The long-time Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović claimed in 1997 that he is the "democratic option" that wants Montenegro connected to the world, "rich and promising". He accused the political opponent, yesterday's comrade and party leader, the President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatović, of betraying the interests of Montenegro, of being a servant to Slobodan Milošević, and that he "wants to turn Montenegro back"...
Bulatović declared Đukanović and his supporters in the government to be the bearers of the "general criminalization of society" who use the "police for political purposes", objecting to their enormous personal enrichment and neglect of the northern part of Montenegro.
It turns out that there was a lot of truth in the words of both, that the rhetoric of both Đukanović and his current political rivals has changed slightly, while the relations between the authorities of Montenegro and Serbia, which were then presented to the public as the main reason for the conflict in the DPS, are intertwined again unclear and problematic connections.
Đukanović instead of the "triumvirate"
On this day 20 years ago, somewhere around 16:XNUMX p.m., the session of the DPS Main Board ended, which marked the final split of that party and after which Đukanović independently ruled Montenegro, instead of the ruling "triumvirate" (Đukanović as prime minister, Bulatović as president of Montenegro and Svetozar Marović as head of the Assembly).
Bulatović, until that day the president of the DPS, despite earlier customs, requested that the session of the GO DPS be open to the public, but journalists were not allowed to enter the Government building. According to media interpretations at the time, it was clear to Bulatović that he was entering a losing battle because he did not have a majority in the GO. That is why he wanted the presence of the public so that his claim that it was a conflict between the honest and the dishonest would gain weight, while the media pressure would be able to somewhat influence the balance of power in the party, which has changed radically since March when only six or seven supported Đukanović. members of the GO. Bulatović's presence at the General Assembly came down to stating that regular conditions for work had not been created, after which he scheduled a DPS congress for August 23.
Bulatović also appointed a committee for the preparation of the congress, which consisted of the presidents of seven municipal committees, who requested the convening of the congress. They are: Miloš Bojović (Berane), Radoman Gogić (Pljevlja), Rade Nišavić (Bijelo Polje), Branislav Otašević (Plav), Milijana Radojičić (Andrijevica), Predrag Bulatović (Podgorica), Mihailo-Milo Ćetković (Ulcinj) and the business director of DPS by Dragiša Pešić.
After Bulatović "closed the session", almost two-thirds, 62 members of the GO, continued their work, judging that there is a statutory basis for it, while 34 members left the session with Bulatović. As part of the first item on the agenda, Bulatović's responsibility for the situation in the party was discussed, after which he was removed from the post of DPS president with 58 votes, while four abstained.
Milica Pejanović-Đurišić, then vice-president of DPS, was elected in his place.
After Marović and Pejanović-Đurišić renounced their candidacy for the president of Montenegro in favor of Đukanović, the members of the GO declared their candidacy for Bulatović, Đukanović and Milan Gajović. The new top of the DPS did not mind inviting Bulatović to present his election program, even though he had previously been dismissed and left the session. Between the two candidates, the GO DPS decided with a convincing majority (58:3) for Đukanović.
Marović: Instead of the strong and absolutely powerful, Montenegro chooses the rule of law
That morning, July 11, Marović's interview appeared in Pobjeda, in which he attacked Bulatović:
"Montenegro must also think about itself... Instead of strong and absolutely powerful individuals, Montenegro chose the rule of law and divided power. Too much power in anyone's hands is dangerous”. Of the federal cadres in the GO, the only one who turned against Bulatović was the Vice-President of the Government of the FRY, Vojin Đukanović, while Srđa Božović, then President of the Council of Citizens of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Ministers of Defense and Justice, Pavle Bulatović and Zoran Knežević, and the then Vice-President of the Assembly of Montenegro, Zoran Đukanović, remained loyal to him. Žižić.
The head of the Club of DPS deputies in the Parliament of Montenegro, Predrag Bulatović, aligned himself with the surname Momir and, according to later testimonies, as the president of OO Podgorica, which was dissolved that day, was the most dangerous opponent of political rivals.
The head of the parliamentary group in the Council of Citizens of the Federal Assembly of the FRY, Željko Šturanović, sided with Đukanović, as did Gajević, then the coordinator of the Montenegrin delegation in the Council of Republics.
March session
Insiders claim that the conflict in DPS started much earlier. Although information about this began to come out only after March 25, 1997, when the session of the GO DPS that preceded the July one ended at the crack of dawn. One of the motives for the discord at the top of the DPS was the interview that Đukanović gave to the Belgrade magazine "Vreme", in which he stated that "Milošević is a man of outdated political thought, devoid of the ability to strategically look at the challenges facing our country." .
At the session that began in the afternoon of March 24, the members of the GO expressed two conclusions - whether you are in favor of Yugoslavia without preconditions and an alternative, and about the responsibility of the then Minister of Culture Goran-Sit Rakočević and the head of the State Security Service (SDB) Vukašin Maraš.
With the first, Bulatović demanded his head because of statements that Yugoslavia had no future with Milošević, and the second was under attack because of his alleged connection with the company ASI, through which oil was smuggled. Voting for these conclusions meant voting against the then Prime Minister and Vice President of the DPS Đukanović and his entourage, although this was not clear to a large number of members based on subsequent memories.
