It is uncertain whether the ruling and opposition parties will agree today, at the session of the collegium of the head of parliament. Andrije Mandić, to reach an agreement on resolving the political crisis resulting from developments regarding the Constitutional Court.
This stems from unofficial conversations between "Vijesti" and representatives of these parties.
Two interlocutors from different ruling parties said yesterday afternoon that Mandić surprised them by scheduling the meeting and that they did not know what offer he might make to the opposition, assessing that his invitation to talk may be an attempt to "bring out political rivals."
"Or, provide yourself with the opportunity to say, 'I've tried everything, but the other side won't,'" said one of the interviewees.
A third interlocutor said that Mandić's idea was for the two sides to meet halfway, although he did not know what that might be.
On the other hand, a source from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) says that the crisis, which is why they and their opposition colleagues are not allowing the Parliament to work, would not end even if its president decided to annul the Constitutional Committee's conclusion on the termination of the Constitutional Court judge's office. Dragan Đuranović, saying that he also does not know "whether Mandić has a cooked-up solution."
This interlocutor claims that the Budva Municipal Assembly (MA) session scheduled for February 11, at which a new government should be formed, of which DPS would be a part, is only a prerequisite for an agreement.
"This is not a concession, because it is illegal for 12 of them to forcefully prevent the 19 of us from forming a government," the source said.
He explains that if supporters of the former Democratic Front (DF), one of whose leaders was Mandić, allowed the holding of the Municipal Assembly session, the DPS would insist on negotiating with the government, namely with the Prime Minister. Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement) initials an agreement according to which there will be no changes to the Constitution and the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship without consensus with the opposition, to accept that the Venice Commission examine the decisions that led to the termination of Đuranović's judicial function, and to allow the adoption of the budget and to return to the parliamentary committee for electoral reform and support changes to key electoral regulations - the law on financing political entities and election campaigns and the act on the election of councilors and deputies.
However, he claims that allowing the budget to be voted on and returning to the electoral reform committee would not represent the end of the parliamentary blockade, but rather that it would remain in effect until the opinion of the Venetians arrives.
"We do not want to end the blockade on February 12th (the day after the formation of the government in Budva) and Mandić, for example, proposes amendments to the Citizenship Law, and then reintroduce it on March 1st. This government was given a mandate to bring Montenegro into the EU, but not to change the character of the state," said the source.
The collegium session is scheduled to begin at noon, and will be attended by opposition representatives.
Mandić announced yesterday that he had scheduled the meeting “in the belief that together they will succeed in finding a way out of this complex situation.” He said in a video address that the Assembly would make a decision on resolving the parliamentary blockade through a dialogue between the ruling majority and the opposition.
"I still believe that the agreement lies in finding a compromise between the ruling majority and the opposition, and I believe that the path of reconciliation on this issue would be healing for Montenegro. I do not need to further explain how much damage is being caused to citizens due to the failure to adopt the budget in the Parliament of Montenegro. There will be an opportunity to talk about that as well," he said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Spajić called on the parliament to adopt the budget "as soon as tomorrow".
"Let's send parliamentarians who love the podium and blockades on a few days of undeserved rest. We are for dialogue and compromise - but due to the termination of Judge Đuranović's mandate (who took a hefty fee), thousands of pensioners will be left with no money for heating and food and can no longer wait for their mercy like a mirage," Spajić wrote on the social network X.
Head of the parliamentary group of the Civic Movement URA Milos Konatar, he replied to Spajić that "as soon as tomorrow" the parliamentary majority would overturn the unconstitutional decision of the Constitutional Committee.
"The opposition will then be in the parliamentary benches. The prime minister who loves breaking the law and collapsing institutions - we must return him to constitutional and legal action," Konatar said in a statement yesterday.
President of the Social Democrats and one of the leaders of the European Union Damir Sehovic, said yesterday that annulling "the unconstitutional decision to terminate the office of a judge of the Constitutional Court and enabling the session to be held in Budva is the only way for parliamentary life to function."
The Europe Now parliamentary group said that the budget should be adopted without delay, “because citizens cannot wait.” They called on all socio-political actors to, “instead of arbitrarily interpreting the Constitution, turn to respecting the institutions of Montenegro…”.
Head of State Jakov Milatovic, said that it is necessary for political actors to reach a solution that would end the "current constitutional and parliamentary crisis, in order to avoid consequences with a negative impact on the country's European path." He said this at yesterday's meeting with Germany's special envoy for the Western Balkans Manuel Saracin.
The opposition claims that the Constitution has been violated because the Parliament, without the mandatory notification of the Constitutional Court, decided in mid-December last year to terminate Dragana Đuranović's judicial function in that court, due to her qualifying for retirement under the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance. They therefore demand that things be restored "to the previous state", stating that, otherwise, they will not allow the parliament to work.
The ruling majority responded that this was an attempt to keep "some of the party judges" in office who "unlock from prison cells those who have reached justice."
Božović: Legally impossible to overturn the Constitutional Committee's conclusion
The President of the Constitutional Committee, Jelena Božović (New Serbian Democracy), said yesterday that it is legally impossible to overturn the conclusion of that parliamentary working body on the retirement of Dragana Đuranović.
"That never happened, because no political decision was made on this committee - this committee only concluded that Đuranović had met the retirement requirement. This was forwarded to the President of the Parliament, who confirmed these conclusions. There are no unconstitutional actions here, no constitutional coup, as the opposition, raising tensions in the public, is trying to portray," Božović said at yesterday's committee meeting, at which the opposition was supposed to propose a third member of the commission for evaluating applications for two judges of the Constitutional Court.
The opposition did not come to the session.
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