Yesterday's decision of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knežević to suspend support for the Government until several demands are met, is a violation of the coalition agreement on the formation of the government, and an attempt by that party to strengthen its electorate.
This is what a political analyst assessed for "Vijesti". Marko Pejović.
The DNP has decided to condition its support to the Prime Minister's office Milojko Spajić (Movement Europe now) after Montenegro supported the adoption of the Resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica at the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on Thursday. Yesterday, Knežević's party announced that the government "seriously collapsed the coalition agreement" and that the executive power and that document "cannot survive in the current format".
The DNP therefore stated that the adoption of the resolution on the genocide in Jasenovac by the end of June at the latest is a prerequisite for them to even consider the option of further support for Spajić.
"In the event that the resolution, one of the initiators of which is the Prime Minister, is not voted on, it would automatically mean the end of further negotiations and the denial of our support to the 44th Government," that party pointed out.
DNP and New Serbian Democracy, which were part of the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro" (ZBCG), support the Government from the Parliament, without participating in it.
The DNP stated that, if the resolution on Jasenovac is adopted, several things should be implemented, "all with the aim of reaching an agreement on the further functioning of the parliamentary majority...". They demand that they receive a "concrete and time-standardized implementation of the economic program 'Europe Now 2', the initiation of a constitutional initiative on the standardization of the Serbian language as an official language, the definition of the norm on the non-statutory nature of criminal offenses in the field of organized crime and corruption, the proposal of an agreement on dual citizenship with Serbia , standardizing the tricolor as the national flag, dismissing some of the ministers "for whom there are serious suspicions that they have connections with organized criminal groups and corrupt activities", and annexing the existing coalition agreement and obliging them to fulfill the aforementioned requirements.
Pejović says that the DNP at the national level and at the level of the Capital City is increasingly putting pressure on Spajić, and with its demands "directly violates" the provisions of the agreement that was initialed before the formation of the executive power.
"Specifically - the provisions on dialogue and cooperation ('we undertake to make a full contribution in parliamentary activity to the efficient and quick execution of obligations under the competence of the Assembly, leaving aside particular party interests, while taking into account the interests of all citizens of Montenegro...'), stability ('the signatories of the agreement will work to preserve the stability of the government because they are aware that political stability is the basis for reforms and development) and national unity ('we undertake to improve social cohesion through our statesmanship and eradicate national, religious and political divisions... We will refrain from all topics that can renew or deepen divisions...')", he states.
The interlocutor assesses that the timing of the initiation of the mentioned requests is "very indicative", considering that they were proposed before the elections in Budva (scheduled for today) and Andrijevica (scheduled for June 2).
"There is no doubt that they are trying to provide additional security to retain or strengthen their electorate," states Pejović.
He says that the question arises as to whether the UN resolution on Srebrenica should have happened, so that the DNP "remembered to ask for details about the program they voted for during the election of the 44th Government".
"I guess it was expected that they would make that request before providing support to the Government. Most of the other requests go in the direction of the increasingly visible separation of the DNP from the ZBCG coalition, with the aim of strengthening its electorate and focusing the Serbian electorate primarily on the DNP and not on the ZBCG. Otherwise, these requests would be sent from that coalition," adds Pejović.
He reminds that in the event that the DNP withholds support from the Government, it would not "fall", provided that there are no new disagreements in the parliamentary majority. As "Vijesti" wrote, in the event of the departure of the DNP, Spajić's cabinet would be only one vote away from "falling". The ruling majority has 46 deputies, among whom are four DNP members. With their eventual departure from power, the majority would "decline" to 42 votes - one more than needed to elect the Government.
Spajić's party said yesterday that it will not give up on the announced program "Europe Now 2", and that it will not withdraw the proposals whose idea creator and author, i.e. proposal for a resolution on the genocide in Jasenovac.
Member of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Darko Dragović, thanked Knežević's party for, as he said, reminding PES of its promises and pre-election program.
"PES will not protect its officials for whom there is clear evidence and well-founded suspicion that they are committing criminal acts. Also, it will not prevent anyone from using their constitutional powers, even in the part of changing the Constitution in the manner and in the procedure as provided by the Constitution. In the same way, PES will not change the criminal law, which already stipulates that the conduct of criminal proceedings for criminal acts of corruption is not statute-barred and will not allow the return of DPS (Democratic Party of Socialists) to power. Based on the position of the DNP, we can conclude that they will not leave power as long as the PES remains as it was until now", stated Dragović.
With the adoption of the UN resolution, July 11 was declared the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Srebrenica Genocide. The document condemns the denial of genocide, but also the glorification of war criminals.
The voting of the resolution was supported by 84 UN members, 19 were against, 68 abstained, while 22 members did not vote. Montenegro supported the adoption, as did the other countries of the former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), except Serbia, which was against it, as well as China, Russia, Hungary, Cuba, Nicaragua...
DNP: By entering the Government, we would absolve Spajić for supporting the resolution
DNP announced that it will not support the reconstruction of the Government "announced for June".
"From this it follows that the DNP will not delegate either the Deputy Prime Minister or the Minister of Transport, who were established by the coalition agreement as belonging to the DNP. Establishing this position, the Presidency of the DNP concludes that with the entry of its representatives into the Government, they would absolve Prime Minister Spajić for voting the resolution on Srebrenica", it was said.
Bonus video:
