Formation of government in Nikšić: Basic functions agreed, but not complete distribution

At today's session of the Nikšić Municipal Assembly (MA), the mandates of the new councilors were verified, but the president of the MA was not elected, because the future coalition partners who will form the government in the city under Trebjes, the coalitions For the Future of Nikšić (ZBNK), Democrats-Plenum 083 and the Europe Now Movement (PES), did not submit a proposal, but will do so after signing the coalition agreement.

"Not all the details of the agreement have been defined yet. The main and most important thing for the citizens has been defined, and that is regarding those basic, basic functions. The position of the President of the Municipal Assembly will go to PES, the Mayor of Nikšić to the For the Future of Nikšić coalition, and the Vice-Presidential position to the Democrats-Plenum ovi 083 coalition. We wanted to agree and to all together complete the process. I think we will be efficient, that the negotiations will be completed quickly and that in the continuation of the session we will first elect the President of the Assembly, and then all the other bodies that need to be elected within a certain legal deadline," said the leader of the ZBNK list and the current, and as things stand now, the future Mayor of the Municipality, Marko Kovačević, after requesting a break from the constituent session, which was then interrupted, and its continuation is scheduled for Monday, June 2.

The leader of the PES list, Zoran Mrkić, said that "by the nature of things" the position of the president of the Municipal Assembly belongs to that list, or rather to him as the leader of the list, but that it is not impossible for "some concession or shift to be made."

When asked whether the Nikšić PES board is united, Mrkić replied that "it absolutely is."

The leader of the Democrats-Plenum 083 coalition list and the previous president of the Municipal Assembly, Nemanja Vuković, reiterated that in that party "they are not married to positions and chairs", and that the Democrats' bodies will decide who will "cover the positions" that fall to them in accordance with the coalition agreement.

"It is important for us that the government in the next four years is stable, as it has been stable in the past four years, that we lay a good foundation on which we will form a government that will work exclusively for the benefit of the citizens of Nikšić. We were quite clear in the campaign that we can form a government exclusively with coalition partners at the state level, namely the coalition For the Future of Nikšić and the Europe Now Movement. This is what the citizens expressed as their opinion in the elections, so we will decide on the functions that will fall to Democratic Montenegro in the party bodies and I am sure that we will delegate the best personnel to those functions," said Vuković.

The leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) list, Boris Muratović, reiterated that a vote for the Democrats and PES is a vote for Marko Kovačević to continue as the mayor of the municipality, which, as he pointed out, they have shown with their actions.

"We can say that they have misled a part of the electorate, but we have no problem with that. We have not made any informal or formal requests to any of these parties, because we really do not see them as potential partners, nor as someone who can contribute to the better development of our city and state. They have also shown at the state level how little knowledge they have, how irresponsible they are, how unfriendly they are towards the resources of Montenegro. I do not believe that anything will be different in Nikšić," said Muratović.

He repeated what he has repeatedly emphasized, that Nikšić has had a "creepy government" in the previous four years, and that it will now be complemented by PES, which "seems to be their natural partner."

"This is exclusively about dividing the spoils. We are not talking about any development of the city here, and people remembered to sit down the day before the constituent session and try to negotiate functions. The coalition agreement is pure partitocracy. Since they do not trust each other, they want to sign off on what will go to whom and then, they say, they will have a stable government. We can stand aside, observe it completely calmly, be a responsible, constructive opposition, as we have been before. We will never be an opposition to the city, but we will definitely be an opposition to all such structures that devastate our city, the resources of our city and the state and ultimately do not respect what are the state symbols of Montenegro, nor the anthem and everything else, and they have shown this in deeds and in the previous 4-5 years," Muratović emphasized, adding that this government will probably last two years because changes to electoral legislation are expected.

The leader of the European Alliance list, Ivan Radojičić, said that the issue of positions is getting stuck again.

"It's stuck again about seats, we're back to the old story. The potential future coalition that will govern the city has not been able to agree on basic things even a month after the election results, so we have to see what will happen between them. They will divide functions in a way that is clear and precise for them. I wouldn't go into that, because it is in my interest to defend the interests of Nikšić and the voters of the European Union. Of course, I will be a constituent in the future work of the parliament," said Radojičić.

The session, which began with the instrumental intonation of the national anthem, was chaired by the oldest councilor, Miodrag Dragan Nikolić, a DPS councilor.

Eleonora Šturanović, a member of the Municipal Election Commission, submitted a report on the final results of the local elections held in Nikšić on 13 April. The DPS list won the most seats, 16, the Coalition for the Future of Nikšić won one seat less, while the PES won five seats. The Democrats–Plenum 083 coalition won three seats, and the European Union won one seat less. The other five lists did not pass the threshold.

Nikolić noted the termination of the mandate of the current Municipal Assembly President Nemanja Vuković, as well as the Deputy Municipal Assembly President Arsenije Lalatović.

Perović: Who will manage the Municipality from May 10th?

DPS councilor Rajko Perović requested to be informed of who has been at the helm of the Nikšić Municipality since May 10th, given that Kovačević's mandate has expired.

"Who is the one who gave the order and who has been managing the Municipality since May 10th. Has any municipal money been spent since May 10th, has any contract been signed?" Perović asked.

During the break, when asked by a journalist who runs the Municipality, Kovačević said that Perović did not ask him the question, "that everything is within the legal framework, that there are no problems and that no one is doing what they are not allowed to do by law."