It is uncertain whether the shaken ruling coalition and the government will survive, but regardless of the outcome of the crisis due to the illegal election of the acting director of the police, it will make it difficult to fulfill obligations for rapid progress towards the European Union, "Vijesti" interviewees assessed.
The conflict between the Europe Now Movement and Democratic Montenegro, which has been going on since December, culminated yesterday morning after the Government chose Aleksandar Radović for the acting director of the police at the proposal of the prime minister Milojko Spajić. Before that, the government rejected the proposal of the Minister of the Interior Danilo Saranovic (Democrats) to appoint a police official to that position Lazar Scepanovic.
The big unknown is whether the Democrats will leave the Government because of this, and there are increasingly frequent speculations that in that case they will be replaced by the Bosniak Party.
The numbers in the Assembly allow Spajić to replace the majority of 41 votes with BS MPs in case the Democrats leave, given that the DCG has seven votes in the parliament and the Democratic People's Party, whose leader is Milan Knezevic recently said that he will not vote for BS to enter the government and that he will not be in it if that party is there.
Spajić recently said that the opposition parties are also welcome in the Government when the reconstruction takes place, which should be done by the end of the year, and it is possible that it will start in the spring. "Vijesti" has learned that he is ready to include the Social Democrats and the Croatian Civic Initiative in the Government, which would increase the potential new majority by four MPs to 45.
Leader of BS Ervin Ibrahimovic he told "Vijesti" that "it is no secret that there is an idea for BS to be part of the story (about the reconstruction of the Government), but that story did not go beyond that idea and there were no concrete discussions on that topic".
However, he said that he had been talking with Spajić for a long time about "common, strategic political goals".
"For a long time, there has been very intensive communication between PES and BS, and thus also between Mr. Spajić and me as the leaders of those political entities, and she is at this moment focused on what are the common, strategic political goals of both parties, on which we can cooperate regardless of our opposition status. It is, first of all, membership in the EU, improvement of citizens' standards and the development of the north," said Ibrahimović.
From DNP and New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Andrije Mandić yesterday they did not answer the questions about whether they expect the Democrats to leave the government and if they think they will, what they will do about it. They did not even answer the question whether they expect BS to enter the government and what this crisis means for EU integrations and the chance for their acceleration by the summer if there is a reconstruction with BS, but also if the Government remains like this.
"It is not a question for us, but for the Democrats and Bosniaks", answered the same questions from the Socialist People's Party (SNP).
Knežević said in the Assembly on Monday, during the debate on the dismissal of Mandić, for which BS voted, that he would not accept that party entering the Government. "If you enter the government, after your presentation today, I will leave," Knežević said during the discussion with Ibrahimović.
After the session, Mandić told journalists that he wants the best relations with BS and that "one vote is not a vote for all time".
A source from the top of the DNP told "Vijesti" that he believes that "it is a big bet that (the coalition) will break, but it does not depend on us". "Here they were looking for the security sector, they got it, and now there is even more chaos".
Docent at the University "Donja Gorica", Nikoleta Djukanovic she said that the current crisis will shake the government and the majority in the parliament, regardless of the outcome of the crisis.
She said this in response to the question of whether she expects that after the conflict between DCG and PES, the Democrats will leave the government and what it would mean if they do, and what if they don't decide on such a move.
"Both in the case of the Democrats remaining in the Government, and in the case of their replacement by the Bosniak Party, the Government will find it very difficult to cope with the obligations that entail the rapid implementation of reforms from the European agenda," she said.
She also said that it is very possible that the Democrats will be decisive in forcing the Prime Minister to cut off support, but that Mandić will play a crucial role in "maintaining" the majority he is successfully managing, rather than Spajić succeeding in consolidating his ruling ranks.
Yesterday, Mandić hinted at talks in the ruling coalition about the crisis, and "Vijesti" sources claim that a meeting of the leaders of its constituents is coming up, which could possibly be preceded by his attempt to "mediate" between Spajić and Alekse Bečić, the Democratic president.
One of the initiators of the Upheaval, Srđan Perić, he said that whether someone will enter or leave the Government is a matter of political settlements or trade.
"It almost doesn't matter who will do better, because we are getting a policy that has nothing to do with what was promised in the elections. In fact, we are getting a policy that is not truly based on anything other than partitocracy," said Perić.
Alluding to ZBCG, Perić said that all this should be added to those "who are waiting to enter the Government for ministerial positions, and to whom we have a problem explaining that they are already the government because they vote for the Government and its decisions, they have the President of the Assembly and directors in state enterprises".
"If the announcements are to be believed, they could soon have ministers as well. The other pretender to join the government seems to be regretting that he didn't join it right away and is trying not to repeat that mistake for, obviously, the reason of developing his own party network," said Perić, alluding to the Bosniak Party (BS).
Yesterday, the Democrats did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" regarding their possible exit from the government.
Part of the government does not see the crisis, the opposition is demanding elections
At the request of the Democrats, Mandić interrupted the session of the Assembly yesterday, and "Vijesti" sources claim that it will not continue until a meeting "at the top" of the ruling coalition is held.
Democrat MP Momcilo Leković he asked for an interruption of the session due to, as he said, the government's crisis, which was caused by a brutal violation of the law, by exceeding the limits of authority and "for the first time in the history of Montenegro, by taking over the authority that belongs to the Minister of Internal Affairs".
