It is known that President Milo Đukanović is today at the head of the defense of the state, nation, culture, church and everything that is Montenegrin. That is why he represents an individual who should be removed in order for those who are now in power to achieve their goal more easily – said political analyst Ranko Đonović in a statement for Pobjeda, commenting on the allegations published by the Network for Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS).
The director of this organization, Vanja Ćalović-Marković, announced the day before yesterday that within the global research project “Pandora's Papers”, they discovered that the president and his son Blažo concluded secret property management agreements in 2012, hiding behind a complicated network of related companies from Great Britain, Switzerland, The British Virgin Islands, Panama and Gibraltar.
She said that Djukanovic's goal was to hide his property, but also that the existence of trusts does not necessarily mean that there was illegal activity.
MANIPULATION, NOT AN AFFAIR
Djonovic believes that the citizens of Montenegro should wait for the evidence for what, as he says, “this fifth column claims”.
– Ćalović-Marković and many others in Montenegro today are doing all this, as they say, worried about the fate of the state and citizens, although this government has directed Montenegro on the path of hopelessness, at the same time giving promises that can only be crazy joy – said Djonovic.
He believes that the published allegations do not constitute an affair, but that it is an already seen manipulation.
– Is the new affair really an affair and are there elements of a criminal act or is it just, as many times before, a manipulation that the opponents of the state of Montenegro want to use whenever they are given the opportunity? I would say that this is the second one – he assessed.
They only need, he added, to secure places in the prosecutor's office, its control, so that “we are warmed by the sun promised by nobody's prime minister Zdravko Krivokapić, who is not recognized even by those who appointed him there.”
He also says that the time in which this affair opened is symptomatic and that its main political goal is, knowing that new elections are imminent soon, assessing that this is why a new party is mentioned, and that the current government is preparing for them.
– If most of these “fifth columnists” regain power, we could say today that Montenegro as a state has already started counting its last days – as a new Chetnik area of ”Greater Serbia” – and the path to that goal would be achieved through “Little Schengen”, “Serbian world” or something similar – Djonovic is categorical.
As he said, Montenegro was not great even with the previous government, it can be attacked and it can be resented for many things, but it has not been “such a circus as it has been seen so far”.
– The circus is complete, but its difference from the original is that there are incomparably more clowns in almost all segments and that ours are not funny, but sadly tragic for us – he said.
He added that talks or dialogues should not be held with those who do not see or understand that even today.
– In the previous 30 years, we have gone through all the circles of hell, and now they are taking us back to the beginning again – Djonovic concluded.
DISTRACTION
In a series of reactions to “Pandora's papers” during yesterday, numerous politicians and officials spoke out. The President of the Assembly, Aleksa Bečić, said that concluding contracts through a complicated network of connected companies is mysterious, and therefore hidden, and pointed out that information that has an international aspect requires an independent investigation.
– We have many aspects of secrecy in previous years that have been documented and discovered, and this is now, obviously, one of the biggest discoveries about founding companies, all hidden from the citizens and institutions of Montenegro – said Bečić.
DPS MP Andrija Nikolić assessed that the published data are aimed at diverting attention from the entry of the Democratic Front into the Government.
– While MANS is spinning with the help of Abazović and Krivokapić, DF is in a low start for entering the Government. And the public to have fun with spin information that is 10 years old – he wrote on Twitter.
The general secretary of that party, Aleksandar Bogdanović, has the same attitude, emphasizing that in this way they want to amortize the reactions of the public due to the fact that by joining the Government, the DF will have the most departments.
The vice president of the Social Democratic Party, Bojan Zeković, said that the party expects the competent authorities to investigate the allegations of MANS, emphasizing that due to the fact that they refer to the president, they impose priority in the work of the Police Administration and the State Prosecutor's Office.
– Establishing the full and official truth is necessary, because the law should apply equally to everyone. We also call on the President of Montenegro to proactively cooperate with state bodies so that the legality of someone's work is primarily a legal, not a political issue – said Zeković.
The full and official truth is necessary, he added, in order to determine not only legal but also political responsibility.
QUESTIONS ASKED FOR ANSWER
The political director of URA, Ana Novaković-Đurović, pointed out that Đukanović had not only once deceived the public that he did not have accounts abroad, and called on him to answers the question why he opened accounts in countries that are recognized as destinations of “tax haven”.
– Why didn't he open accounts in Montenegro during the “establishment of business infrastructure”? What could be the motive for such complex financial operations, in distant destinations, through offshore companies, if not just hiding property – Novaković-Đurović asked.
On this occasion, a member of the DPS presidency, Aleksandar Žurić, said that “gentlemen from governmental and para-governmental formations” have been trying for years to place the same “sensational” fabrications, for which they never offered any evidence, except for an inactive company and an inactive he emphasizes that, from the time when Djukanović was not a public official.
One of the leaders of the DF and the president of the Movement for Changes, Nebojša Medojević, believes that the disclosure of secret offshore companies owned by Djukanović is a sufficient political and constitutional reason for his recall, and that impeachment is a precondition for normalizing the situation in Montenegro.
The Socialist People's Party assessed that Djukanovic's explanation that at the time of establishing the trusts in the offshore zone he was not in the function of “not drinking water”, and speaks in favor of the fact that his intention to engage in private business in this way was not pure.
SDT formed the case
The special state prosecutor's office (SDT) has formed a case regarding the allegations of MANS that Djukanović and his son Blažo concluded secret agreements on property management through a network of five companies.
– Regarding the announcement of MANS, which participated in the global investigation “Pandora papers”, we point out that SDT immediately after learning about the event formed a case and it will take all measures and actions within its competence to establish facts and circumstances – said the SDT.
Krivokapic: What is the purpose of the company scheme?
Yesterday, Krivokapić's office asked how many companies and trusts that exist only on paper, Đukanović has, and what is the cost of 60 minutes of legal services of law offices Charles Mia Limited or ALGOCAL.
– What is the purpose of such a complex scheme of companies, such a large number of intermediaries and why the payment of enormous legal services for trusts and companies that “never did business” – they pointed out from Krivokapić's cabinet.
As they said, Montenegro would already be a full member of the European Union today, with independent institutions and a developed economy, if it was ruled by people who were agile in defending state, not personal interests.
They say that “Djukanović and his party protectors” must keep in mind that, as they assess, economic crimes against this country are not forgotten and do not become obsolete.
Earlier yesterday, the DPS announced that instead of dealing with the spread of fabricated scandals, Krivokapić is using the new situation to remove the focus from the truth and the results of his work.
– It is illusory that the topic of transparency is emphasized by the Prime Minister, about whose work new information is emerging again. The prime minister who was appointed to that position in the monastery, in the intention and effort of a religious organization to install a man who will unquestioningly serve the return of Montenegro to the Middle Ages and the era when secular and spiritual authorities were united – stated the DPS.
The same prime minister, they added, was forced today to accept everything he had refused for months, just to save his seat.
– You do not have to be a political expert to understand what is happening on the Montenegrin political scene, because once you close your eyes, and then realize that the jailer of dark ideologies is suddenly part of the Government that should fight Montenegro's entry into the European Union – concluded from the DPS.