Podgorica, November 24th, 2014 – MANS today called on all political clubs in the Parliament of Montenegro to request postponement of the hearing on the proposal on the Law on the highway until the Government of Montenegro submit to the Parliament a feasibility study without which the discussion about this project is not possible.
The Government still hides from the public the feasibility study on which basis is allegedly made a decision on the conclusion of the financial arrangements with the Chinese EXIM Bank and whose economic indicators point to profitability of debt of our country in the amount of over one billion euros.
Controversial study was not even submitted to the members of the Parliament who should this week in the Parliament discuss the project of the highway. According to data from the Parliament’s webpage, before the members of the Parliament will take a place only the proposal document of the law, as well as treaties that the Government of Montenegro has signed with Chinese.
Bearing in mind that in the case that the highway project is completely scrambled sequence of steps, the members of the Parliament are now placed in a situation to vote on the documents that the Government already had signed, and to consider the proposal of the Law without enough information about what will their final decision in the plenary session have as a result.
What is indisputable, and what already came as an indisputable validation from the addresses of the international financial institutions is that the loan
that the Government takes from the EXIM Bank, significantly increase debt of each citizen of Montenegro.
MANS previously published information on at least two economic studies that the Government of Montenegro hid from the public that in details
describe the negative effects of resolving ties between the south and the north of the country in a way that the Government intends to do, and for what contracts are already signed with Chinese companies.
On the other hand, from the addresses of the representatives of the Government, starting with the Prime Minister so down in the ruling hierarchy, the language of arguments is replaced by the most pathetic demagoguery about the development of the north that we usually hear in
election period, and a complete “public debate” is subordinated to political interests of the ruling coalition, rather than economic logic.
It is remarkable that in the work that is extremely favorable for the Chinese side and domestic construction companies as subcontractors, the Government is not able even to calculate how much will cost the citizens privileges that we are giving in the form of forgiveness of taxes and contributions, as recently announced by the Ministry of Finance.
We believe that is outrageous that the members of the Parliament before making a decision about the highway in front of them do not have even basic economic calculation and cost-benefit analysis, but there is a danger that the decision on Montenegro’s debt of over one billion euros will be made as a result of political agreement, and not worry about the public interest.
In this case, it is not clear how a discussion about the highway at the plenum will be make, and why members of the Parliament themselves again
allow the Government to keep them in complete darkness and treat them as mere machine to vote for its decisions and support for the protection of private and not the public interest.
MANS therefore once again calls on all parliamentary clubs to refuse discussion of this document as long as the Government does not provide all information necessary for making decisions based on concrete economic facts, and not on political interests and party discipline.
MANS
