In Montenegro, little is said about the integrity of political parties, party programs are neglected, personal and professional integrity of politicians is not such an important topic. On the other hand, one of the definitions of corruption says that it is spiritual or moral impurity or deviation from ideals. Therefore, in this text I will deal with the importance of the integrity of political parties and intra-party mechanisms that are established for that purpose, but also with corruption arising from the disordered state and the lack of this type of regulation, the influence of integrity in politics on the integrity of the citizen, as well as how it reflects the overall situation in society. I will especially refer to hate speech, misogyny in public discourse, and the importance of the existence of intra-party mechanisms for establishing integrity, which I believe can contribute to the legitimacy of political parties, but also influence the increase in the degree of responsibility and restore trust in politics and politicians.
The activities of political parties, i.e., their party politics, in some situations, can be seen as a mirror of society. The actions of political parties, whether in the Parliament or when it comes to their representatives in the Government and other places, reflect on citizens and life in a community. Citizens adopt the model of the behavior of politicians, and their deviation from rules and laws sets an example to others that they should behave contrary to the law and established rules and norms. Although politicians are the ones who vote for the adoption of laws, their actions in practice can sometimes be in conflict with what is prescribed by law. Many social anomalies arise from this. And the problem could only be solved by a serious intra-party regulation that refers to the integrity of the political party.
What is increasingly represented in public discourse is hate speech on social networks, especially when it comes to female politicians. It is a discourse that is often formed to discredit a political opponent or the political party to which that person belongs. I believe that this stems precisely from the discourse created by politicians, in parliament or during public appearances, and often as part of a negative campaign they lead with the help of meme pages and internet platforms where disinformation is spread. Such a model of behavior is also taken over by citizens, which affects social regression and further actualizes this problem.
Political parties and their representatives should show by example that they care about an orderly and advanced society. That is why it is important to establish intra-party mechanisms that will influence the creation of policies, as well as political and social activities. Sometimes political programs contain a large number of principles that remain just letters on paper because they cannot be recognized in actions. It happens that political parties that, for example, state in their program that they advocate for the field of ecology, support certain decisions and actions that are contrary to ecological standards, or that parties that advocate for a state of social justice in practice advocate an elitist model of behavior. That is why it is important to build political integrity when it comes to what is written in the programs of political parties. For political parties to have integrity, it is necessary to establish internal party mechanisms. One of them should certainly be a procedure for admission to membership, which would ensure the integrity check of all potential members, before they are admitted to membership, and would be based on clearly established criteria that members should meet. Also, in addition, it would be good if political parties had clearly defined criteria for advancement in the party hierarchy, as well as criteria on the basis of which it would be determined whether someone from the party structure should be regressed in the hierarchy if he did not meet the expectations of the position on where it is located. In addition, the control of the work of members who are public officials, by other party members, would be one of the good mechanisms that would ensure that party members who are in public positions will adequately represent the political party, perform honorably, honestly and in the public interest and perform the function, so that the party enjoys a reputation in the public and citizens are satisfied with its work. Then, one of the good mechanisms would be intra-party sanctioning of public officials who are members of the party and have threatened the public interest or violated ethical principles, because that mechanism would serve as an example to citizens and would ensure the integrity of the party. What would ensure the integrity of the political party would be the election of candidates for public positions on behalf of the party because those candidates who enjoy trust within the party would be elected and therefore would have the legitimacy to represent the party and be additionally responsible to those who elected them.
When it comes to party integrity, the question of financing, i.e., donations and their legality, often arises. That is why it would be good to adopt acts that regulate political party donations, but also define the criteria for the acceptability of donors. In connection with this, as well as other activities of the political party, it is necessary to work on the political party being transparent towards its members, the media, and the public, which will increase the level of trust in its activities, and therefore the results of that political party in the elections.
The lack of specific mechanisms, as well as the negative behavior of political parties and their representatives who are public officials, often leads to the appearance of corruption, which has become a major problem in modern states. Bearing in mind all of the above, and if we take into account that certain knowledge is required for all of this, it should be introduced as one of the activities of the political party, the organization of education on the subject of anti-corruption, which would be mandatory for party officials to attend and would also be obtainable to members.
In order for society to function on a sound basis, political parties that participate in the creation of public policies and direct social action should be an example to citizens, and the actions of party officials should be a correct model of behavior that citizens should follow.
