The key contentious issue between the government and the opposition, which needs to be resolved in order to normalize the work of parliament after the opposition MPs' sentences expire, remained unresolved even after last night's meeting of some of their representatives, mediated by the head of the EU delegation, Johan Sattler, and the earlier, almost concluded agreement that the Venice Commission would issue an opinion that would be accepted by all on the termination of the function of Constitutional Court judge Dragana Đuranović, has also become complicated, "Vijesti" learned from the participants in the meeting.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations Filip Ivanović, Minister for European Integration Maida Gorčević (all from the Europe Now Movement), President of the Democratic Party of Socialists Danijel Živković, and President of the Social Democrats (on behalf of the European Union) Damir Šehović, spoke last night at Sattler's initiative in the EU Delegation building in Podgorica.
Most opposition MPs are unable to attend plenary sessions of parliament because they were suspended for 15 days by President Andrija Mandić in early February after disrupting the sessions because their request to annul the conclusion of the Constitutional Committee and Mandić's statement that Judge Đuranović's mandate had ended because she had met the conditions for retirement was not adopted. The opposition claims that the Constitutional Committee and Mandić have taken over the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, which, according to the Constitution, is supposed to determine the reasons for the termination of office and inform the Parliament accordingly.
Two participants in the meeting from different sides told "Vijesti" that last night the opposition offered to request the opinion of the Venice Commission on the constitutionality and legality of the conclusions of the Constitutional Committee and Mandić's statement on the termination of Đuranović's mandate, with a joint formulation of questions for the VK, whose opinion, "whatever it may be", would be accepted by both sides, and in return the opposition would return to parliament after the sentence expires, vote for the laws necessary for EU integration and return to the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform.
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This is essentially part of their proposed agreement to resolve the crisis from earlier this month, which they claim was agreed with PES, and which was supposed to be presented to the collegium of the Speaker of the Parliament on February 3, but Mandić interrupted it and imposed a suspension measure on most opposition MPs. Part of their offer at the time - to enable the adoption of the budget and accompanying laws and decisions - has become meaningless because those laws have since been adopted without their presence.
In January, the government was the first to propose seeking the opinion of the Supreme Court, which everyone would accept, but on the condition that the opposition immediately stop disrupting parliamentary sessions, to which it did not agree.
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On the same day that the opposition was removed from the plenary hall of the state parliament, on February 3, a part of the local government was formed in Budva with the support of the DPS without councilors from Mandić's and Knežević's parties, after they prevented it in January, just as the opposition has been doing at the state level. However, since then, there has been no disruption of the sessions of the state parliament, but the opposition has not participated in the work of the working bodies and voting in the plenum, although it has the right to do so. Even opposition deputies who have not been punished have not come to the sessions of the Assembly.
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Spajić reportedly found the proposal to seek the opinion of the Venice Commission acceptable, but said that because of his "Taliban for the rule of law" he found it objectionable that Đuranović had in the meantime sued the Parliament in court, and that it would not be good to degrade domestic courts. Živković reportedly responded that the judge had filed a lawsuit for discrimination and that the VK could give an opinion on other matters, namely whether the constitutional procedure had been violated in that case.
Both interlocutors said that Sattler had undertaken to inquire with the "Venetians" when they could give an opinion, and what that opinion could be without disrupting the work of domestic courts.
"The PES Club is acceptable to the VK, but in a way that does not jeopardize the dignity of the domestic judiciary, which has just been consulted on the same issue by the potentially injured party (Đuranović). In essence, the VK does not want to get involved in proceedings that are already before domestic courts," said a participant in the meeting from the government. "Satler should also see to it that domestic courts are also involved. We do not want to trample on them, a system is being created, that is the essence of Chapters 23 and 24, that domestic courts work well."
On Saturday, Sattler called on the government and the opposition to return to the negotiating table this week and resolve the parliamentary crisis, calling for unity "when it comes to big issues," recalling last year's adoption of three chapters, to which everyone contributed.
"All stakeholders, both the opposition and the government, have expressed support for the inclusion of the Venice Commission, which was our proposal - the proposal of Commissioner (for EU enlargement, Marta) Kos when she was here. She offered a solution, a way out of this situation. That solution is still on the table, so I want to take this opportunity to call on both the government and the opposition to come together next week and find a solution, so that, by the time we enter March, we can see the opposition return to the Parliament. We want to repeat the good things that happened last year, when we had support for European laws, sometimes even unanimous. Almost everyone voted for these important laws that will bring Montenegro to the European Union. We want to see that this year as well," Satler said in an interview with Television Vijesti.
"The Venice Commission is the gold standard when it comes to constitutionality and assessing the legality of decisions made in a democracy. That's why I think it's a good offer. But, ultimately, the decision is up to you - you can also resolve this at the domestic level. My appeal is to sit down at the table next week, find a solution to this issue and continue with the important work that lies ahead."
Last night, however, no agreement was reached on the opposition's request to explicitly state in the agreement that amendments to the provisions of the Constitution on the official language or provisions on the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship would not be placed on the parliamentary agenda without consensus with the opposition.
This is what representatives of the ruling New Serbian Democracy party led by Mandić and the Democratic People's Party led by Milan Knežević insist on every now and then, demanding that the Serbian language become the official language and that people of Montenegrin origin, including a few hundred thousand in Serbia, be allowed to have dual citizenship. The opposition believes that the real goal of these demands is electoral engineering, which would allow the civic character of Montenegro to be changed and Mandić and Knežević to completely take over power in the country, which they deny.
"I have the impression that (Spajić and PES) are afraid of Mandić and Knežević, and they must not accept to sign it, because it would endanger their power," said an opposition participant in the meeting.
Both interlocutors said that Spajić responded that the document "Barometer 26", which the Government adopted in early December, was sufficient for the issue of this agreement, saying that everyone in the Government, including Mandić's and Knežević's ministers, voted for it.
Barometer 26 states that all signatories commit to supporting the fulfillment of obligations from the “European agenda”, to promoting “a political atmosphere of dialogue, cooperation and compromise”, to leaving “polarizing issues” (“identity issues and other issues that may cause ethnic or religious tensions or destabilize the national security of Montenegro”) to a “special mechanism for resolving these issues”, which includes working groups, as well as parliamentary committees where the given topics will be addressed with expert support from the academic community.
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The opposition interlocutor also said that Spajić stated that he could guarantee that PES would not vote in parliament for such changes if Mandić nevertheless put them on the agenda.
"PES is only acting according to the Barometer - which says that all polarizing issues can (come to the agenda) only if a broad consensus is reached - so as not to jeopardize the EU path and create instability where there is none," said a participant in last night's meeting from PES.
A new meeting has not been scheduled, but it should be held "in five, six days," said one of the participants in the session.
The fifteen-day suspension of opposition MPs from the plenary hall is expected to expire this week or next week, depending on the dynamics of parliamentary sessions.
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