"The election of the acting director of the police in an illegal manner and that of the one who, according to the media, did not pass the polygraph. "I ask that you immediately stop today's session and do it as you have done in previous times when other clubs asked for a break and postponement, because I think there is no need to create a circus here," Leković said.
The President of the Assembly replied that "there is no circus going on here".
"We have different relationships and different observations in relation to many things, we belong to different political organizations, but I will certainly meet the request that everyone is familiar with - I am interrupting the session. You will be informed about the continuation of the session in a timely manner", Mandic said.
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Member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Nikola Janović he said later at the press conference that they had not received any notification about the continuation of the session and that it will be continued when the majority decides, "which led Montenegro into anarchy".
"The only way out of that anarchy is extraordinary parliamentary elections," said Janović, who announced that the DPS will request a control hearing of Saranović and Spajić.
Mandić told journalists in the Assembly that the election of acting director of the Police Administration should not collapse the parliamentary majority.
"The government elected dozens of acting directors, but not everyone agreed, so nothing happened. When you talk and make decisions, everyone has their own preferences, but the government made a decision by majority. Whether it is in accordance with the law or not, there are competent authorities that will deal with it. The conversation of the parliamentary majority should continue to overcome the situation," explained Mandić.
Asked when he expects the conversation and the continuation of the session, the head of the parliament replied that it would be good to have the conversation as soon as possible.
"I have no doubt that the two most responsible people in the government, Bečić and Spajić, will make the maximum contribution to overcome the misunderstanding", Mandic said.
When asked if he would initiate the meeting, Mandic replied that it would be natural.
Head of the Parliamentary Club of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Vasilije Carapić he said that he does not expect a crisis of power after the election of Radović and that the parliamentary majority is stable.
"I don't expect a crisis, nor do I wish for one, I expect a conversation and I believe that we will reach an even better agreement out of this misunderstanding," said Čarapić.
The PES Parliamentary Club stated in a statement yesterday that they support the Government's decision to, in the absence of an acceptable proposal from the Minister for Acting Director of the Police Directorate, decide to appoint the candidate with the best resume and thus prevent Zoran Brđanin continue to cover this function because he does not have the support of any member of the Government.
"We appreciate that this has prevented the blocking of the leadership system in the Police Directorate, since the minister did not propose another candidate, which was his obligation," they announced.
The Democrats Parliamentary Club supported Šaranović "that he and his legal team should prosecute all illegally made decisions, inform the competent state authorities about the suspected commission of criminal acts by members of the Government, caused by scandalous violations of the law, and ensure that until the resolution of the crisis, the authorities and stable functioning of the sector he heads".
The Social Democrats (SD) announced yesterday that after the "broke" that the relevant minister Saranović and the Government as a whole prepared in connection with the election of the head of the Police Directorate, it is clear that the parliamentary majority has disintegrated.
Perić: This is not a pattern by which the chances of EU integration can be improved
Srđan Perić pointed out that this is certainly not a pattern in which the chances of anything can be improved, let alone EU integration, although it is more than clear that the EU administration wants to speed up that path.
"The pre-election environment was created to elect such and such a government, and now it's time for all of us to learn that this is not democracy, but the engineering of a political circus where citizens can only watch what is happening, but not really decide. Understanding this truth is the first step so that we do not repeat such mistakes again - and it is a reminder for citizens that this government was elected by the majority of their votes," said Perić.
Đukanović assessed that recently the will of the majority to fulfill the technical requirements is obvious, as well as the will of the EU that at least one country of the Western Balkans, even in case of insufficient results, will finally be praised, but it is difficult to expect from politicians who do not truly understand the process, which they feel responsible only in case of receiving praise from the EU, expect great results in the coming period.
"In the event that Montenegro does not receive IBAR, I doubt that someone from the ruling structures will feel responsible, and in the event that we receive it, the question is how they will succeed in consolidating the ranks for the reforms that are yet to come", said Nikoleta Đukanović.
Politics before law
Nikoleta Đukanović said that it is difficult to predict the reactions of the Government's constituents to the current crisis.
"No matter how it ends, and if politics has always been stronger than law in Montenegro, we can conclude from these processes that we are very consciously taking a path where a political decision is crucial, regardless of whether it has a legal basis or not," she pointed out.
She said that citizens pay the consequences for illegal and illegal decisions, and as long as the responsibility and punishment are not addressed to the politicians who made them and not to the citizens who did not choose such scenarios, this practice will continue.
"On the other hand, during the formation of the Government, we saw that the only goal was to form some kind of government and occupy positions of power, and this is paying off for some political players today. But, not because there is disagreement among them on how to achieve democracy, but because we have leading players who do not know what democracy is, who play democracy without knowing the basic principles of the functioning of state administration and the rule of law," she pointed out.
She said that "those others, who react due to illegal acts, do not do so because they adhere to principles, morals, legal and legitimate behavior, but because they lose a very important department that was assigned to them in the division of the spoils".
Perić said that the current government does not have a clear ideological orientation or any long-term sustainable vision. It shows, as he said, that they do not know the procedures, and the trend of arbitrariness continues.
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