A protest took place in Podgorica, Montenegro on Monday, demanding the postponement of the population registration process scheduled from November 1 to 15. Svetlana Pajović Musić, the organizer, warned that citizens would be urged to boycott if the government did not abandon the registration.
She also noted that “similar messages have been conveyed by members of the European Parliament”.
According to Nikola Zirojević of the Social Democratic Party, it’s evident that the registration process is attempting ethnic manipulations.
“The current situation indicates that registration is planned to occur without any agreement with the opposition. Everything they had in 2011, the opposition no longer possesses,” stated Zirojević.
Jelena Marković, Vice President of the Liberal Party, stressed that her political faction will not permit the registration of the Montenegrin population as what she referred to as “servants of Aleksandar Vučić”.
“We won’t allow his servants to count us because this registration was intended to be repeated as in 1918 when Montenegro was culturally assimilated,” remarked Marković.
Opposition parties and some civil society organizations in Montenegro view the population registration preparation process as running counter to legal provisions and constituting an abuse of fundamental human rights.
All opposition parties and minority parties have called for the postponement or boycotting of the registration process.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Montenegro on Wednesday, in which it stated that “high political tensions and polarization have resulted in a delay in the country’s accession process to the European Union”.
The resolution garnered support from 529 deputies, while 51 opposed it, and 53 abstained.
Members of the European Parliament, including rapporteur Tonino Picula and Socialist deputy Pedro Marques, submitted amendments to the report, requesting the postponement of the upcoming population registration. They argued that the process should adhere to EU standards and only proceed once the political impasse in the country has been resolved.
