October 16, 2019 - Vladimir Jokić, former Mayor of Kotor, addressed Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković regarding his visit on Monday, October 14.
Mr. Markovic,
During yesterday's visit to Kotor, you stated a falsehood about how, despite your insistence, you did not have the opportunity to discuss important development issues with the previous local government, which allegedly cost both Kotor and Montenegro. During the two and a half years that I have been in charge of the Kotor municipality, you have received numerous letters from our local government on various issues. You never replied to any of these letters. When you were in the city twice during this period, you did not announce yourself or visit anyone from the local government. The only time you suggested the meeting was on the occasion of Kotor Municipality Day when you invited me to come to Podgorica to congratulate me at the Prime Minister's Office in Podgorica. I have already told you once before, and I will take this opportunity to reiterate that given the millennial history of Kotor, getting back to Podgorica to receive congratulations on the Day of Kotor would be a degradation of the history of the City at the expense of the government. I would never allow myself to do so. There is nothing worthy of the dignity of the City of Kotor. In the end, it's a matter of manners and a nice upbringing to congratulate the celebrator on his home.
Mr. Markovic,
What costs Montenegro and Kotor is the policy of the DPS and your government. Ask yourself why yesterday you only had the opportunity to visit the construction site of the Vrmac Hotel, in whose reconstruction neither the municipality nor the government participates in any way. That is why, Mr. Markovic, everything else in which the Montenegrin Government participates in Kotor looks like a ruin and is being built like a Shkodra on Bojana. Instead of promising tens of millions of euros in investments in Kotor, it would be more useful for everyone to answer a few questions I have for you, Prime Minister:
Why didn't you take a picture beside the Sports Hall that was supposed to be completed on May 17, 2011, over eight years ago? Why did you not explain to the citizens of the city that the works are eight years late and that the remaining obligations of the Government of Montenegro in this investment are two and a half million Euros and the municipalities one hundred thousand Euros?
Why didn't you take a picture beside the indoor pool "Niksa Bucin," reconstructed by the Government Directorate for Public Works? Why didn't you explain to the citizens of Kotor how the indoor pool, which was supposed to be renovated in 2017, is still not in use today?
Why didn't you take a picture in front of the settlement in Kostanjica when you have not even once stood up to help defend UNESCO status?
Who and when did you tell the truth that the construction of the Kotor-Njeguši cable car, the DPS Government in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, or you started yesterday?
Why did you violate the Constitution and laws of the state of Montenegro in June, overthrow its constitutional and legal order, and put the entire government in the service of the Kotor municipal committee?
Why did you censor the citizens of Kotor and not fulfill the legal obligation to dissolve the Municipal Assembly and call early local elections? What are you afraid of?
Mr. Markovic,
When you already landed a helicopter in Kotor to support your champions of breaking the law, you could also land and speak with ordinary people about the intense economic development of Montenegro. After these conversations, Mr. Markovic, you would certainly not fly so easily again. It is a clear intention to send a message on your appearance that it is illegal to take over the authority in Kotor under your auspices. I am sure that you, too, know that in this way, you cannot raise the popularity of your pulpits in Kotor, though neither you nor they will be able to escape the election and will of the citizens of Kotor for a long time. I believe that these scenes, from the third-class Hollywood action films, will not affect the judges of the Administrative Court and that they will consider the lawsuit submitted by legal officials of the municipality as soon as possible. Following these judgments, Mr. Markovic, I will welcome you to Kotor as the Mayor, if you bring with you the answers to these questions. I hope you will regret it then, and you have not met me. Fortunately, in this case, I have no such feelings.
Vladimir J. Jokić
