Jakupi is suspected of influencing voters, he denies that he "interceded" for Milatović

Yesterday, the Democratic Party of Socialists submitted a criminal complaint to the Special State Prosecutor's Office against the acting assistant director of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Emigrants, Arben Jakupi, for influencing voters not to vote in the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday.
The party emphasizes that on March 23, Jakupi, abusing his official position, contrary to Article 27 of the Regulation on the Organization and Mode of Operation of the State Administration, influenced voters from the diaspora not to exercise their Constitutionally guaranteed rights, that is, not to vote in the upcoming presidential elections.
In the application, the DPS emphasizes that the goal of Jakupi was to help the presidential candidate Jakov Milatović, who is supported by the Party of Justice and Reconciliation, to which he belongs, in achieving the best possible election result.
By doing so, he threatened the entire election process and called into question the realization of the constitutional right of every citizen of Montenegro who is currently outside of Montenegro - according to the DPS.
In a controversial statement on March 23, Jakupi said that he "does not expect a mass arrival of the diaspora, because this is not an issue of national interest, nor is it being decided whether Montenegro will follow the European path or isolation" and that "the diaspora is totally peaceful and that not even two thousand people will come".
In the DPS, they believe that he directly influenced voters from the diaspora not to exercise their voting rights in Montenegro, which is why they called on the Special Prosecutor's Office to carry out all actions within its jurisdiction in order to protect the rights and position of the diaspora .
Jakupi, on the other hand, points out that it is not true that he urged the diaspora not to exercise their voting rights and that the criminal complaint against him makes absolutely no sense.
At no point did I call on the diaspora not to exercise their rights. It is a staged report and we have no problem with that - said Jakupi.
He also said at the press conference that the problem for DPS is that the Administration he manages has not sided with any presidential candidate.
Jakupi also claims that this party previously controlled the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and threatened that there is a lot of evidence of abuses committed during that period.
He also pointed out that the previous government is responsible for the fact that our diaspora does not have the opportunity to exercise its right to vote through diplomatic and consular representations of Montenegro in the countries where they live.
The administration will advocate for changes in the law so that these people can finally vote in the diplomatic and consular offices of the countries where they live - Jakupi announced.
He repeated the earlier position that calling the diaspora to influence the election process is inappropriate and incorrect, but he also emphasized that the number of our emigrants abroad with the right to vote in Montenegro is very small and ranges from 120 to 150 thousand people, while the complete the diaspora numbers from 600 thousand to a million people.
Calling the diaspora to influence the election process is, in my opinion, inappropriate and incorrect. About 120,000 to 150,000 of our citizens in the diaspora have the right to vote in Montenegro, and most of these people never exercise their right to vote. Many citizens who left our country did not register their residence - Jakupi pointed out.
He also stated that associations from the diaspora can organize themselves and come to vote in Montenegro and that no one can challenge their right, but also that state resources will no longer be used for these purposes.
Some parties are used to using citizens' resources for the political purposes of their own parties. As long as I am at the head of this administration, citizens' funds will not be used for the political purposes of bringing our diaspora to vote in the elections - Jakupi concluded.
Before the elections, eight charter flights to Montenegro were reported
As Arben Jakupi announced, eight charter flights with our emigrants were reported to the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora for the upcoming presidential elections.
That number will not exceed four thousand voters, and that is precisely why there is panic in the DPS, because they failed to bring a larger number of people - said Jakupi.
He added that our diaspora brought about 920 million euros to Montenegro last year alone, which, as he stated, significantly affects our GDP.
He also pointed out that the Montenegrin diaspora is the most numerous in Argentina, followed by Turkey, Western America and Canada, and that these people cannot influence the electoral process, because they do not have the right to vote in Montenegro.
M. J.- POBJEDA