The minority parties are planning to create a common platform from which they will be the prime minister Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement) to demand a decision on the moves of the head of parliament Andrije Mandić (New Serbian Democracy), which they believe are causing divisions in Montenegrin society and disrupting Montenegro's relations with its neighbors.
A source for "Vijesti" from one of the minority parties said that they want Spajić to "distance himself as much as possible" from Mandić, while another source said that they expect the Prime Minister to comment on the statements of the Assembly leaders, claiming that it is not ruled out that these parties, if Mandić continues "on his own terms", will withhold support from the executive branch.
However, he notes that he will not hurry with decisions - although, he says, he expects Mandić to continue making controversial moves - and adds that their priorities are the platform and the conversation with Spajić.
Most minority political entities are part of the government - the Bosniak Party (BS), the Albanian Forum (AF) and the Albanian Alliance (AA), while the Democratic Union of Albanians and the Croatian Civic Initiative are in opposition.
Given that the ruling majority consists of 52 deputies, if BS (which has six representatives in parliament), AF (two) and AA (one) were to leave the executive power, the government would have the support of 43 parliamentarians - two more than the minimum necessary for its survival.
The plan to write the platform comes twenty days after the minority political subjects agreed at a meeting on joint action "to fulfill the political priorities of the minority peoples", and invited all political actors to a dialogue "to overcome the current political crisis caused by the conclusion of the Constitutional Committee", which The Assembly noted the termination of the office of the judge of the Constitutional Court Dragani Đuranović.
Two days ago, Mandić congratulated officials of Republika Srpska (RS) on January 9 - the unconstitutional day of that entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), with the message: "May this January 9 also be a confirmation of the commitment of the Serbian people to the values of freedom, justice, peace and a common future, which are the guarantee of progress for all of us in the Balkans."
This was met with harsh criticism from the leaders of the minority ruling parties, who recalled that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared that holiday unconstitutional.
Deputy Prime Minister and AF official Nick Djelosaj, announced that "the decision of the minority parties will be unique" if Spajić is also the Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Becic (Democrats) keep silent about Mandić's congratulation. He said that the Albanian people do not support "undermining good neighborly relations and complicating the European path of Montenegro".
This is not the first time that part of the ruling minority parties have clashed with Mandić on important issues, but despite this, those parties remained in the seats of the executive power.
Chief and responsible editor of the weekly "Monitor" Milena Perović, asks whether the representatives of the minority parties in the Government are really not "clear and obvious" about Spajić's views on the issue, "so they have to discuss it in the media this January".
"Last year at the same time, Spajić announced that the departure of the Montenegrin deputies to Banjaluka (for the celebration on January 9) was their business, and that the Government could not, as he said then, prohibit them from behaving in a 'certain way'." This year, admittedly, he translated it into Mandić's private affairs and congratulations in a private direction. We did not hear from Bečić on that occasion either this year or the previous year," Perović told "Vijesta".
Yesterday, the government did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" addressed to Spajić and Bečić about how they view the fact that their coalition partner Mandić sent a congratulatory message on the occasion of the unconstitutional Day of the RS, whether they will take any action on this occasion considering that the minority parties are demanding it , and whether they fear that those parties could leave the executive power.
Yesterday, Spajić's cabinet announced to "Pobjeda" that Mandic "approaches certain issues from his own political point of view" and that he "can congratulate whatever he wants" on his own behalf, but that such action on behalf of state institutions "cannot and will not have support" of the Prime Minister".
Asking whether anyone in Montenegro is really surprised that Mandić congratulated the unconstitutional Day of the RS, Perović states that she is more surprised that this year Mandić's public justification that he could not come to Banjaluka "due to fame" was absent, as did it last year.
He reminds that he and Đeljošaj have been exchanging accusations of chauvinism for months, and that the Deputy Prime Minister told Mandić back in the fall that "this is his last warning".
"Four years ago, when he was prime minister Zdravko Krivokapic congratulated the unconstitutional RS Day, the then Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic he explained that "sometimes we need to see through our fingers". The various partisan biases of the political class have continued to this day. Party interest is above all else. And the main point of reference for understanding our political reality, unfortunately", assesses the interlocutor.
Yesterday, Đeljošaj did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about whether he will leave the Government, how he comments on the positions of Spajić's cabinet and why he did not react on the same occasion last year, when Mandić also congratulated the controversial holiday.
Even BS did not answer questions about what their moves would be, nor what they thought about Spajić's position.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of BS Ervin Ibrahimovic, announced the day before yesterday that Mandić's congratulatory message represented a "gross violation of bilateral and good-neighborly relations between Montenegro and BiH". He stated that respect for the sovereignty and integrity of internationally recognized states and the decisions of their bodies is the basis of good bilateral relations, and that the tendency to disrupt those relations is not in the interest of Montenegro, its international position and European integration.
Minister of Public Administration and AA official Marash Dukaj, also announced the day before yesterday that it is not appropriate for Mandić to congratulate "the unrecognized holiday of the RS" on behalf of the Montenegrin parliament. He said that, if this continues, the relations between the two countries will become disturbed, "along with the damaged reputation that Montenegro has been carefully building for decades."
"Additionally, from the point of view of the current government coalition in Montenegro - this is another violation of the agreement whose main task is the European and good-neighborly future of Montenegro", he added.
Recalling that the agreement was initialed by the BS, which has, among other things, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government, Dukaj said:
"... At the same time, but probably least important to those who lead one-sided politics, hiding behind the majority of 41 plus, I say that the Albanian people and Albanian politicians do not support undermining good neighborly relations and complicating our European path".
Mandić's move was also condemned by the opposition parties - the Democratic Party of Socialists, the Social Democrats, the Liberal Party and the Social Democrats, as well as the head of the Islamic Community in Montenegro.and Rifat Fejzic.
He told Mandić that he should not spoil Montenegro's relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, noting that January 9 "is the date of the beginning of the greatest suffering in Bosnia and Herzegovina, finally with the genocide."
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has declared unconstitutional the celebration of January 9 as RS Day on two occasions, given that on January 9, 1992, the then Assembly of the Serbian People in BiH in Sarajevo adopted the Declaration on the Proclamation of the Republic of the Serbian People in BiH.
The commemoration of the Day of the RS on January 9 was marked as discriminatory against peoples in the RS who are not Serbs.
Threatened several times with an "empty gun"
A part of the ruling minority parties clashed on important issues with Mandić, but also with the rest of the ruling majority, several times in the past few months.
The first example happened this summer, when ministers from the BS and the AF coalition left the Government session where the construction of a monument to the former metropolitan of Montenegrin-coast Amfilohi in Berane was approved. Those parties then said that their representatives made such a move, among other things, because they believe that the construction of a monument to Amphilochius would not contribute to multi-religious harmony in Montenegro.
Such a move by them did not result in their leaving the executive power, nor did it lead to its instability.
Another example happened in October. After Đeljošaj then stated that the amendments to the Law on Citizenship, advocated by the former Democratic Front (DF), one of whose leaders was Mandić, would be met with a "fierce response", that coalition responded by saying that, "if he continues to threatens", it may happen that he "be expelled from the Government". Đeljošaj addressed the answer to Mandić, saying that he has a "problem with fraudsters who refer to nationalism", telling him: "This is your last warning".
There was also verbal exchange in early December, after Mandić announced that he was doing everything for the government to return "innocently imprisoned citizens of Montenegro and members of our army to their homes and families", who were arrested in Kosovo at the end of November because of the number plates of their vehicles. had the inscription "Kosovo is Serbia". He previously assessed that the move by the Kosovo authorities was not correct.
"Imagine now that in Montenegro, on the coast, in Ulcinj or in Tuzi, we start treating all those who show the symbolism of 'great Albania' in a similar way..." he stated.
The AF reacted to that, announcing that Mandic was "inciting chauvinism" and that he was calling "for the arrest of all Albanians".
All the minority parties went "against" the authorities when they announced on December 20 that they consider the Constitutional Committee's decision, which retired Dragana Đuranović, to be unconstitutional. They then stated in a joint statement that they are "seriously concerned about the current polarization of the political scene and political moves that may threaten the dynamics of Montenegro's European path".
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