,” emphasized Nenezić. He points out that no individual or group of them is above Montenegro because, he emphasizes, we are all Montenegro.

“Come to your senses, Montenegrins, all of you who are here tonight, as well as those who are not here for some reason, and even those who voted for change on August 30, 2020, because you certainly did not vote for this, no individual or group of them is above Montenegro because we are all Montenegro. The greatest value is our civic Montenegro, in which we strive for all of us to be equal. A free, civic Montenegro is something for which we must fight with dignity but persistently, no one will give it to us,” Nenezić said.

He added that they will not give up on the demands for new early parliamentary elections and that citizens should decide who will lead and represent them.

“For evil to triumph, it is enough for good people to do nothing, let's not allow ourselves that. We are here! Long live!” Nenezić concluded.

Vučić's servants with their evil intentions of subjugating Montenegro will not pass. The servants of Belgrade did not pass in the 90s either, so they will not pass today in independent and NATO Montenegro, said MP of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Draginja Vuksanović-Stanković.

“We are here and we have always been here to say a big 'no' to anti-Montenegrin, anti-civic, anti-European, primitive, nationalist, Greater Serbian politics. No, like Lovćen, no, like Durmitor, no, like Rumija,” emphasized Vuksanović-Stanković.

She emphasized that the people of the glorious July 13th will never surrender.

“Those unfortunate people think they can compensate for all their defeats, shame, and great-state delusions through Montenegro. They think so because they know nothing. They don't know that the people of Tuđemili, Vučji do, Fundina, Martinići, Vrtijeljka, Grahovac, the people of the Christmas Uprising, the glorious July 13th, and all Montenegrin anti-fascist brigades will never surrender. As long as there is sun and as long as there is Grahovac – never!” emphasized the SDP MP.

Vuksanović-Stanković recalled the great words of Njegoš: “But the rugged and poor Montenegro cares neither for Nemanja, nor for Murat, nor even for Bonaparte; they all came and passed, and tested their swords on the Montenegrins wherever they tried, and disappeared, and Montenegro remained forever and until the Last Judgment in its will and freedom, and that is in glory.”

She also touched upon the issue of Open Balkans, emphasizing that Montenegro will go to Europe, not to the phantom Serbian world.

“Since these Vučić's pawns have been running around these days telling us again about some kind of Open Balkans. OB can go to hell, Dritan Abazović! Here’s Vulin and Raković for you, here’s Bećković for you, and you can trumpet all you want in Belgrade! But keep your hands off Montenegro. Montenegro will go to Europe, not to the Middle Ages! Montenegro will go to the EU, not to the phantom Serbian world. Long live our indestructible, one and only, our mother, our homeland Montenegro,” concluded Vuksanović-Stanković.

Member of the Presidency of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Nermin Abdić, said that they gathered to defend every inch of their only homeland.

“We must all say here that Montenegrins do not kiss chains. Montenegro has no alternative, it must move steadily into the family of European nations. Montenegro must preserve its civic character and multi-ethnic and multi-religious harmony,” Abdić said.

He emphasized that the citizens gathered in front of the Assembly out of love for their country, stating that there will be even more of them.