From symbolic support to the majority
At that time, only Marović, the godfather of Momir Bulatović, then Minister of Police Filip Vujanović, General Secretary of the Government Duško Marković, Vojin Đukanović, Mayor of Nikšić Blagoje Cerović and Director of the Government Agency for Restructuring the Economy, Milutin Lalić, stood by Đukanović. Due to the rare independent media reports from that period, as well as the selective memory of the actors of the session, it is difficult to assert whether Đukanović himself was the seventh vote during the public roll call, or whether it was the then director of the Budva Riviera, Djordje Pribilović, or the director of the PIO Fund, Mihail Banjević, although it is more likely that with Dragan Đurović, Šturanović, Danilo Vuksanović... he was among those who abstained. There were, again according to different data, between 11 and 22.
Đukanović then resigned from the position of vice-president of the DPS, but kept the prime minister's chair, at the persuasion of Marović, whom many see as a key figure in the victory against Bulatović, partly because of the ideological foundations he laid in the intra-party struggle, partly because of the way fought battle in municipal committees.
Party and clan conflict pushed Montenegro towards the abyss
After the split on July 11, Đukanović's current in parliament had 28 mandates left, as 17 MPs sided with Bulatović. In September, the DPS formed a coalition government that included the opposition People's Party, SDP, Albanian parties, the Democratic Union of Albanians and the Democratic Alliance.
After the July session of GO DPS, Bulatović and his supporters decided at their congress held on August 16 that they would also call their party DPS, and that their candidate in the presidential elections would be Momir Bulatović. The Constitutional Court of Montenegro "confirmed" Đukanović as the only DPS candidate, after which Bulatović formed the Socialist People's Party a few months later.
Meanwhile, the election contest turned into a conflict during which the media, including TVCG, controlled by Đukanović, and "Pobjeda", long controlled by Bulatović, aired the dirty laundry of the opposing camps. "Unbreakable" godparents and friendships were broken, new ones were made, and the conflict culminated on January 13, 1998 at the protests organized by Momir Bulatović in front of the Parliament of Montenegro after he refused to admit defeat to Đukanović in the October presidential elections.
Montenegro was on the brink of civil war that night. The conflict, fundamentally initiated by the struggle between the ruling clans in Montenegro and Serbia over booty from smuggling, led to a division in society, the furrows of which are visible on the present-day face of Montenegro.
Milo: Into battle only if I'm going to win
When asked to comment on his chances for the presidency of Montenegro in the race with Bulatović, Đukanović told journalists after the GO session that he does not enter any political battle without the conviction that he will be the winner:
"I have excellent prerequisites for that: the support of the party and the support of the Main Board".
The regime's media kept silent for a long time about the conflict within the ruling party
Those who at that time were exclusively informed by RTCG and "Pobjeda" did not believe in the statements of a small number of independent media about the conflict in DPS.
However, this is not surprising if it is known that after the convincing victory of DPS in the parliamentary elections in November 1996, Bulatović gave Đukanović a mandate to form a new government. He stated that he did it because of the "confirmed personal abilities and qualities" of Đukanović.
"So far, the cooperation between the President of the Republic and me, and the Government as a whole, has functioned at an exceptional level, to our mutual satisfaction, and I believe that a good part of the results we have achieved is precisely the result of that cooperation," Đukanović said in November 1996.
On the other hand, "Monitor" wrote in May 1997: "While the two vice-presidents of DPS in 'Pobjeda' are releasing the fog of compromise, on the ground, it is an open secret, a merciless battle is being waged for every two fingers in GO DPS and for each parliamentary key in the Assembly".
Division into "Serbian" and "Montenegrin" parts of Montenegro
Pejanović-Đurišić did not confirm or deny Bulatović's allegations at the press conference after the July session of the General Assembly that the municipal committees of the DPS of Podgorica, Pljevlja, Bijelo Polje, Beran, Plav, Andrijevica and Ulcinj represent the majority of the party membership.
This, as she said, is very controversial because "the issue of numbers is very relative".
According to media reports, it was already indicative and warning that Bulatović secured majority support in the north, in the peripheral municipalities of Pljevlja, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Plav and Andrijevica.
Thus, the intra-party conflict not only acquired a regional dimension, but the divisions into "Serbian" and "Montenegrin" parts of Montenegro were emphasized again.
Implacable about the police department
Before the split in the autumn elections of 1996, the DPS beat the opposition to its knees, although it seemed that then its power could be shaken for the first time thanks to the formation of the People's Accord, which consisted of the People's Party and the Liberal Alliance. Those two parties failed to gather a wider opposition bloc, although they invited the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) of Harun Hadžić, the SDP, and the Albanian DUA and DS to join them and leave ideological and national differences aside. DPS won 45 out of 71 mandates in the Assembly, thanks to the rewriting of the electoral law and the abuse of state resources, while Narodna Sloga got only 19, and the disintegration of the opposition continued even after the election.
However, the very course of the formation of the new government could indicate that the top of the DPS is no longer breathing with the same lungs.
Đukanović was forced to explain and defend the proposed composition of the new government for several hours at the session of the General Assembly in November, and at one point even offered to resign from the mandate. In the book "Rules of Silence", Bulatović wrote: "Djukanović intended the ministerial police chair for Vukašin Maraš and that could not be changed in any way." (All other ministers as you wish, but this one is mine!!!) As I did not want to agree to that, his decision to return the mandate followed, because he is unable to form a government that would be elected in the Assembly. The letter officially informing me of this found me in Belgrade. I held that paper in my hand and - I was sorry”.
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