Milo Djukanovic’s Last Fraud

In February 1991, Milo Djukanovic was appointed as Prime Minister of the first “democratically” elected government in Montenegro. Having just turned 29, Djukanovic was the youngest Prime Minister in Europe in what was the first salaried position in his life. From then until today, Djukanovic has continuously been in power. 

On October 16th, 2016, parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro. Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists won 36 seats, the Democratic Front claimed 18, the Big Coalition Key 9, the Democrats 8, the SDP 4, and Bosniak Party won 2, while the Social Democrats of Montenegro won 2 seats and the Albanians and Croats each gained 1 mandate. To form a government, Djukanovic needs the support of minority parties. With the assistance of the US Embassy, he achieved this.

The strength of the Democratic Party of Socialists lies in the public administration. Around 60,000 employee in the public administration have to vote for Djukanovic’s Party, as well as members of their families. In addition, the Democratic Party of Socialists buys the votes of citizens. Prices range from 50 to 250 euros. Higher bribes are offered to Montenegrin citizens who do not live in Montenegro, but in the West. The most bitter opponent of Djukanovic is the Democratic Front. They were expected to gain more. They were present in media and had  almost as much funds for their campaign as the Democratic Party of Socialists. The creator of their campaign was Aron Shaviv. In any case, the Democratic Front will continue to be a headquarters of the opposition. Positive results were also achieved by Aleksa Becic’s Democrats.

The biggest advantage of  the Democrats was that they are new and young people in the political scene who have strong activism on the ground. They are an example that should be followed by other opposition parties.

But the main point is that the elections were held in an irregular atmosphere. The Montenegrin NGO MANS submitted 117 applications to the Special State Prosecutor and during the election day they were contacted by 490 citizens who reported violations at the polls. On election day, Viber and WhatsApp were switched off. And if opposition was strictly forbidden, members of Djukanovic’s party stood close to voting places and noted whether their supporters voted fro them. If they didn’t vote, they would be threatened with consequences. 

The Democratic Party of Socialists has also perfected a popularity system known as the “Bulgarian train.” But what undoubtedly marked this election day were the reports on the arrest of “Serbian terrorists”. Breaking news erupted during the elections that the Montenegrin police, in cooperation with the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and National Security Agency, arrested 20 people from Serbia who are suspected of attempting a coup. However, Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic, who led the investigation, publicly admitted that there is no material evidence. When asked where are these plotters’ guns supposed to kill citizens, Katnic said that they had been destroyed somewhere on the territory of Serbia and Albania along the border. In addition, he added that the evidence was not destroyed by Montenegrin investigators themselves, but by some who were authorized by Montenegrin authorities. But he could not reveal who these people are. Finally, he admitted that there is not a single photo of the weapons. And not only that, he also went one step ahead and added that Montenegro police themselves carried out the arrest and did not inform their colleagues in Serbia and Albania that they had crossed onto their territory and burned weapons. Then Katnic claimed that the “terrorists” wanted to enter the parliament with people and politicians around midnight and capture the Prime Minister.

But what would the Prime Minister be doing in the parliament building on Sunday around midnight was another question to which Katnic had no answer. Although on the election day he provoked unrest among citizens with the announcement that the arrested terrorists planned attacks in cooperation with some politicians, he now claims that he has no idea who these politicians are.

“I do not know who are these politicians. I do not have any evidence against any politician” - said Katnic.

In such a situation in which Djukanovic saw that he was losing the elections, he took a desperate move - plan B, which was previously planned in detail. For this kind of fraud, he needed help. With the assistance of the US Embassy, he got it. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, despite the fact that 20 Serbian citizens were arrested without any evidence, did not ask for any explanation. Thanks to Aleksandar Vucic, Djukanovic could continue his show about “Serbian terrorists”.  His aim was to scare ethnic minorities into voting for his party. Unfortunately, this happened. In his election campaign, Djukanovic openly attacked Russia. He claimed that Russia financed the opposition even though he could not offer any evidence for his claims. The main problem for Djukanovic now is that the opposition does not recognize the election results because of all the irregularities. Protests are a real possibility. One thing is certain: the people of Montenegro are ready to fight for freedom.