Vujović: The defeat of the majority in Podgorica would open up the question of the legitimacy of the state government

AUTHOR: M.J.-ANTENA M
The failure of the ruling coalition in the elections in Podgorica would open up the question of the legitimacy of the government at the state level, said the president of the Management Board of the Center for Monitoring and Research Zlatko Vujović, stating that the scenario of their more convincing defeat could lead to extraordinary parliamentary elections.
In an interview with the MINA agency, Vujović said that the question of the legitimacy of government at the state level will probably be open if those parties are unable to form a government in Podgorica after the elections.
"If it were to happen that they suffer a significant defeat, if those parties have less than 40 percent of the vote, it will be very difficult for the Government and the ruling coalition to survive. This could push Montenegro towards extraordinary parliamentary elections, or the formation of a new ruling coalition," Vujović said.
He emphasized that just because someone lost in the local elections, it does not mean that they do not have legitimacy and support at the national level.
"But I think that public opinion will have a negative effect and support for the ruling coalition will fall if it does not win the elections in Podgorica," Vujović added.
As he said, if the ruling majority from the state level wins and forms a stable government in Podgorica, then it will strengthen the mandate at the national level.
Vujović said that, from the point of view of voters, it is good that there will be many lists in the elections, because there will be a diverse offer.
"It can have a positive effect - to encourage voters to go to the local elections to a greater extent," believes Vujović.
He pointed out that practice shows that local elections attract significantly fewer voters than national elections.
Vujović emphasized that it is always a question whether more lists mean a better offer or not, which the voters decide.
"What can be burdensome in a way is that a significant number of lists do not pass the electoral threshold," Vujović said.
As he said, at this moment it cannot be known, because no serious research has been done that could indicate with certainty how many lists will not pass the census, that is, how many votes will be scattered, and there is still a lot left until the end of the campaign.
"A significant number of newspapers are participating in the elections for the first time, so it is difficult to assess how the voters will react," stated Vujović.
He added that, should it happen that a significant number of lists remain below the census and there is a large number of scattered votes, the list with the most votes will have a chance to do better in the distribution of mandates than smaller electoral lists.
"So it is not insignificant which list will attract the largest number of votes when the mandates are distributed, and that effect will be further stimulated if there is a larger number of lists below the threshold," Vujović said.
He said that the fact that the political scene has not consolidated and that there are a large number of newspapers does not automatically mean either good or bad.
"A single list of the authorities, that is, of the opposition, does not necessarily mean a better election result, and more lists does not necessarily mean a better result," stated Vujović.
As he said, everything depends on the moment and mood of the voters.
"For some voters, the participation of some parties in the single list is demotivating, that is, it forces such voters to abstain or to vote for another list," Vujović added.
As he stated, the decision on a larger number of papers is, on the one hand, an assessment of the actors themselves as to how they can achieve a better result.
"And on the other hand, it is a measure of a possible agreement between the interested papers. It could also happen that they simply could not agree on the distribution of mandates on the list," Vujović said.
He explained that these processes are even more complicated when it comes to the local level, because the number of council seats at stake is smaller than that of deputies at the national level, and it is difficult to meet the expectations of political parties, which would like to be part of a coalition arrangement, with number and positions on the candidate lists.
"I think it is important that we have a broad offer to the voters, whether it is good or not we will see," Vujović said.
He pointed out that he does not see anything wrong with the fact that more lists go to the elections.
"Because we are already facing a decline in voter participation, that is, they feel saturated with the current political offer," said Vujović.
According to his assessment, political parties are "wasted" quite quickly on the government side.
"We saw that simply voters who supported a party this year changed sides and supported another option in a year. "Voters walk around a lot and the political scene has not stabilized," Vujović pointed out.
He believes that it will take a long time to get some traditional mainstream parties in Montenegro that will dominate the political scene, especially when it comes to the block that, according to Vujović, emerged from the 30th August majority.
Vujović assessed that it is discouraging that the local lists are full of MPs and ministers.
He assessed that it could also be a bad message to the voters.
"Because what does the minister of the interior have to ask for, if he was already the deputy mayor and resigned to be a minister. "It is similar with the current president of Montenegro, who immediately after winning the elections in Podgorica renounced the expected position of mayor and ran for president of Montenegro," Vujović said.
He said that such moves send a message that the candidates are those who will not be councilors due to, among other things, the incompatibility of positions, and open the question of whether these persons are candidates because those parties do not have other quality personnel.
"There are numerous cases of candidate ministers. And this is not the practice of the current government, but of previous governments when those parties were part of the government. Parties should propose candidates who want to manage this city, to devote themselves to its problems, and not see it only as a springboard for a position that brings more power," Vujović added.
As he stated, some parties made good moves by nominating authentic representatives.
"I think that the parties that propose ministers and deputies are confusing their voters," Vujović added.
He said that he does not understand the move for the Minister of Energy Saša Mujović to be a candidate for mayor, as someone who is not on the list of candidates for councilors.
"I didn't understand what that maneuver contributes to, even though legally everything is correct, but it would be significantly more legitimate if he was also a candidate for councilor." "I think that this move caused a lot of damage to the prospects of this party in the next elections, without seeing what benefit it brought them," Vujović added.
He pointed out that if someone takes a certain position, it would be serious to complete the full mandate, whether it is the mayor, deputy mayor or minister.
Vujović said that a lot of negative campaigning between political entities is visible in Podgorica, but that for now it is proceeding peacefully.
As he stated, there is also abuse of state resources and official campaign.
"Official campaigns and misuse of state resources and party recruitment are big problems for Montenegro and they are more than that, they are an unwanted "new normal", Vujović concluded.