The list holders of the two strongest political blocs after the elections in Budva do not want to negotiate with each other on the formation of the government, in the camp of Mladen Mikijelj there was an alarm due to the hint from the coalition partner, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), that their club will negotiate with everyone, but official talks they did not start with other actors either, "Vijesti" learns.
Two days after the local elections, the strongest lists, "Budva our city - Nikola Jovanović" and "For the future of Budva - Budva open city - Mladen Mikijelj", have not yet officially invited to formal negotiations the leaders of the parties and coalitions that managed to enter the future local parliament, although they need at least eight more councilors to form a government.
Davor Dokić, councilor from Jovanović's list, which is made up of former members of the Democratic Front, told Television Vijesti last night that they will initiate negotiations that could be concluded in the next couple of weeks, and reiterated that they will not negotiate with the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and New Serbian Democracy (NSD).
In the coalition led by Mikijelj, that party won four out of a total of nine mandates, the Democratic People's Party (DNP) two, the Movement for Change (PzP) one, and the SNP two. A majority requires 17 out of a total of 33 councilors in the Budva parliament.
Loklani SNP announced the day before yesterday that if it receives the consent of the party headquarters, it will form a special committee club and thereby withdraw from the coalition.
It was unofficially confirmed to "Vijesti" that Mikijelj wants to receive firm assurances from all members of the coalition that have received mandates that they will not form special clubs and negotiate independently. Mikijelj already requested that confirmation from the party headquarters of these parties, especially from the SNP, in order to start negotiations in the coming period.
On the other hand, from Jovanović's camp, they claim that NSD is the main culprit of the collapse of the recent local administration, which they headed together for a full year and two months after the arrest of Municipal President Milo Božović, who is still an official of that party.
Even in NSD, as "Vijesti" was told yesterday, they don't want to invite Jovanović for talks. Electoral mathematics does not work in Mikijelj's hands, because he can only make an offer to form a post-election coalition to the Europe Now Movement, which has two councilors, and to the Democrats, who won four mandates, and thus he lacks two councilors.
On the other hand, Jovanovic also lacks two supporters if he secures the support of the SDP and URA, which is expected, but also from the Democrats, so he can count on the split of Mikijel's coalition and talks with the independent committee clubs of the SNP and the DNP.
That they have not yet received any invitation to the negotiations for the formation of the government, confirmed to "Vijesta" the leader of the list of Democrats, Đorđe Zenović.
"Certainly, those who received the largest number of votes are responsible for forming the government, and we expect their invitation to talks. We are open to hearing proposals and we expect that the 1200 citizens who supported our election list and the program and principles that we ran for will be respected. The final word on our entry into power will be given by our Municipal Board, as always until now," he said.
Even the coalition gathered around the SDP, led by Petar Odžić, has not yet received an invitation for negotiations. Odžić told "Vijesta" that he is convinced that the new government will be formed in the shortest possible time, and that they are the best on the political scales.
"These days we are analyzing the election and the election result, which is good for our coalition from several segments. We demonstrated the justification of forming an alliance between SDP, SD and LP, but we also managed to be the balance on the political scales in Budva, and without us a majority cannot be formed. As a coalition that has the widest coalition capacity, and we are a desirable partner for everyone, in the coming days we expect discussions on the topic of potential coalitions. I hope that the future government will be formed as soon as possible, but also that it will provide a politically stable period ahead of us, so that Budva can regain its old glory," he said.
If the two biggest blocs persist in not talking to each other about the formation of the government, and Mikijel's bloc remains united, "Vijesti" interlocutors claim that it could happen that neither side forms the government, which would be more in line with Jovanović.
His group still manages the city, and as a group of citizens, made up of local municipal officials and directors of large municipal companies close to Milo Božović, they achieved an excellent election result, so they reckon that in the event of re-election, they would succeed in positioning themselves even better, because they would be organized from positions of authority.
The formation of a coalition of "stretched" 17 councilors in which there would be five political entities, which would have to be met by giving political cake - positions in the administration, companies, institutions and services, would not go well with Jovanović.
On the other hand, there is more and more mention of the possibility that Jovanović's list, in the event that it does not secure an agreement with the major political parties, primarily the Democrats, and the SNP or DNP is not separated, with the support of the SDP, could seek the minority support of the Democratic Party of Socialists for the formation of the municipal government.
Bearing in mind that Jovanović himself said that he will not negotiate with DPS, it is increasingly being mentioned that the two parties could agree to offer an independent candidate for mayor, and several such names have already been mentioned, and some are close to Jovanović.
Argument between MIkiel and Jovanović activists
The Budva police confirmed to "Vijesti" that they investigated the case of the alleged conflict between key activists of Mikijelj's and Jovanoviž's lists that happened the day before yesterday in Budva, near the offices of the coalition "For the Future of Budva".
The police called the actors of the incident, but they denied that there was any conflict.
Several eyewitnesses told "Vijesti" that the incident took place in a bar near the offices of Mikijelj's coalition, when one of the main activists threw something at an activist of Jovanović's list who was in the bar. Allegedly, in addition to throwing, threats and insults were also heard.
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