The elections are an opportunity for us to express our own stance, every citizen’s vote counts, to vote means to show a responsible attitude toward the community in which we live.
Elections are important
I do not consider every single elections to be “historic”, which is what politicians often like to exclaim. Through years of activities in the nongovernmental sector, I have tried to increase the number of those people who are citizens always, and not just on the day of elections. However, I think that the elections are important or perhaps even most important political process, and advocate for the increased participation of citizens in the elections. Importance of local elections is growing, bearing in mind the increased commitments to decentralize power in the country and move to the level of local government. Local government resolves most of the practical, existential problems of citizens, and citizens’ participation in elections is important. By electing deputies in the local assembly, you are influencing the election of the President of the municipality, the secretary of the municipal secretariat, members of management boards and directors of public companies and institutions.
Issues decided upon through local elections
The municipality adopts plans and development programs; building land editing programs; spatial and urban plans; budget and the final calculation of the annual budget; capital improvements plan and investment policy, program of development and protection of the environmental. Municipalities regulate and provide conditions for the conduct and development of utility services; conditions for entrepreneurship development; performing the duties of planning, utilization and protection of building land; use of office space; conditions for the preservation and protection of natural values, social protection, which applies to home care and house care for the elderly and disabled persons, addressing housing issues for those in social need and additional forms of social protection, child protection, which refers to the recreation of children, accommodation, meals and other additional forms of child protection, the conditions for conservation, utilization, management and improvement of areas with natural healing properties, public transport of passengers in local traffic, establishing operations, billing and control of local revenues; relations in the fields of housing, creates conditions for the maintenance and protection of housing and protecting the rights of the owners; terms of construction and use of facilities, requirements for informing local population, the conditions for protection against natural disasters, fires, explosions, accidents and other accidents and extraordinary events and creates conditions for their elimination.
The municipality regulates the conditions for the promotion of sport and physical education, recreation of children, adolescents and adults, construction and building physical culture and sports objects, development of inter-municipality cooperation, stances in connection with the construction and setting up temporary and other facilities; conditions for the protection of monuments and memorials of local significance; oversight and noise control; conditions for the development of libraries and archival services of local importance; conditions for the development of publishing activity, the conditions for linear navigation in its territory, working hours and working conditions for facilities that provide services to citizens; conditions for taxi transport; conditions for the realization of public exhibitions of local significance.
Your vote is your responsibility
When you go to the polling place, you are left alone, without someone being able to affect or know how you voted. You can encircle one of the offered options, or cross away the entire ballot. I believe it is better to trust the best or the least bad option, than to throw away your ballot.
By choosing a specific option, you are taking responsibility for the work of the chosen preference, both as government and as opposition.
The choice of a particular candidates in elections is a proof that you are able to follow political developments, assess the quality of the listed parties and candidates, and support those who are closest to your views, beliefs, values.
Don’t sell your vote
I know that the practice of buying votes is common in Montenegro. Among other things, this practice is a result of a number of people realizing that they can gain more by selling their vote than through actual voting. Vote-traders often to the citizens who are in social need. Such practices are reducing the elections to the opportunity to acquire a one-off gain. Such profit does not last long. I call upon you not to sell your vote, your identity card, your rights and your dignity. Be proud, save your voting right. One day you’ll be proud for acting in such a manner.
No regrets after the elections
For those of you who forget, do not have the will or the strength to go to the polls, cannot decide your minds until the closing of the polls, sell your vote or have already found some other reason not to vote – there remains a second chance in two, three or four years. Then, new elections will take place along with a new opportunity to use your right.
Until then, with more or less right, you will be able to grumble and complain about the expensive parking fees, poor urban traffic, less green space, inaccessibility of local institutions to persons with disabilities, the slowness of local services, lack of sport facilities designed for citizens, corruption in local government, a number of levies imposed to citizens and enterprises, irrational spending of taxpayers’ money and other local issues.
Stevo Muk
President of the Managing Board