Just when it seemed that the status quo on the Montenegrin political scene would last, suddenly an invitation to organize a joint meeting arrived from the Delegation of the European Union in Podgorica to the address of the opposition. At the same table, already on Monday, all the opposition leaders and ambassadors of the European Union members should meet. Is this an indication of a more active involvement of the international factor in resolving the political crisis in Montenegro, where the opposition has been boycotting the work of the parliament for 11 months?
As "Vijesti" announced, the delegation of the European Union sent an invitation for a joint meeting to the leaders of all opposition parties, including the Democratic Front (DF), which, due to the alleged involvement of two of its leaders in the "Coup d'état" scandal, was less desirable to international representatives. interlocutor in relation to the so-called civil opposition. This means that next week, the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), URE, Demos, Democrats and Socialist People's Party (SNP) should meet face to face with the European ambassadors, while the opposition alliance Democratic Front will represent four members of the Presidency.
The delegation of the European Union did not explicitly state the reason for the meeting, nor who asked for its organization, but it is quite expected that the boycott of the parliament will be a key topic of discussion. After a long retreat, has the international community decided to get more directly involved in unraveling the political mess in Montenegro?
"I would first of all understand it as mediation by the international community, and not at all interference in internal Montenegrin relations. It is certainly expected that the product of the involvement of the international community will be the beginning of new negotiations, which are desired by the representatives of the United States of America and the representatives of the European Union, and which should result in the return of the opposition to the parliament. And, under certain conditions of improvement and reform of the electoral administration, the holding of new parliamentary elections", assesses political analyst Zlatko Vujović.
In the previous separate, numerous bilateral meetings with the EU ambassadors, the opposition leaders maintained their stubborn position that there should be no break in the boycott until an agreement is reached on new parliamentary elections, at the latest with the presidential elections next year, as they believe that those organized on October 16 last year were illegitimate, because were held in the atmosphere of an alleged coup attempt and the threat of bloody clashes in the streets of Podgorica. As a mantra, they repeated that the fulfillment of this condition, as well as the legal and political resolution of the "Coup d'état" affair, is an unavoidable condition for the opposition to even think about returning to the parliamentary seats.
On the other hand, there were messages from representatives of the government that they would not agree to any conditions, that the institutions of the system function smoothly and that the next parliamentary elections will be held in the regular time of 2020.
Will the government, embodied in Prime Minister Duško Marković, still give in and reach an agreement with the opposition, under international pressure, to end the political impasse, in which the representatives of almost half of Montenegro do not participate in its parliamentary life?
"Definitely yes. A compromise will entail the holding of extraordinary parliamentary elections. If no compromise is reached, then we will sink into a deeper and deeper political crisis, which is not in the interest of either the ruling structure or the opposition. It will certainly not be acceptable for the European Union that the entire mandate of one parliament of a country that should soon become a member of the EU, be boycotted by the opposition. In some way, there will be pressure on both the government and the opposition. First of all, I expect a more constructive attitude from the part of the opposition that is civic-oriented," comments Zlatko Vujović.
The request that internal problems be internationalized and dealt with by relevant international actors was sent directly yesterday from the address of Aleksa Bečić, the leader of Democratic Montenegro, a party recognized for its intensive field work. Its activists in the agitation, in which they visit almost every home, in the previous days had verbal conflicts to the point of an incident with members or sympathizers of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), among whom were members of the extended family of Prime Minister Marković, who publicly accused the Democrats of for the pressure on his family. In a letter to the addresses of the European Union, the OSCE and diplomatic missions in Montenegro, the leader of the Democrats, Aleksa Bečić, pointed out that the lives of the members of that party are threatened because of their political activities and requested their appropriate reaction.
RSE asked the general secretary of the Democrats, Boris Bogdanović, whether there had already been feedback on Bečić's letter.
"Democratic Montenegro expects from all relevant international institutions an appropriate reaction in relation to everything that the Democratic Party of Socialists, together with informal power centers, members and heads of organized criminal groups, is doing in order to stop the most promising political entity on the political stage of Montenegro. We expect their reaction, a short time has passed. Already tomorrow we will have some contacts in this regard, after which, of course, we will inform the public about the results of those meetings," Bogdanović said.
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