Citizens of Montenegro put tens of thousands signatures demanding to hold a referendum on the country’s integration into NATO, said the leader of the Socialist People’s Party (SNP) Srdjan Milic on Saturday.
“Since the beginning of the campaign from December 29 until January 10, were collected several thousand signatures in 27 SNP offices across Montenegro. Due to the huge interest among the citizens, we will continue efforts on signatures collection for a referendum on Montenegro membership in NATO”, – said Milic.
According to the SNP leader, the Constitution of Montenegro involves four mechanisms on referendum realization: by the President, by the Government, on the initiative of 25 deputies of the Assembly (Parliament) or at the request of 10% of registered voters, that at the beginning of the campaign amounted to 52 806.
“Looking at the enthusiasm of the citizens, it is already possible to say that we will surpass this condition by a factor of several times and our initiative will be the most supported in Montenegro”, – opposition leader expressed confidence.
According to Milic, if the current Montenegrin authorities will ignore fulfilled by the citizens stipulation for the implementation of their constitutional right to a referendum, it will exacerbate the situation in the country. He noted that the leaders of other opposition parties, including the organizers of protests against the government of PM Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica (Democratic Front) have already supported the combining SNP’s initiative.
Milic and his supporters oppose the accession of Montenegro into NATO. Referring to inner-agreement they won’t divulge the exact number of signatures collected before the end of campaign. However, the sources related to the action, say that by January 16 were collected over 55 thousand signatures for a referendum holding.