Justice Minister Pažin for Aljazeera Balkans: Political scenario of destabilising Montenegro has failed

Montenegro’s Justice Minister Zoran Pažin said earlier today that the political scenario of destabilising Montenegro in order to block one of its strategic objectives - getting a NATO invitation, has failed.

"Despite the efforts made by some social stakeholders towards destabilising political situation in Montenegro, as it is clear that one of the primary goals was to block Montenegro’s strategic priority on the eve of getting an invitation to join NATO, I am pleased to note that such a political scenario has failed. Montenegro is a stable country, its institutions are mature institutions of a democratic society that can resolve all kinds of social issues, including those that have been in focus recently," said Minister Pažin for Aljazeera Balkans.

He made a guest appearance on Aljazeera’s live broadcast from Podgorica and said that the Government will not and cannot meet the Democratic Front’s demands.

"The rule of law is the foundation of the constitutional order. There is no rule of law without free, democratic elections. I have to say that the Democratic Front’s political demands are quite the opposite – to form a government that would not stem from freely expressed will of citizens. In addition, violence as a method of political struggle is totally unacceptable in a democratic society," he explained.

When asked about “the criminal charges for the overthrow of the constitutional order filed against the organisers of the protest gathering," the Minister of Justice said it is about "a serious criminal offense, with serious consequences and a high degree of social danger."

"At the moment, I have no intention to prejudice the final outcome of these proceedings. Great seriousness is required to determine all relevant facts, illuminate all the circumstances, and I expect the Prosecutor’s Office to  inform us about the legal consequences arising from such established facts," Minister Pažin said for Aljazeera Balkans.

Answering the question on the conclusions reached by of the Council for Civil Control of the Police saying that there were cases of exceeding police powers, the Justice Minister said that "any use of violence that has no basis in the law requires an appropriate response by the institutions of the system."

"In Montenegro, there are several institutions monitoring the police performance, namely the Council for Civil Control of the Police, which issued a press statement through your programme, the parliamentary security committee, as well as the internal control of the Ministry of the Interior. I expect all these institutions to answer the question," Minister Pažin underlined.

He in particular emphsised it is crucial "to make a principled distinction between violent attempts to change the constitutional order along with violence escalation and unforeseeable consequences that threatened" on the one hand, and "individual cases of potential exceeding powers by individual police officers, on the other hand."

Minister Pažin said that the Government of Montenegro is as stable as any other government that enjoys support of the Parliament.

"The political forces claiming the opposite should test their political ideas in the Parliament in a bid to vote no confidence against the Government or dissolve the Parliament, which would mean the end of the government's political mandate. Since none of the political parties tried to do that, I note that the Government is stable and in full mandate," the Montenegrin Justice Minister underscored in an interview with Aljazeera Balkans earlier today.

Link: http://balkans.aljazeera.net/video/pazin-o-politickoj-situaciji-u-crnoj-gori

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO