The ironic joke is the most succinct commentary by embittered citizens of Montenegro regarding daily four-hours-long black outs, which, although the authorities refuse to admit it, do not spare even health centers. The target of criticism are, of course, authorities, which relied on providence to solve this chronic problem of Montenegro. However, the divine assistance in lieu of rain failed to materialize, just like various expected monetary injections from abroad to "the shining example of democracy in the region", in spite of daily servile announcements by both the state-controlled and some private media.
Citizens and independent experts blame the biggest consumer of electricity in Montenegro and the biggest debtor of the national electrical utility company, the Aluminum smelter in Niksic, for the darkness in the country. It is clamed that the smelter owes innumerable millions of dollars. Pro-government media blame Serbia for the drama, for nearly cutting off the Montenegrin electricity supply.
Vojin Djukanovic recently found culprits elsewhere. He claims that there is no electricity because of irresponsible use of electrical heating and air-conditioning! The original charges, just like the solution found by the Montenegrin authorities - raid the electrical systems of neighboring countries - are original. However, it immediately turned out that that was far from a perfect crime, like the raiding of the Yugoslav treasury once upon the time. By the way, Montenegro boasts with the oldest electrical light bulb in Europe which works to this day, of course if there is electricity.
Candle is not the only symbol of Montenegrin path through the twenty first century. Here we don't only stumble around in the dark. The same fate awaits us during the day as well. Whenever you decide to travel somewhere, you cannot be certain of reaching your destination. Depending on luck, you can easily stumble upon a road block, set up either by the striking workers, or be stopped by the road surface that has, to immense surprise of road maintenance crews, been converted by snow and ice into a bob-sled track. Until recently, road blocks, most frequently a few cars or trucks, were set up by workers dissatisfied by irregular and inadequate salaries and suspicious privatization of companies they work for. That is why up to date information about traffic conditions needs to be sought from one of numerous independent trade unions which are these days spending their energy trying to find the best spot for setting up road blocks. Some of them have recently announced that they may soon head for the government building in the capital, Podgorica.
After the most recent increase in the price of gasoline, abolishment of child supplements, and huge delays in payment of social security, it would not be surprising if they get reinforcements from other segments of the population.
And as icing on the cake, we got a reply from the Minister for Economy, Darko Uskokovic. To the journalist's question whether Montenegro faces six-hours-long black outs because of the inability to cover the demand by import from the region, the new minister answered that he had better things to do than to answer such questions because he daily "talks with hundreds of more important persons". At the same time, he suggested to the journalists to send written questions to his office, and then he will decide whether to reply to them.
According to many, only Predrag Bulatovic, the leader of the strongest opposition party, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), can be satisfied by such bleak landscape. If Djukanovic persists with black outs, minimum wages of $45 a month, Bulatovic will do well. He won't need a single Euro for his (anti) [independence] referendum campaign.