Entering the Government Milojko Spajić further strengthened and facilitated the influence of the head of parliament Andrije Mandić on it, while his coalition partner Milan Knezevic he increasingly feels marginalized, hence the increasingly dissonant attitudes between the two of them.
This was told to "Vijesti" by a program associate at the Center for Civic Education (CCE). Nikola Mirkovic, commenting on the fact that Mandić almost never criticizes the executive branch, while Knežević often "threatens" it.
The latest such case is the dispute between Spajić's Europe Now Movement (PES) and Knežević's Democratic People's Party (DNP), sparked by the prime minister's decision to sign a cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week, announcing that an investor from that country would invest 30 billion euros in projects on Ulcinj's Velika Plaza.
While the clash between the PES and DNP statements continues, Mandić and his New Serbian Democracy (NSD) are staying on the sidelines, as in many previous cases, even though Knežević and DNP are their long-standing coalition allies.
“Effectively pursues its interests”
Mirković said that, in the case of Mandić, he is an experienced politician, which, he says, "along with the infrastructure of official Belgrade" allows him to effectively pursue many of his interests, although this is not always visible.
"Mandić may speak softly, but he 'carries the dog with him,'" the source said.
As he added, even before the government was reshuffled in July last year, when the NSD and DNP joined it, Mandić had consolidated his position as Speaker of the Parliament, and, he says, he also had a coalition agreement that "bound" Spajić.
"With significant leverage in the legislative branch, his entry into the government has further strengthened and facilitated his overall influence on Spajić and the government. He also picks battles and does not easily jump on every issue, but acts strategically. His ministers in the government have received portfolios with enormous resources, he holds profitable sectors such as energy...", assessed Mirković.
On the other hand, Knežević, says the interviewee, fared worse in many ways - without a major state function or position in the Government, and "with very limited parliamentary opportunities, and he also lost the chairmanship of the Security and Defense Committee, which was a useful platform for him."
"He may be the loudest MP, but decibel strength has never been a measure of political weight in politics. He is probably increasingly feeling this marginalization himself, hence the increasingly dissonant positions, although it should be emphasized that in the case of the agreement with the UAE, those from the DNP, at least in words, were more in favor of the interests of the state of Montenegro than those from other parties in power, especially PES," Mirković concluded.
Knežević said that his party was unaware of the agreement, which opens the door to an Arab businessman. Mohamed Alabar to invest in Velika Plaža, and that later their representatives in the Government were informed about this initiative.
MP of PES Miodrag Laković He replied that if the DNP or any of the constituents of the ruling majority redefined their relationship to the coalition agreement and "Barometer 26" (a platform on joint commitments to complete negotiations with the EU), they should reconsider their participation in the executive branch.
A conflict of statements followed, and PES told ''Vijesti'' that the functionality of the Government was not impaired by "the parties' pre-election statements" and that there were no reasons to call early elections, especially in light of the fact that ''the Government at any given moment has a majority significantly larger than 41 MPs''.
Empty threats
The DNP has been at war with the government on several occasions. Among other things, in May last year, they announced a review of their support for the executive branch, six months after its formation, after Spajić announced at the prime minister's office that Montenegro would support the adoption of a resolution on the Srebrenica genocide at the United Nations General Assembly, which it did. Despite this, Knežević did not leave power.
Mandić, although he criticized the state's support for the adoption of the document, announced that his party would remain in power and soon become part of the government. Before the adoption of the resolution, he said that supporting it was "not a good choice", and after its adoption - that Montenegro had thereby "further compromised itself", saying that the executive branch made the decision "despite numerous appeals".
Knežević recently said that he would not support the planned government reorganization, which has been proposed to the Parliament, until Spajić tells them when the dialogue on the issue of standardizing the Serbian language as an official language and introducing dual citizenship with Serbia will begin, but also until, as he stated, he hears when the ruling Bosniak Party (BS) will leave the coalition with the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in Bijelo Polje.
DNP did not respond to ''Vijesti'' questions about how they interpret the silence of coalition partner Mandić on the government's agreement with the UAE and why they are more dissatisfied with the executive branch's moves than the NSD. The newspaper also asked them how they would comment on the fact that Mandić rarely criticizes the government, unlike Knežević, and when he does, he does so with carefully chosen words, and how these differences affect their alliance.
Mandić also did not answer questions about why he is lenient towards the government, whether he agrees with Knežević's criticisms regarding the agreement with the UAE, and what his position is on it.
Who is more serious and who is more sincere?
In an interview with ''Vijesti'' at the end of May last year, Mandić, answering the question of whether he and Knežević were "good and bad cops" in relation to the Government and the rest of the parliamentary majority, said that Knežević has the legitimate right to pursue the policy he considers correct and, above all, to be accountable to his voters.
"I am the president of the Serbian National Party in Montenegro and I am convinced that I know my people well, and I am convinced that I am pursuing a policy that is best for the Serbian people in Montenegro. Citizens in Montenegro are free to choose the ideas they consider most appropriate to their worldviews," he said at the time.
Nikola Mirković assesses that Mandić understood that from a position of power he should not be aggressive and radical, that he has adjusted his rhetoric to the extent he can, and that he acts much differently than when he was in opposition, "which leaves a more serious impression on many."
However, he points out that Mandić has not given up on many, for Montenegro, "very bad political and ideological frameworks, and there should be no doubt that his actions are in that direction."
"Knežević appears more sincere in expressing his views and advocates for the interests of the party and voters he represents in the manner we are used to. It should be noted that this is also the case with advocacy for state interests in the context of public and clear opposition to the government's agreement with the UAE and the sale of state property," Mirković said.
He reminds that Mandić is still undecided on this issue, as are the ministers from his party in the government, and they should be the first to do so - as Slaven Radunović, Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, as well as Simonida Kordić, Minister of Tourism.
Mandić was not at the SNS rally and did not sign the petition in support of Vučić.
Unlike Mandić, Knežević has supported the president of the neighboring country, Aleksandar Vučić, several times since the protests against the authorities in Serbia due to the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station (the tragedy killed 16 people).
He was also one of the signatories of the “petition in support of the right to life” of Vučić, which was launched by the Serbian Institute for Political Networking. The petition was also signed from Montenegro by NSD MP and Mayor of Nikšić Marko Kovačević, as well as Free Montenegro leader Vladislav Dajković. However, Mandić was not on the list.
Knežević spoke at a rally of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Sremska Mitrovica on February 15, on the occasion of Serbian Statehood Day - Sretenje. Mandić did not attend that rally, nor the celebration of Serbian Statehood Day on the same day in Orašac, although he had attended such events in previous years.
“Maybe just one plays the ‘good’ guy and the other the ‘bad’ guy”
"Knežević is acting more energetically in his speeches and does not deviate from his previous positions. But, let's not fool ourselves - Mandić is not departing from them either, he just does it more skillfully, more quietly, it seems behind closed doors and from a much more efficient blackmailing position," said Nikola Mirković, commenting on the fact that, although both Mandić and Knežević advocate resolving the issues of the Serbian language and dual citizenship, only the head of the DNP is speaking out strongly and with conditions.
Mirković states that it is not unusual for there to be disagreements in a coalition, no matter how long it has existed and changed shape.
"The public is used to seeing them as one political actor, due to the same ideology and priorities that the leaders of these two parties have advocated for years, but also due to the coalition through which they compete in elections. However, the positions and power that come with them certainly change the relationships and constellation of forces, although this does not necessarily lead to a more radical outcome, because it does not seem to me that there are any major differences here. After all, perhaps it is part of their tactic for one to play the 'good' guy and the other the 'bad' guy in power," said the interlocutor.
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