Beginning tomorrow, the blockade will extend for three hours—from 12:15 to 15:15. Today, we received backing from the president of the Žabljak Municipal Assembly and from young volleyball players from Bar. The opposition from Šavnik informed “Vijesti” that as a protest against the re-election of Jugoslav Jakić (DPS) as mayor, they have been obstructing the Šavnik-Žabljak road since February.

Initially, the blockade lasted two hours, then increased to two and a half hours, and starting tomorrow, it will last for three hours.

The blockade is organized by the coalitions “For the Future of Šavnik” (NSD, SNP, DNP) and “Let’s Go People” (DCG, UCG, PES).

Last week, they reached out to the presidents of the state, parliament, and government—Jakov Milatović, Andrija Mandić, and Milojko Spajić—requesting a meeting to discuss potential resolutions for the crisis in Šavnik.

“The electoral process in Šavnik began in October 2022 and remains incomplete. The municipality continues to be governed by the ‘bodies’ established in the 2018 local elections. This is an unprecedented situation in Europe, and likely in developing countries as well. Currently, the municipality of Šavnik is effectively run and decisions are being made by a group of citizens lacking any legitimacy, which could create unforeseen consequences for the municipality’s functionality and for the residents of Šavnik. We have previously requested that state authorities intervene to resolve the electoral crisis in Šavnik, but aside from shifting accountability between legislative and executive branches, no concrete actions have been taken. Given these circumstances, we propose organizing a joint meeting with the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr. Milojko Spajić, Prime Minister, and Jakov Milatović, President of Montenegro, alongside representatives from the coalitions ‘For the Future of Šavnik’ and ‘Let’s Go People’, to explore possible solutions to the electoral crisis and work towards a legal resolution,” states the letter from the Šavnik opposition.

On February 19, Jakić was re-elected as the new/old president of the Municipality of Šavnik by votes from councilors of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democrats (SD) during a Zoom meeting.

After his re-election, Jakić informed reporters that, according to the law, councilors’ mandates remain valid until new ones are elected.

The elections in Šavnik commenced on October 23, 2022, coinciding with elections in 13 other municipalities, but were not finalized because members of the polling stations from the opposition coalition For the Future of Šavnik prohibited some newly registered voters from casting their ballots, alleging they were solicited to support the DPS. Across two polling stations—in the Municipality building and the village of Kruševice—where 541 voters are registered, citizens attempted to vote nine times, with the last attempt on December 18, 2022, before the elections were interrupted again. Following this, the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) failed to agree with its members on the need to repeat the electoral process in the two mentioned locations.

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