Đukanović: Protection of minority rights is a constitutional obligation, but that doens't mean that a public office must be given to a person of a particular nationality
The protection of minority rights is our constitutional obligation, but that does not mean that a public office must be given to a person of a particular nationality, nor that ethnic affiliation can be presented as the primary criterion of professional competence, said political scientist and assistant professor at the University of Donja Gorica Nikoleta Đukanović.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Nik Gjeloshaj called on Education Minister Anđela Jakšić Stojanović to resign, saying it was unacceptable for the principal of a school where classes are also taught in Albanian not to speak the language, following the appointment of a new principal at the „Bratstvo-jedinstvo“ Secondary Mixed School in Ulcinj.
The ministry headed by Jakšić Stojanović said that the selection procedure had been conducted fully in accordance with the law and prescribed rules, and that school principals in Montenegro are not selected based on their nationality, political affiliation or any other form of affiliation. In his response yesterday, Gjeloshaj said that such a decision would not stand.
Speaking to Antena M, Đukanović said that examples such as this show that Montenegro is a civic state more in normative terms than in actual political practice.
- Our civic concept does not deny national identities or minority rights. Rather, it means that institutions are shared, that public offices are not anyone’s party property, and that all candidates must be assessed according to the same criteria - Đukanović stressed.
She believes Gjeloshaj’s reaction points to a broader and longstanding problem in Montenegrin society - the absence of meritocracy and the pervasive influence of political parties over public institutions.
- Political parties often do not view public offices as positions of professional responsibility that should go to the best candidates, but rather exclusively as political spoils. They use every appointment to install politically or nationally suitable personnel in order to strengthen their own networks of influence and win over voters. As a result, educational institutions in Montenegro, instead of being protected from partisan interests, are being turned into arenas of political bargaining and an extension of election campaigns - Đukanović stressed.
She added that as long as political parties view institutions as spoils through which they can exercise political influence or gain, and as long as every appointment is turned into a matter of national or party interest, it will be difficult to speak of Montenegro as a civic, and especially a meritocratic, state.