The New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and the Democratic People's Party (DNP) are not opposed in principle to the addition of the Bosniak Party (BS), which is not a signatory to the coalition agreement on power, to the Government of Milojko Spajić, while the Democrats are expressly against it.
Slaven Radunović, head of the NSD parliamentary group, told "Vijesta" that they do not mind any party entering the executive power that accepts everything they agreed to by initialing the coalition document.
The same is said from the DNP, from where they unofficially informed "Vijesta" that they have nothing against the participation of BS in Spajić's cabinet, but that everything depends on the eventual demands of that party.
"From what their platform will be, whether there will be specific conditions... We will not allow blackmail. We have no problem with someone in the government who did not sign the agreement, but everything is up to the prime minister," said a source from the top of the DNP, adding that there is currently no information that BS will be part of the reconstruction.
The head of the Demokrata club, Boris Bogdanović, told "Vijesta" that Spajić, in the agreement, undertook to propose the reconstruction by the end of the year at the latest, as provided for in that document, "without additional modifications and political combinatorics".
"According to the aforementioned agreement, we are obliged to support such a reconstruction, while the agreement does not provide for other modifications, and therefore it is not even realistic that it will happen", he assessed, saying that the Democrats will participate "exclusively in those negotiations that concern the application of the signed agreement".
Bogdanović states that the formation of the Government was filled with "challenges that required everyone to be ready for political compromises in order to achieve political stability, in the process of which all subjects lost something". He says that BS, like some other subjects, had the opportunity to join "this effort", but that they chose "a different path, refusing any kind of cooperation with NSD and DNP".
"We do not see that their reasons related to these subjects have changed from then to today," he added.
Bogdanović says that "the previous experience with BS varied from extremely positive moments" when the party was headed by Rafet Husović, "whose MPs voted for the election of (Democrat leader) Alekse Bečić as President of the Assembly", to those that "distanced themselves when the BS MPs, led by the new leadership, decisively decided that Bečić should be removed...".
"We especially regret that we did not see a clearer condemnation of the actions that disrupted inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony in our society, caused by the then high-ranking police officials of the former government in which BS participated, and which was confirmed by the published 'Skaj' correspondence. What are the winners of the August 30, 2020 election accused of. That fact surprised us negatively", said the interlocutor.
In connection with Prime Minister Spajić's statement about the possibility of including parties that are not signatories to the government agreement in the reconstructed Government, it is important to emphasize that our commitment remains firmly focused on respecting the coalition agreement. This document, which was supported by the competent authorities of the Democrats, represents for us the backbone of our political will and obligation to the citizens of Montenegro", said Bogdanović.
According to the agreement, the "refreshing" of the Government is planned by the end of the year, with the entry of the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro" (ZBCG). That alliance, which consists of Andrije Mandić's NSD and Milan Knežević's DNP, is supported by Spajić's cabinet from the parliament. "Vijesti" wrote that the prime minister's idea is to carry out the reconstruction in two phases - in spring and autumn.
There has been speculation in the public for some time that those who did not initial the coalition document could also enter the executive power. That he is a supporter of that idea, the Prime Minister and leader of the Europe Now Movement (PES) confirmed last week, telling the Television of Montenegro (TVCG) that "as wide a circle of parties and leaders as possible" is needed to join the "movement that is European". However, he did not specify which parties.
That one of the potential candidates for a position in the government is BS, is evidenced by some moves of that party and the Government. Namely, BS hardly criticizes the work of Spajić's cabinet, which, on the other hand, appoints some of that party's cadres to government positions. For example, at the end of last year, Mirsad Azemović, a member of the Presidency of the BS, was appointed acting director general of the Directorate for Access to the Labor Market in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
In addition, BS acts in a conciliatory manner towards the constituents of the parliamentary majority. The party of Ervin Ibrahimović refused this week to join the opposition led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in filing a criminal complaint against the head of the Assembly Mandić, for displaying the tricolor in the cabinet.
"Vijesti" has learned unofficially that they hope for reconstruction in BS and that they believe that there are good preconditions for it, but that they fear that some people from PES have reservations about them - among other things, because of their support for Milo Đukanović in last year's presidential elections.
PES did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about the reconstruction in which BS would participate. PES MP Tonći Janović said on Thursday, in the "Argumenti" program on TVCG, that there were no negotiations with BS yet, but that such discussions should be conducted at the level of the parliamentary majority.
"Reconstruction will happen, but whether it will be implemented in phases - one part by the end of the summer, the other part by the end of the year - remains to be seen. I don't see that there will be any problem if it is implemented partially by the end of the year," he said.
BS was considered a certain constituent of the government until mid-October last year, but then Spajić suddenly abandoned the arrangement with them and agreed with the Democrats, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), the Albanian Forum and the Albanian Alliance, with the parliamentary support of ZBCG.
At the time, PES told "Vijesta" that BS refused to be in power with ZBCG and demanded that the Social Democrats (SD) be included in it, while BS stated that they did not even have time to make a statement about Spajić's offer of a minority government with ZBCG, and some sources from BS claimed that they did not even receive a formal offer.
The coalition agreement states that the ZBCG alliance will get five seats in the Government after the reconstruction. The vice-presidential position for infrastructure, as well as the departments of transport, education, tourism and spatial planning and urban planning, are intended for that association.
Spajić's government currently has 19 ministries and 23 members.
Đukanović: BS is maneuvering to get into power
Nikoleta Đukanović, a professor at the University of Donja Gorica, estimates that BS's distancing from the criminal complaint against Mandić represents the intention to "keep more room for maneuver to fit in with the will of the parliamentary majority, but also in the calculations for entering the Government."
It is rare, he says, to see parties in Montenegro that act strictly in accordance with their program frameworks and practice, but that they generally adapt to the situation that can bring them the most benefits in the process of reaching the department. Regardless of the fact that, he states, it is extremely important that minority parties find themselves in every government, if BS enters Spajić's as part of the reconstruction, and bearing in mind the governments in which it has participated, the rule that it should be guided by short-term interests and not programmatic policy will be , he says, very obviously in the case of that party.
"If BS enters the government, I believe that it would not bother the constituents, only in order to ensure the greatest possible support and longevity of the government, i.e. the longevity of staying in government positions," adds Đukanović.
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