Opposition: Mandić gave up on agreement and compromise

The head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Andrija Nikolić, said that the head of parliament, Andrija Mandić, wants to destroy any possibility of an agreement between the parliamentary majority and the opposition.

He said this at an opposition press conference in the Parliament, after a session of the Collegium of the Speaker of the Parliament. At that session, Mandić imposed a 15-day suspension on the opposition MPs.

"We have been informed that the speaker of parliament wants to destroy any possibility of an agreement between the majority and the opposition. Everything that will happen in political life, in institutions and outside of them is the merit of the majority. We wanted to come out with our proposal for a way out of the crisis. I guess we had the right to do that, if the majority had it," Nikolić said.

He says that part of the parliamentary majority was showing some kind of willingness to reach an agreement.

"It was difficult to watch the PES deputies watching with their heads down. This way, the parliamentary majority takes responsibility."

"They are preparing the ground for incidents in Budva"

Opposition representatives said at a press conference that there were five or six MPs who had not been given a measure.

As "Vijesti" has learned, the measure was not issued to opposition MPs Boris Mugoša from the Social Democrats, Drita Lola, Nikola Janović, Nikola Milović and Nikola Rakočević from the Democratic Party of Socialists, nor to independent MPs Jevrosima Pejović and Radinka Ćinćur.

Nikolić said that some MPs have the right to enter, and that the one who imposes the measures has the least right.

Nikolić assessed that this is connected to the session in Budva today, and that "the incident in the Parliament will prepare the ground for incidents" in that city.

"Budva is more important to him. He wants to deliver some promises to various interest groups there," he claims.

Nikolić reminded that MPs are allowed to be present during the vote.

He added that at 15 p.m. there was a meeting between opposition representatives and ambassadors of the Quint countries, and that someone wanted to "prevent that meeting."

Nikolić says that the "Dalai Lama face" is just an attempt to stay in power as long as possible.

"We believe that the escalation in Montenegro will depend on the events in Budva. We talked about allowing the session in Budva to end, where the authorities will be elected. We did not say that anyone should be in power, but that the process should be completed. And we said that issues that divide people should be left aside, and the European agenda should be dominant until membership. If that is not acceptable, what are we talking about? This government will not bring Montenegro into the EU," he pointed out.

Konatar: Mandić gave up on compromise

The head of the Civic Movement URA parliamentary group, Miloš Konatar, says that Mandić has given up on compromise and that the political crisis will only deepen.

"Today, one could have guessed what was coming, because there are more police in the Parliament than journalists and MPs. Responsibility for everything that is happening lies with the majority, led by Andrija Mandić. As an MP or as a colleague, I cannot forget the bowed heads of my colleagues from the majority, from PES, Democrats and other parties while Mandić does everything he does at the Collegium," he said.

"Today, the Collegium was scheduled to continue with the aim of reaching a compromise, or rather a proposal for an agreement that was to be presented by the opposition. We presented our proposal for an agreement and that by completing the process in Budva, opportunities for unblocking would be created. Today, we have unfortunately reached a semi-warlike state in the Parliament of Montenegro," he added.

He said he wanted to "relax" the police and said that "they have nothing to defend the Assembly from the MPs."

"Andrija Mandić, along with others from the majority, gave up on compromise. The political crisis will only deepen. Mandić is primarily to blame for this, but also Spajić and all other majority MPs who are silent about what is happening."

Mugoša: The master of all is one man with servile deputies

The head of the Social Democrats parliamentary group, Boris Mugoša, says that the majority MPs follow what Mandić tells them.

"They prepared all this from the beginning. On Friday, when one government entity was giving indications that an agreement was possible, Mandić suddenly interrupted the collegium. He first sent the agreement to the media and did not continue the collegium. Last night at nine o'clock he informed us that he was scheduling a collegium session today. If we had not shown up, they would have had the argument that we were destructive, and they were constructive. Today we were supposed to talk about continuing the session, about continuing to unblock the situation through compromise. The problem is that they heard that we were preparing an agreement that was supposed to include the Venice Commission. They knew that then they would have no argument to do this and suddenly withdrew it by force."

He claims that the government did not want an agreement to be reached.

"When we arrived, we saw a large number of members of public order and peace. Why is that? That is the essence of their policy - a European narrative, an anti-European practice. Andrija Mandić has 13 MPs. A majority of 53. He controls the majority with 13 MPs. They are to blame for that. They follow what Mandić tells them. They send their representatives on the shows to say what the deal is, and today they come with their heads down to accept what Mandić said. Today, a man is imposing measures for the next 15 days for something that happened 10 days ago. He manages the processes in Montenegro, the others don't ask anything," said Mugoša.

He called on parliamentary representatives of smaller nations and the PES to "think, because they will be responsible."

"I am no longer inviting the Democrats. Mandić is following his agenda and has not moved away from his ideology that he has advocated for 30 years. This is our job. We were elected by the people or citizens, to represent their interests, not to be forced by someone. Mandić's decisions do not bind us, because they are legally unfounded and lead to destruction. We will not decide to carry out destruction in Montenegro. As we get closer to the EU, they will carry out more and more destruction, because it is not in their interest for Montenegro to be a member."

When asked by journalists how he was not binding them, Mugoša said that he would not be guided by Mandić's interests.

Vuksanović: Mandić shot at the possibility of an agreement

Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) MP Adrijan Vuksanović told Prime Minister Milojko Spajić that Mandić "shot at the possibility of an agreement."

"We have been talking all this time, including over the weekend. And there were some indications that an agreement could be reached. This is a message for Spajić: Milojko Spajić, today Mandić shot down the possibility of an agreement. They equally participate in the decision that there is no agreement in Montenegro. We agree to bring the situation out of the status quo, but in most cases we do not have partners for that. This is not the first time that Mandić has pushed back. Not to mention the resolutions, whenever we were close to the goal, Mandić pushed back. Colleagues from the government who are getting to know the situation, then go home to change because they were told that there will be a session today. There is no agreement, just instructions."