The Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities will not proceed further without additional consultations.

The Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities will not proceed to further proceedings without additional consultations, the Prime Minister’s Office announced.

The Prime Minister’s Office, together with the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue, invited representatives of associations of persons with disabilities to additional consultations regarding the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities.

“In order to find the best solutions, additional consultations will be organized next week. Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue Naida Nišić conducted the first part of the talks with representatives of persons with disabilities today. We invite representatives of associations that represent and employ persons with disabilities to present arguments in an open dialogue and reach an agreement in the best interest of all stakeholders,” the Prime Minister’s Office announced.

A protest was organized in front of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue under the slogan “We are reality, you are a myth”

Representatives of the disabled accepted an invitation to talk with the Prime Minister’s office, after which the protest was called off.

They said that it depends on the Prime Minister’s office and the Government whether there will be further protests.

Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue Naida Nišić spoke today with the leaders of the “We are reality, you are a myth” protest.

They continued the meeting after Nišić requested a break to conduct consultations.

After leaving the first part of the meeting, the executive director of the Association of the Blind, Goran Macanović, said that the negotiations were going in the right direction, and that they were waiting 30 minutes to an hour to get a final answer.

“If the cumulative requirements are not met, we are waiting at Roman Square, which includes staying overnight,” Macanović said.

A protest is being held in front of the building housing the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare under the slogan “We are reality, you are a myth”, organized by the Association of Disabled Youth of Montenegro (UMHCG).

The organizers’ plan was that, if Nišić did not receive them by the scheduled deadline, they would request an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.

Those gathered are protesting the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which, they say, was prepared by the department headed by Nišić.

Executive Director of the Association of the Blind, Goran Macanović, said that they had received information that the working group for drafting the law had received analyses that they were supposed to publish, “but they didn’t because they don’t have them.”

He stated that Nišić and the department he heads created the law “on untruths.”

“They did not use the analyses of the previous working group because they would not have helped them in creating this bad law. The ministry is guided by inaccurate data and analyses,” said Macanović.

He called on Nišić to accept their demands, and said that he would not leave “until our demands are met.”

“Nišić is the first minister to take people with disabilities out to protest, she must not be the first minister to force people with disabilities to spend the night on the streets to protest,” said Macanović.

The President of the Federation of Paraplegic Associations of Montenegro, Milijana Ćirković, said that more than 10 million euros had been stolen from people with disabilities.

“Today, instead of talking to the ministry about a promotion, we have to protest. A negative media campaign unprecedented in Europe against people with disabilities,” said Ćirković.

Dragana Božović said that they do not want to be “statistical data”.

“We are sending a strong message to Naida Nišić to withdraw the draft because PWDs will not give up. We will stay as long as necessary until the draft is withdrawn. After that, we demand the formation of a new working group with a minimum of three PWDs as members,” said Božović.

Member of the Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Radenko Lacmanović, stated that the government wanted “to change the world, but after coming to power, they changed.”

“They were terribly mistaken, they encountered the most determined ones. The way they act and think does not justify their name, the Ministry of Labor and Social Dialogue. This law does not act progressive but repressive,” said Lacmanović.

He said that there are no people with disabilities in management positions.

“I claim that among the PWDs, whom you do not give a chance, we would help the country on its European path. Nišić will be the first minister who PWDs have demanded to resign if she does not fulfill the goals of the protest,” Lacmanović said.

The UMHCG previously announced that as time has passed since the first request for the withdrawal of the Draft Law, they have learned “new data and details that indicate serious shortcomings and the absence of facts on which the proposed amendments to the current Law are based.”

“This time, in response to the protest, we are sharing just one more piece of data that was easy to obtain through simple analyses and comparative data, and it relates to the uneven records on the number of employed persons with disabilities at the end of 2024, and the number of employers where they are employed,” the association announced.

This NGO said that the explanation of the Draft Law states: “As of December 31.12.2024, 2,919, 4.550 employers are entitled to wage subsidies for 2024 persons with disabilities,” while according to the UMHCG, the report on the implementation of the Action Plan for the period 2025-2022 of the Strategy for the Protection and Equality of Persons with Disabilities from Discrimination and the Promotion of Equality 2027-2024 for 2.784 states: “In the field of labor and employment, the number of employers who are entitled to wage subsidies for persons with disabilities has increased. A total of 4.935 employers are entitled to wage subsidies for XNUMX persons with disabilities.”

“Therefore, it turns out that the competent authorities do not have uniform data on the number of employed persons with disabilities, so how is it possible to expect that their Draft Law is based on previous analyses,” the statement reads.

The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue of Montenegro (UMHCG) announces that it “persistently ignores the demands of 10 organizations of persons with disabilities and the umbrella sports association of persons with disabilities”, supported by numerous other organizations, bodies and individuals, thus continuing to violate its obligation to conduct close consultations with persons with disabilities and representative organizations of persons with disabilities and our involvement in decision-making processes,

“(The Ministry) continues to communicate predominantly through social networks, in formats that are inaccessible to most people with disabilities. Therefore, today the Ministry announces additional consultations with interested parties regarding the Draft Law,” the Ministry of Human Rights of Montenegro announced.

The UMHCG said that this was an opportunity to reiterate their demands to the Ministry and at the same time announce their consultations, so they called on “both the Minister and her team, or those who created this Draft Law” to, today, at noon, send out what they want to say about the text of the Draft Law and to “determine in the shortest possible period of time the presentation that will follow at the protest.”

“Once again, we call on the media to cover the protest rally and to join us in other ways and support our demands and rebellion against this kind of decision-making manifested by the Ministry,” the UMHCG appeals.

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