New President of the Assembly, old divisions, compromise?

The president of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and one of the leaders of the coalition For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG) Andrija Mandić was elected last night as the president of the Parliament of Montenegro by a three-fifths majority of deputies.

In the secret ballot, 49 MPs voted for the election of Mandić, i.e. all who were in the hall.

Members of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Social Democrats (SD), Bosniak Party (BS), Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) and Citizens' Movement (GP) URA did not attend the vote. Before the vote, the DPS deputies hung black ribbons on the microphones and left the session.

The session, which is a continuation of the constitutive one from July, started yesterday morning a little after ten o'clock, and after several breaks, it ended a little before 22 p.m., although the discussion was planned to last three hours, while the session at which a new Milenko Spajić's government began shortly after 23 p.m. and did not end until the conclusion of this issue of Vijesti.

After his election as head of the parliament, Mandic said that as "a man who is of Serbian nationality, believes in God, belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church, speaks the Serbian language and writes in Cyrillic, he is not a stranger in this land which is his and all his who walked on this stone".

"We are not and must not be strangers to each other, we are brothers in the land we walk on," said Mandić.

Who said what about Kosovo, the Podgorica Assembly, the chessboard

The DPS, explaining why they will not support Mandić for the head of the parliament, reminded them of many of his earlier statements about Kosovo, NATO, the Podgorica Assembly... Mandić answered them by reminding them of the earlier statements of the former leader of the DPS, Milo Đukanović on the chessboard, Kosovo nationalists, while he supported Slobodan Milošević's policy.

Acting President of DPS Danijel Živković asked Mandić if he will withdraw support for the Government if it does not lift sanctions against Russia, if he will withdraw the recognition of Kosovo, if he will ask the Government to withdraw from the NATO alliance and if he will ask for the return of soldiers from NATO missions , and that by signing the agreement on the parliamentary majority, which foresees all this, he betrayed his voters.

Mandic did not answer those questions, but called on the DPS MPs to look to the future and not make the same mistake he made "and not spend 20 years in the opposition".

He also told them that with that rhetoric they cannot win "even the party of Novak Adžić".

Andrija Nikolić (DPS) assessed that today Chetnikism in Montenegro is legitimized as a state ideology, while his party colleague Aleksandra Vuković Kuč said that "Milojko Spajić is handing over Montenegro to the gravediggers of Montenegro today."

Miodrag Laković from the Europe Now Movement (PES) said that the elections in June showed that PES has the greatest trust of citizens.

"Citizens gave us a mandate to form a government. The negotiation process had its burdens, but together with our partners we formed the parliamentary majority and agreed on the government", said Laković.

He said that he believes that Mandić will honorably defend the Constitution and Rules of Procedure and articulate the democratic dialogue in the best way, in which he will have "unequivocal and undivided support" in the PES club.

The proposal for Mandić's candidacy was explained by the president of the Democratic People's Party, Milan Knežević.

He read his biography, stating that Mandić graduated from the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology in Podgorica and that he was the founder and president of the Serbian People's Party, and later the leader of the New Serbian Democracy.

"The basic feature of his human biography is to make a human compromise for the good of the community and the people. Andrija Mandić had the opportunity to give in and betray his convictions... for apartments, scholarships...".

"Politics is not everyday betrayal and fraud, to find ourselves at the end of the road betrayed, cheated and stolen from. And all that Mandić and his coalition alliance went through in 2016 and all the mounted porcesi all speak of his steadfastness and perseverance," said Knežević.

The head of the Social Democrats (SD) parliamentary group, Boris Mugoša, said that "it is a gross and brutal untruth that someone has something against Mandić because he is a Serb".

"Through my actions and upbringing, I have shown that I am not interested in nationality... I think that Mandić should not be the President of the Assembly because today he will take the oath on the Constitution, which he claimed was a fake document. I cannot support him because he does not support the Montenegrin national team. I cannot support him because he denies the genocide in Srebrenica. His municipal leaders are changing the character of those municipalities..." he pointed out.

"Accepting this candidate does not mean that we accept his spoken sentences and ideas, but that we are ready to renounce particular and personal interests for the sake of the common good. Voting for a candidate with somewhat harsher rhetoric, policies and ideas does not mean a political concession, but that we have accepted to get out of the existing institutional crisis. Today we are not voting for an individual, today we are not voting for a party or an idea, today we are voting for compromise and Montenegro", said Boris Bogdanović (Democrats).

Degraded parliament

Miloš Konatar (URA) said that someone cannot be in a place where strategic, foreign policy directions are affirmed, without agreeing with those directions, no matter what his name was.

He said that the Parliament of Montenegro was degraded by the Agreement signed by the majority.

"You have foreseen the formation of a high body - the Collegium of party presidents and presidents of clubs of deputies of the parliamentary majority. In order to preserve power, the signatories undertake not to adopt laws that were not adopted at the collegium? And this is how you imagine parliamentarism and democracy? I guess it is logical to say that you will not support something that is not in the interest of the citizens", Konatar said.

Deputy of the Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA), Mehmed Zenka, said that he will not vote for Mandić not because he is a Serb, but because "they read different books on the history of Serbian-Albanian relations".

"For the sake of my Albanian public, I was not allowed to cross the red line that my graves would never forgive me... There (Milan) Radoičić is a hero, for me he is a criminal," he pointed out.

On the other hand, the leader of the Albanian Alternative, Nik Đeljošaj, said that he signed the agreement on the new government "as a compromise solution".

"I understand that there are different interpretations because of the past, because of what someone once said, but it should be remembered that, no matter how many challenges there were, there was no instability. We differ, but we should look to the future together," he said.

At the beginning of the session, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) sent an initiative that the flag of Ukraine, which will be there until the end of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, stands in the plenary hall, in addition to the Montenegrin flag.

Knežević suggested that they consider these proposals when the new President of the Assembly is elected and that they consider that "in addition to the Montenegrin flag, there should also be the flags of Palestine, Syria, Israel, Colombia..."

Aleksa Bečić (Democrats) reminded that in the last convocation the Assembly adopted a Declaration condemning the aggression against Ukraine and so far there have been no similar initiatives

Elected new MPs

At the parliament session, following the decision of the State Election Commission, new MPs were elected: Dejan Đurović, Vaso Obradović and Bojana Pićan from the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro", Nikola Zirojević (SD) from the coalition "Together", Fatmir Đeka from the Albanian Alliance and Angel Vojinović from Demokrat

They will replace MPs who resigned due to incompatibility of positions (Nihad Canović, Stevan Katic, Marko Kovačević, Vesko Delić and Milutin Đukanović) or personal reasons (Tihomir Dragaš, Genci Nimanbegu).

Nikolić: Shame on the face of Montenegro

Andrija Nikolić called on the media to get involved in order to find out if Mandic is in legal possession of the citizenship of another country, stating that there is no official answer from Serbia.

"There was no understanding for the opposition's insistence that all DPS MPs say what they have. It is clear that they tried to escape from the discussion", said Nikolić at the press conference.

He said that a new violation of the law is being prepared, stating that the session on the election of the government should be held in Cetinje.

"On the stage we have the stumbling of parliamentary life, first of all in the moral sense, then also in the political sense. "This shame on the face of Montenegro, after 82 years since the anti-fascist uprising of Montenegrin patriots and partisans, speaks of the fact that we live, unfortunately, in an ugly reality in which the so-called civil parties are teaching new generations how to wash the biographies of the Chetnik dukes," he said.

As he said, the situation in which Montenegro is today is best explained by the fact that the representatives of the Albanian parties found an interest in supporting the election of the Chetnik voivode as president of the parliament, "a man who once attacked Albanians in Montenegro, who participated in military operations in Kosovo and on that basis received a saber from (Aleksandar) Vulin".

Mandić: The greatest honor in life

After the election, Mandić told the MPs that they had given him the greatest honor he had received in his life so far.

"Thank you to everyone who voted for me, and to those who didn't, because this mission of reconciliation does not only include people who can come together around an agreement, but others as well. We have to work hard to make this country happy," he said.

He stated that he has the most parliamentary experience, as he was elected as a member of parliament eight times.

"Our political life must strive for justice and truth. We all need to do good deeds, not just utter deceptive phrases. What I sincerely believe in today and what I want to serve is only one thing - reconciliation and only reconciliation. It is extremely important because I see that the world is on the verge of conflict. That is why we must be united, reconciled and in agreement", he pointed out.

Mandić said that before any decision, everyone should be heard and the most acceptable should be chosen.

"No one is more important than the people and their country... That's why we need dialogue. We have to start trusting each other. Public opinion polls show that politicians are least trusted these days. That is the problem. But it also shows that people don't trust anyone, and no one talks about it," said Mandić.

He said that even within many families, trust in each other has been lost.

"That's the second thing I want to stand for - to start the process of restoring trust in people. It is not cowardice to forgive your neighbor. Greed and crime have long dragged this country backwards. Only harmony and trust can bring her back. Blunting the edges of our differences, we work for the good of us all. That's why we decided on the census. It will begin on November 30, and in the following days we will provide all additional protection measures and citizens will have insight into the data they provided to Monstat. Today, everything depends on us. And we will show how much we can do together for the benefit of all citizens. It is our duty to pass the laws that the people are asking for, and that Montenegro needs. This should become the home of argumentative words," Mandic said.

He added that today it turned out that "the three-thirds majority voted for one idea, one person".

"I will do everything to soon elect the VDT, the Judicial Council, the missing judges of the Constitutional Court. There can be no room in the judiciary for individuals who served the strong and punished the weak. The law is above all. This time asks us not to forget who we are, but not to miss the opportunity to do what we have to do. As a man who is of Serbian nationality, believes in God, belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church, speaks the Serbian language and writes in Cyrillic, I am not a stranger in this land that is mine and all mine who have walked on this stone. We are not and must not be strangers to each other, we are brothers in the land we walk on," said Mandić.

Opposition and Luča protest: Mandić is proof of the collapse of institutions

Andrija Mandić is unworthy to hold the position of President of the Parliament of Montenegro. This was announced last night at the protest of the opposition and the Forum of Free Citizens of Luč, held in front of the parliament.

Jelena Marković, an official of the Liberal Party (LP), announced at the gathering that the election of Mandić shows how Montenegrin institutions have collapsed.

"Mandić came here even though he is being prosecuted for the most serious crime - attempted terrorism. He is also a citizen of Serbia, which is against the law. The Chetnik duke belongs to the half that promotes darkness through klerofascism, nationalism... We will defend and defend Montenegro," she said.

Social Democrats (SD) MP Nikola Zirojević stated that they will not allow Mandić's "false rhetoric" to deceive them, "because a wolf changes its hair but not its temper".

He stated that the protest was also organized because of the population census, the start of which was scheduled for November 1, but which the new government should postpone.

"I am telling the future Prime Minister Spajić - either your first job will be to adopt the decree on postponing the census and accept all our demands, or you will face an ever fiercer boycott of the census," Zirojević pointed out.

Elected vice-presidents and the Administrative Board

Boris Pejović from the Europe Now Movement (PES) and Zdenka Popović from Democratic Montenegro were elected vice-presidents of the Parliament of Montenegro.

53 deputies voted for Pejović and 54 for Popović.

The constitutive session ended with the election of the president and members of the Administrative Board.

A compromise was reached, although there was a deadlock regarding the election of members, as PES requested to have three members.

In the end, PES got two members, and Jelena Nedović was elected as the president of the Board.

The administrative board has 12 members - except for two members of PES, and one each from Nova, DNP, Democrats, SNP, the Special Club of Deputies and the Alabama Forum.

Vasilije Čarapić, Simonida Kordić, Zdenka Popović, Vladislav Bojović, Dragoslav Šćekić, Radinka Ćinćur, Nikola Camaj, Mihailo Andušić, Zoja Bojanić Lalović, Kenana Strujić Harbić, Ana Novaković Đurović and Branislav Nenezić were elected as members of the Administrative Board.