Last chance for a deal

The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are considering denying support to the Prime Minister's Government Dritan Abazović if he remains of the position that the executive power will decide tomorrow on the adoption of the fundamental contract with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), "Vijesti" learns.

According to the newspaper's information, those two parties, in case they make such a decision, could already announce on Friday that they are withholding support for his cabinet.

The "Vijesti" source said that DPS and SDP are still determining the details of their actions, and that at this moment it is most likely that they will submit an initiative to the Assembly to shorten its mandate, and not an initiative for a vote of no confidence in the Government.

According to unofficial information, the president of the state and the leader of the DPS Milo Djukanovic today he called for a meeting between Abazović and the SDP leader Raško Konjevića, as well as the representatives of the minority parties in the Government, in order to discuss the issue of the fundamental contract, it was confirmed last night by Vijesti.

Another source said that the meeting of the leaders of the parliamentary majority will be held today in the Government and not in the Presidency.

Last night, the Presidency of GP URA discussed the upcoming challenges, which may hasten the end of the Government whose president is from that party. A source from the URA said that they blamed Abazović for practically bringing them to a fait accompli.

Last night, as confirmed by the newspaper, Abazović spoke with Đukanović about a topic that could bring down the government. The interlocutor said that it was about consultations.

According to the Constitution (Article 84), the Assembly can shorten its mandate at the proposal of the President of the State, the Government or at least 25 deputies.

Shortening the mandate of the parliament would lead to extraordinary parliamentary elections.

The interlocutor of "Vijesti" said that the SDP ministers Rasko Konjević i Ranko Krivokapic they do not intend to leave the Government if its support is denied, but plan to remain in it for a technical mandate, which it will enter if the Assembly's mandate is shortened.

DPS Milo Đukanović supports the Government from the parliament with 29 deputies, although it is not in it.

That party, in contrast to the SDP and the opposition Social Democrats (SD) - who reacted violently to the working version of the basic contract that the Government agreed in principle with the SPC last week - publicly acted more gently, stressing that there should be no rush to sign the document.

Despite this, DPS officials did not call on "groups of citizens", who, as a sign of dissatisfaction against the basic contract, are announcing road blockades and new protests, to give up on it.

The DPS lost power in the August 2019 elections due to the church issue, which Đukanović brought up to date at the party congress at the end of 2020 by announcing the "restoration of the historically unquestionable Montenegrin Orthodox Church".

According to the information of "Vijesti", Prime Minister Abazović and his party insist that the basic contract be found by the Government tomorrow, even at the price of its "fall". The prime minister states that the issue should be put to an end as soon as possible.

Before the executive power can consider the document, it must pass the Political System Commission, which is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Konjević.

"Vijesti" has learned that Konjević will not insist that the basic contract be withdrawn from the procedure despite the disagreement with its parts. The commission can formally request changes to the content of the document, explained the News in the Government.

According to the Rules of Procedure of the Government, it decides by the majority of votes of the members present, and if the document does not pass that body, it should not go before the ministers and the prime minister. However, the Prime Minister has the right to include the material on the agenda even though he did not receive the support of the Commission.

If the basic contract is at tomorrow's session, the Government will decide on it by a qualified majority, despite the fact that this is not provided for in the Rules of Procedure, but is a coalition agreement of the parties of the new government.

They agreed that the Government should declare itself in this way on issues "of vital state and national interest", such as the basic agreement, the regional initiative "Open Balkans" and the population census. However, the government has not determined what a qualified majority is, which in the Parliament represents a two-thirds or three-fifths majority of the total number of deputies.

The government with the prime minister has 21 members.

According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", support for the adoption of the basic contract should be provided by ministers from the Socialist People's Party (SNP) and Albanian parties, except for the Prime Minister, the support of all ministers from the URA GP is uncertain, while representatives of the Bosniak Party (BS) could abstain , several sources told the News.

As the newspaper learns, it is questionable whether the ministers from GP URA will vote for the basic contract Jovana Marović i Filip Adzic.

"Vijesti" did not receive an answer from them as to how they would declare themselves, but they unofficially told the newspaper from GP URA that, regardless of the different opinions on the subject, they expect all their ministers to vote for the issue of the basic contract to be finally resolved.

At the end of 2020, on the eve of the Assembly's statement on changes to the Law on Freedom of Religion, Adžić resigned from his position as an MP, after which he was appointed as Abazović's advisor, who was the Deputy Prime Minister in the previous Government.

The possibility of a split in the government is hinted at by the fierce accusations that Abazović and Konjević exchanged yesterday.

The Prime Minister accused the Deputy Prime Minister of "wishing for conflicts between his own citizens", saying that "it does not occur to him to fall under the pressure of a group of extremists within the Government, or a group of extremists who, due to the end of state appropriations, are trying to return Montenegro to the nineties". .

Konjević replied that "it is better to be an 'extremist' for your country, than its 'traitor'".

When asked by "Vijesti" whether he would initiate the dismissal of Konjević and Krivokapić because of their and the SDP's behavior in connection with the Government's intention to sign the basic agreement, Abazović replied that "he personally has no problem with any minister, including them".

Minister of Justice Marko Kovač, he said that he believes that the basic contract should be signed as soon as possible, and that the Government will not "fall" because of it.

In addition to the Government, the text of the contract would have to go through the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, after which an agreement should be reached regarding the date of signing.

Patriarch Serbian Porphyry announced last week, during the meeting with Abazović in Belgrade, that he would be one of the signatories, while the Prime Minister announced that the signing would take place in Montenegro.

Đurović: I believe that the leaders will come to the dialogue on justice

The President of the Assembly, Danijela Đurović, told "Vijesta" that she believes that the current political circumstances will not prevent the party leaders from coming to the parliamentary dialogue on the appointments of the heads of the judiciary, which she scheduled for tomorrow.

"As I announced, I sent an invitation to the leaders of the parties participating in the Assembly, for a dialogue on key issues related to problems in the judiciary. I stand by the invitation and believe that the current political circumstances will not prevent the presidents of the parties from coming to the meeting and contributing to solving the most important issues that will be on the agenda that day, which mean unblocking the EU accession process, which should be our common goal." Đurović pointed out.

Đurović and Abazović announced the beginning of talks aimed at unblocking key judicial institutions at the beginning of May.

EU Delegation: Focus on reforms from the European agenda

We expect all political actors and institutions to focus on the reforms from the European agenda and to work together for the progress of Montenegro - told "Vijesta" from the EU Delegation in Podgorica.

When asked if the information is correct that the ambassadors expressed concern at the meeting with Abazović on Monday that the signing of the fundamental contract could cause political instability and lead to the "fall" of the government, they replied that they do not comment on the allegations about the issues that are the subject of the diplomats' discussion. in a closed meeting. "As stated earlier, we welcome the strategic priority of the new Government to speed up negotiations on EU accession and we expect all political actors and institutions to focus on reforms from the European agenda and to work together for the purpose of Montenegro's progress on the path to EU accession, in a constructive spirit and in the interest of Montenegrin citizens", they say.

According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", the ambassadors suggested to Abazović at the meeting that the basic agreement should not be his priority at this moment, but reforms in the area of ​​the rule of law, because there is a possibility that Montenegro will start closing the negotiation chapters in September. The state has opened all chapters (33), and temporarily closed only three.