The New Serbian Democracy (Nova) and the Democratic People's Party (DNP) currently plan to remain in the alliance, the form of which they have yet to define, even after the collapse of the Democratic Front (DF) and the upcoming national elections.
"Vijesta" was told unofficially by those two parties.
The newspaper contacted several of their officials yesterday, but no one was in the mood to officially talk about the plans after the end of DF.
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One of the sources of "Vijesti" unofficially said that the Nova and DNP coalition will survive, but that it will definitely have to reform and adapt to the political circumstances that arose after the complete expropriation of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the strengthening of new parties.
Another interlocutor stated that the alliance should get a new name.
The Front, which, along with Nova and DNP, also included the Movement for Change (PzP), ceased to exist on Sunday after 11 years of functioning, as the constituents failed to agree on the division of seats on the electoral list.
DF leaders Andrija Mandić (Nova), Milan Knežević (DNP) and Nebojša Medojević (PzP) announced their separation, announcing that there was no quarrel between them, especially not, as they claim, about the distribution of quotas on the list. Medojević said on Saturday that Knežević asked for the DNP to have more parliamentary seats. He pointed out that this was unacceptable to him, and that it was therefore decided to end the existence of the DF, and that the PzP go independently to the elections scheduled for June 11.
Nova and DNP will go to the polls with the Workers' Party, and Knežević will be the leader of the list.
Although it was established on the platform of "reconciliation" of Montenegro, DF has been recognized for the past few years for its incendiary rhetoric, which was mainly promoted by the leaders of that alliance, who talked about "civil war", "war comrades" and the like. That changed on the eve of the recently held presidential elections, when Mandić, as a presidential candidate, sent peaceful messages. However, that did not bring him victory (he ended his participation in the first round of elections), so the DF is again turning to "proven" topics, such as Kosovo (the plan is to cancel the Government's decision on the recognition of Kosovo in the territory of Zeta).
DF was formed in July 2012 by agreement between Nova and PzP, and its first leader was Miodrag Lekić. Shortly afterwards, after leaving the Socialist People's Party (SNP), Milan Knežević, Predrag Bulatović and several other SNP officials joined the coalition, who later founded the DNP. The goals of the alliance were, among other things, the overthrow of the DPS regime, the cleansing of the state from crime and corruption, the financial stability of the country...
In the parliamentary elections held in October of that year, the DF became the strongest entity after the DPS, with 20 mandates in the parliament and almost 83 thousand votes won by citizens.
In the spring of 2013, presidential elections were held, during which the DF got even closer to the DPS. Although Lekić was defeated by DPS's Filip Vujanović in the election race, part of the public doubted such an outcome. Part of the diplomatic corps at that time unofficially commented that Lekić won.
He left the Front at the beginning of 2015, claiming that despite several attempts, he failed to remove some deficiencies in the functioning of that alliance. Since then, the coalition has been coordinated by Mandić, Knežević and Medojević.
During the fall of that year, the DF protested for twenty days in front of the Assembly demanding the resignation of the Government of Milo Đukanović. The protests did not bear fruit, and in the end they were broken up, with the police beating citizens and officials of the DF. Mandić was tried for attempting to violently change the constitutional order during the protests, but he was acquitted.
A year later, in October 2016, parliamentary elections were held in which DF won 18 mandates (almost 78 thousand votes), but its leaders Mandić and Knežević were accused of carrying out an alleged terrorist attempt with Russian and Serbian citizens that day preventing the country from joining NATO. They were sentenced in the first instance to five years in prison, but the verdict was overturned. The retrial is ongoing.
The DF ended its series of defeats against Đukanović in the parliamentary elections in August 2020, when, together with eight other parties in the alliance, it won 27 mandates (over 133 thousand votes), and together with the Democrats and the Citizens' Movement URA elected a new government. However, due to opposition from the West, DF did not enter the government.
Lekić: DF was a serious step forward in the political life of Montenegro
The former leader of the DF, Miodrag Lekić, assessed that this alliance will remain "an important page of recent Montenegrin history".
"It was a serious step forward in the political life of Montenegro. "Not only because of the great strength of the coalition, but also because of the goals, from the decriminalization of Montenegrin society, the fight against the autocratic rule of the country, captured institutions, the connection between the state and the mafia, all the way to the pursuit of social and national equality in a united and serious country," he pointed out for "News".
Lekić says that the "internal history of the DF" had ups and downs, in several phases, but that the DF mostly managed to achieve democratic functioning on the internal level.
"Which was not easy considering that it was composed of many different entities. It should be recalled that in the first phase of the DF's existence, a wide range of subjects was created. There was a component of the Citizens' Club, and also the respected DF Council, which had a multi-ethnic character in their composition, with a lot of prominent Montenegrin intellectuals," he adds.
In the Council of DF were Law Faculty professor Milan Popović, writer and playwright Ljubomir Đurković, Faculty of Civil Engineering professor Jelisava Kalezić, writer Ibrahim Čikić...
Lekić explains that the fact that there are three constituent parties on the ground, with their special membership, organization and statutes, called into question the meaning of the position of DF president. Unless, he adds, he would agree to the status of a respected, but somewhat more formal, secondary role, "let's say, and to put it more freely, some form of the status of the Queen of England".
"It is no coincidence that after my decision to leave the DF, precisely for the stated reasons, the Democratic Front in its continued existence did not have a president, nor did it seek to elect a new one. Simply, a more realistic organization was reached that functioned even without a president".
Lekić emphasizes that he had no personal problems in DF, that he was respected, and that he tried to reciprocate "in kind".
He adds that his departure took place without conflicting atmosphere and rhetoric.
"It should be said that after that the DF decided to act more radically, and that quite legitimately. "The authorities used it for repression, and even mounting court proceedings against the DF and its members, hiding that the real reason was its concern for consistency in the fight against crime and corruption in the country," said the interlocutor.
The former DF leader says that according to that alliance, "sometimes out of prejudice, sometimes out of cynical geopolitical games", injustices were committed "from certain lines, including special services, from international circles".
"Even if I did not agree with the positions of the DF in everything, I clearly communicated a critical attitude towards some positions of international circles according to which the entity that wins the most votes in the elections cannot be a component of the Government. It was a flagrant violation of the basic principles of democracy. Although it happens mainly behind the scenes, this action of disrespecting the will of the people and the rules of democracy was also during the formation of the 44th government, and was apparently carried out through domestic, controlled contractors. But that's another topic..." said Lekić.
Bulatović is leaving the list, but not from politics
DNP MP Predrag Bulatović will not be on the joint electoral list of that party and Nova, but he is not retiring from politics, "Vijesta" confirmed.
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A long-time member of parliament estimated that the change of the regime of Milo Đukanović and the new developments on the political scene are a good moment for him to retire from the Assembly and leave the seat to younger colleagues.
Bulatović remains the president of the Political Council of the DNP. In the current convocation of the Assembly, he is, among other things, a member of the Committee for Political System, Judiciary and Administration of the Parliamentary Committee for Stabilization and Association (POSP). Bulatović did not advertise publicly yesterday.
MP and spokesman for the Movement for Change, Nikola Bajčetić, confirmed to "Vijesta" that he left the party, although he had previously voted for the parliamentary list and an independent appearance in the elections. "I resigned from all positions and wished them luck in their future work," he said.
According to TV Vijesti, the reason for Bajčetić's departure is dissatisfaction with the appearance of the top of the PZP parliamentary list. He believes that it is necessary to rejuvenate and refresh the list of PZP. He did not want to talk to "Vijesti" about the reasons for his departure.
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