No one is honestly in a hurry to resolve the political crisis, and the big question is whether either side enters the negotiations knowing what they really want, as well as whether they enter with the strength they would like.
That's what civil activist Stefan Đukić assessed for "Vijesti", commenting on the epilogue of yesterday's parliamentary dialogue, where party representatives did not make any progress towards solving the deep political and institutional crisis in the country.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and its former long-term partners, the Social Democrats (SD) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), continued to insist on withdrawing the amendments to the Law on the President of Montenegro, returning to the beginning of the process of electing judges of the Constitutional Court (US) and calling for extraordinary parliamentary elections. elections, while the old/new parliamentary majority invited them again to vote for the election of judges at the end of the month.
"DPS did poorly in the local elections and did not bring a critical mass to the streets, and the Democratic Front (DF) is still not a desirable partner for many. The Civic Movement (GP) URA and the Socialist People's Party (SNP) are paying the price for the fiasco called the minority government. Democrats still act as if they don't know what they want, and SDP and SD again look like parties unrecognizable from DPS. At the same time, any extraordinary elections bring the Europe Now Movement into play for the formation of the government, and this only further complicates the calculations for all subjects. That is why, despite the awareness that the current institutional paralysis is extremely bad for society and the state, any resolution means a reduction in power for these parties, and no one is honestly in a hurry to resolve the crisis," Đukić pointed out.
A few minutes after yesterday's meeting started, which was initiated by the head of the parliament Danijela Đurović (SNP), the leaders of the DF Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević and Nebojša Medojević and the leader of the Workers' Party Maksim Vučinić left it, dissatisfied with the fact that the president did not appear in the Parliament of the state and DPS leader Milo Đukanović, already vice president of that party Ivan Vuković.
The meeting was organized in the format of party leaders, and apart from the leader of the DPS, the presidents of the SD and SDP, Damir Šehović and Raško Konjević, were not present, but the deputies of those parties. Other parties were represented by leaders.
Assessing that it is pointless to hold a dialogue after the departure of the DF, the leaders of United Montenegro and True Montenegro, Goran Danilović and Marko Milačić, also left the meeting.
The leaders of the DF announced that due to Đukanović's non-arrival, they will no longer participate in the talks, saying that the goal of the head of state and the DPS is to prevent an exit from the crisis.
"We in the DF have finished with any initiative that will be widely distributed, because it is obvious that the DPS has chosen extra-institutional action," said Milan Knežević at the press conference.
His colleague Andrija Madnić announced that the DF will again vote for changes to the Law on the President, which the head of state returned to the plenum, and that they will again put in the procedure the proposal for the dismissal of Đukanović, that is, the initiative on whether he violated the Constitution.
"We will elect, I believe, a new government soon, and then we will see the extent of the DPS's decline in the elections, I assume first the presidential elections. The interest of the DPS is that the elections be held as soon as possible, so that it would not be seen how much they fell", he stressed.
When asked whether it would be acceptable for the DF to withdraw the amendments to the Law on the President if the DPS voted for the election of US judges, Mandić replied that the absence of Đukanović was the best message that the DPS does not want a compromise.
"It is unthinkable for DPS to elect US judges who have integrity... It would be good for DPS to follow our logic and to elect two, three, and preferably four judges. But they want to get party soldiers through political agreements..." he said.
Đukić says that Đukanović's failure to appear at the meeting is in a certain sense disrespectful to the interlocutor, but also a good excuse for not having a conversation.
He notes that it is important to note that all of those present at the meeting have violated the Constitution one or more times this year alone.
"Whether it was undoubtedly confirmed by the decisions of the Constitutional and Administrative Court, whether there are serious indications of such a thing. Knowing this fact and their votes for changes to the Law on Local Self-Government, voting for the formation of the municipality of Zeta in the middle of the election process, extending the mandate of the mayor of Podgorica and the presidents of municipalities according to an unconstitutional decision, not giving a mandate to Miodrag Lekić or anyone else, and, finally, changes to the Law on the President - who could you honestly expect these people to rush to vote for US judges?" says Đukić.
DPS said in a statement last night that the meeting showed the depth of the crisis the country is facing, which, as they stated, "is best evidenced by the position of the Prime Minister and the leader of the URA GP Ditan Abazović that the situation in the country is completely normal."
They add that the "behaviour and performance of the leader of the pro-Russian DF" is evidence of the depth of the crisis, and they say that they will remain "committed to dialogue".
"With the expressed hope that political entities, which at least declaratively declare themselves as civil and European, will not allow themselves to be the decoration of the DF...", their statement reads.
After the meeting, SDP MP Draginja Vuksanović Stanković also pointed the finger at DF, saying that the alliance "mined the agreement" and that the other subjects of the old/new majority blindly follow its policy.
SD MP Boris Mugoša said that, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the amendments to the Law on the President must first be decided again, and then the election of US judges. He said that he expects the "pro-European profiling" parties not to vote again for changes to the Law on the President.
The Head of the Assembly Đurović assessed that the issue of the election of US judges is a priority of the Parliament and that it must be resolved at the session on November 22. She stated that before that session, a new round of dialogue will be scheduled, at the level of party presidents.
"I see that there is a willingness to talk. I expect that we will come out with concrete proposals and solutions at the next meeting", she said.
The leader of the Democrats, Aleksa Bečić, said that the US is the solution to the current dilemmas on the political scene, including the issue of changes to the President's Law.
"That depends on the MP. Even today, I have not heard that any candidate (for judges) has been challenged both from a moral and professional point of view. If we elect judges, let the US immediately put all disputed decisions on the agenda," he underlined.
The meeting was attended by representatives of all parliamentary parties.
Abazović: The country is destabilized by those who lose support
Dritan Abazović, Prime Minister in the technical mandate and leader of the URA GP, said that Montenegro is not in an emergency situation and that "only those who are rapidly losing support are pushing the country into destabilization".
He told the press after the meeting that the issue of the election of judges in the US should be resolved, so that MPs would not fight over whether something is in accordance with the Constitution.
"Most colleagues agreed that we will respect the court's decision if he says that the decisions were not made according to the rules. The ball is in the court of those who did not vote in the first round for judges. We have a chance to make amends on November 22nd. This is also a requirement of the EU. "I don't know if my colleagues will decide on that," said Abazović.
Commenting on the DPS request to return the process of selecting judges to the beginning, Abazović replied that this would waste time.
"Which is not good. The reason for the obstruction of DPS is that their political support is weakening".
Abazović, when asked about whether MPs of the URA GP will vote again for changes to the Law on the President, replied that their position has not changed.
Đukanović requests the opinion of the Supreme Court
Last night, Đukanović requested that the Venice Commission (VK) give an urgent opinion on changes to the Law on the President.
This was announced by Đukanović's adviser for the constitutional system and legal issues, Boris Bastijančić.
"Emphasizing that the consequence of the possible re-voting of the controversial Law on Amendments to the Law on the President of Montenegro at the parliamentary plenum, and its entry into force in a very short period of time, could be the collapse of the constitutional order of Montenegro and universal legal values, the head of state requested that The Venice Commission gives an urgent opinion on this Law, which, as is known, it sent back to the Parliament of Montenegro for re-decision," said Bastijančić.
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