The third chance of the current majority

After the amendments to the Law on the President entered into force yesterday, the mandate that has the support of the parliamentary majority Miodrag Lekić (Demos) can already start talks on the formation of a new government, said the vice-president of the Assembly and MP of the Movement for Change (PzP) Branka Bosniak.

She told "Vijesti" that this is the third chance of the electoral majority since August 30, 2020.

"If we destroy it with our particular interests and exclusive attitudes, then we no longer deserve a new opportunity. The public interest should come before everything and that way we will be acceptable to everyone and a compromise will be reached," said Bošnjak, who is one of the proponents of the Law.

According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", unofficial talks, mainly between the leaders of the majority parties, have already started. Allegedly, URA and SNP want all their current ministers to remain in the new government.

The minority, the 43rd Government, when it was founded at the end of April, consisted of the president Dritan Abazovic, four vice presidents, 18 ministers and two ministers without portfolio. Recently, two ministers from the SDP were dismissed. Rasko Konjević i Ranko Krivokapic, while Jovana Marović (URA) resigned.

The SNP currently has six ministers - finance, health, education, sports, justice and agriculture, including the post of deputy prime minister. URA, after Jovana Marović resigned, has three ministers - internal affairs, economy and spatial planning, as well as a prime minister.

On Monday, the parliamentary majority voted again to amend the Law on the President, which the Venice Commission had previously contested and recommended not to be adopted.

President of the state Milo Djukanovic signed the decree on the promulgation of the Law the day before yesterday and it was published in the Official Gazette on the same day, thus entering into force. He said at the press conference that he would not invite the mandate holder for consultations, even though the Law left him that possibility.

"The law has been signed, the constitutional obligation of the president does not leave the slightest room for interpretation. I do not want to join the chorus of those who destroy the Constitution and the state. I participated in the creation of this country and I will never take a step that is against its Constitution", said Đukanović.

Branka Bošnjak assessed that Đukanović, with this statement and persistence in exclusivity, shows that he wants chaos, that he is part of the problem, not part of the solution, "he is a stone around the neck of Montenegro".

"His nervousness was visible, because he is aware that the Law is the one that limits his arbitrariness, and in no way takes away his powers. The Law on the President is a way out of the instability in which, by not giving the mandate to colleague Lekić to start forming the Government, it was Đukanović who pushed the country into destabilization. He must be aware that we are a parliamentary democracy, he is not a branch of government but only has a protocol function, like the monarch in Britain," she said.

Amendments to the Law on the President were proposed after Đukanović did not give Lekić a mandate to form the government, stating that he did not get the impression that there was a majority that could form the government.

The Bosniak says that Đukanović should be officially sent signatures of support for the mandate, so let his autocratic face be exposed once again.

"We have an unblocking mechanism. I always prefer quality over speed, but of course you shouldn't procrastinate, but being hasty is not good either. Lekić can already start talks, but the most important thing is that we get a competent reformist, pro-European government, which will show the international community with its actions that Djukanovic was the brake on EU integration, not the parliamentary majority", she stated.

But, as she reminded, they have to talk because they need qualified majorities not only for the Constitutional Court, but also for the supreme state prosecutor, the Judicial Council, and especially for the umbrella electoral law.

The DF announced yesterday that they believe that Đukanović will start talks with the parliamentary majority, in order to reach new members of the Constitutional Court, new electoral legislation, the election of the supreme state prosecutor through dialogue...

Diplomatic officials of countries that are strategic partners of Montenegro and representatives of the European Commission immediately, after the adoption of the amendments to the Law on the President, called for it to be withdrawn, while so far the strongest statement was made by a member of the European Parliament Vladimir Bilčik. He said that the Government that would be formed on the basis of such a Law and would be led by forces close to Moscow, could not bring progress to Montenegro in its accession to the EU.

Prime Minister Abazović replied that Bilčik "chose a side".

"That is his right, but it is also our right not to make Montenegro a state that lacks sovereignty. We demand respect for our Montenegro as much as it is enjoyed by other countries, no less and no more. As the prime minister, I am defending myself, with gratitude for all the help they provide," Abazović told RTCG last night.

He also said that it is neither realistic nor necessary for Montenegro to have a new government by the New Year.

Member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Luiđ Škrelja he said yesterday that Abazović's only goal is not to form the Constitutional Court, and for him to "illegally stay in the usurped power as long as possible".

Škrelja said that if Abazović believed that he would achieve something with last night's TV appearance, he would probably make "those 2,8 percent" who still believe in his government "slowly lose hope".

SDP: Canceling POSP is the first sanction

Honorary President of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Ranko Krivokapić yesterday met with the Special Representative of the European Union for the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajčak, during his stay in Brussels.

It was announced from the SDP that at the meeting they jointly expressed concern about the "escalating crisis in which Montenegro is".

"It will cost the citizens as much as a direct conflict with EU policy in respect of European basic principles, just like in the 90s, when the government also listened to Belgrade. The first sanction in response to the unconstitutional behavior of the ruling majority is precisely the cancellation of the Parliamentary Meeting for Cooperation and Association (POSP). "Cancellation of the meeting a day before the scheduled time is a clear message to the President of the Assembly," the announcement states.

Krivokapić pointed out that it is precisely from such messages that it is clear to conclude why now Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Kosovo, are "bravely moving forward" on the road to European integration, while Montenegro is "comprehensively, rapidly plunging into an anti-European trend".

Krivokapić also spoke with Tonina Picula, member of the European Parliament and rapporteur for Montenegro.