The opposition must prepare an alternative plan if the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) continues to refuse the formation of a technical government that would monitor the implementation of the electoral legislation. By postponing the talks between the opposition leaders on models of pressure on the government, the ruling coalition gains space to postpone negotiations on solving the political crisis in the country.
The executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties (CGS) Boris Marić points out that the opposition must have a strategy for joint action, if it wants to force the government to negotiate.
"The opposition should return the process to the level of intra-opposition negotiations, where the analysis of the situation would first be done, the clear positions of all subjects would be presented, and a possible common platform for negotiations with DPS would be determined. Of course, they would have to have an alternative plan in case of failure of negotiations", said Marić.
Since February, the formation of a technical government has been set as one of the conditions for the opposition to participate in the electoral reforms. After the representatives of part of the opposition returned to the Committee for Comprehensive Reform of Electoral and Other Legislation, the continuation of electoral reforms is conditioned by the beginning of the dialogue on the technical government by October 22. The President of the Committee, Branimir Gvozdenović, said last Sunday that the idea of forming a technical government is unacceptable for the ruling coalition, alluding to the opposition's Agreement on the Future, which stipulates that a third of the civil unity government will be made up of the government, the opposition and independent experts. After Gvozdenović clarified that the Committee will consider every proposal of the opposition, independent deputy Neđeljko Rudović said that the proposal on the formation of a technical government will be submitted to that parliamentary body. The executive director of the Center for Political Education, Dragiša Janjušević, believes that the opposition must respond to the DPS's refusal to start negotiations.
"The opposition would have to have a unique platform or strategy in which there would be a minimum of common interest or consensus if there is no technical government, because it is obvious that the DPS is making all moves at the expense of the disunity of the opposition. It is even more obvious that, if there is no technical government as a guarantor of the implementation of the reformed electoral legislation, all reforms will remain only on paper," said Janjušević.
Due to the refusal of the DPS to negotiate a technical government, the Democratic Front and the representatives of the "Da svako ima" coalition refused to participate in the electoral reforms, while the Democrats announced that they would not vote for changes to the law unless an implementation model was agreed upon that they would stand behind. the opposition. Member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Raško Konjević announced that he will attend the Committee sessions, but will not participate in them, while the president of the URA movement Dritan Abazović called on the opposition to prepare an alternative course of action if there is no technical government. Representatives of the ruling coalition, meanwhile, reiterated that the government can only be formed after the elections and that they will not accept conditions. Janjušević warns that DPS is taking advantage of opposition disunity.
"It is precisely on this disunity that the DPS will make sense of the concept of boycotting the next elections. If one of the strongest opposition entities abandons the boycott, everyone will participate in the elections. If there was opposition unity in the responses to the current political moment, DPS would carefully make moves precisely because of the fear of boycotting the elections. "Brussels and Washington would certainly have a more proactive role in solving this crisis", claims Janjušević.
The government avoids pressure from foreigners
Janjušević believes that DPS is trying to gain time despite possible warnings from foreign partners.
"It is certain that the DPS received a warning from international addresses that a technical government must be formed, but if there is great intolerance and disunity of the opposition, if civil protests have died down, then the DPS is in a situation of playing for time. This means that he will try to avoid the formation of a technical government, or if he really has to, he will do so at the last moment, as in the case of an electoral unity government," he said.
The government of electoral unity was formed in 2016, and in it representatives of the opposition covered four ministries. After half a year, the coalition led by DPS formed the government, while the elections were held in the shadow of the "coup d'état" affair.
State institutions should also be controlled
Marić points out that a technical government by itself is not enough to create fair election conditions. He believes that the opposition must also focus on controlling the state institutions involved in the election process.
"Much attention and a clear approach should be focused on the purification of the voter list, as well as on the position of the State Election Commission (SEC), the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), RTCG, the Prosecutor's Office and the Police Directorate. The opposition must find ways to join forces if it wants to be a competitive DPS. There is potential for change in society, but it takes strength to harness that potential. The opposition can have it only in a joint action, while a fragmented opposition has the problem of competitiveness. This puts the DPS in a much more favorable position despite the ongoing socio-political crisis and bad economic situation," Marić claims.
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