The Democratic People's Party (DNP) did not make a decision yesterday to leave power in Podgorica and at the state level, as its leader had announced. Milan Knezevic, but the Government will Milojko Spajić to set out three "identity" requirements that it would need to meet in order for the DNP to remain part of the executive branch.
The DNP Presidency made a decision yesterday that their members, the Deputy Prime Minister Milun Zogović and Minister of Transport Maja Vukićević, at the first subsequent session of the executive branch, they "initiate" constitutional changes to standardize the Serbian language as the official language, amendments to the Law on Citizenship, as well as amendments to regulations on state symbols so that the tricolor would be declared the national flag.
The fourth and final conclusion obliges Zogović and Vukićević to initiate a comprehensive dialogue based on the results of the referendum on the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Botun, "which would take into account the views" of the citizens of Zeta, who said "no" to the construction of the collector on December 14th last year.
If these demands do not receive support from the government, Knežević's party said that Zogović and Vukićević would resign, that the parliamentary group would deny support to Spajić in the state parliament, and to the mayor of Podgorica. To Saša Mujović (Europe Now Movement) in the local.
The statement did not state whether DNP officials in the state and Podgorica authorities will also resign "in depth" if the Government does not accept the party's demands.
"We will introduce an Orthodox Jamahiriya. Don't make fun of me, please," a government source said ironically, when asked whether the government would accept the DNP's identity initiatives.
Member of Spajić's Europe Now Movement (PES) Miodrag Laković He told the editorial office yesterday that the DNP's conditions are addressed to the Government, so he is not the one who can answer what the PES's position is on the matter, but that if these demands reach parliament - he will not vote for them.
The ruling Democrats unofficially told the newspaper that they would not comment on the DNP proposals until they see their initiative.
When asked when the Government will have a deadline to respond to their initiative, the DNP repeated the claim from the statement that the initiative will be proposed at the first regular session of the executive branch, and that if they do not receive support from the Government, Zogović and Vukićević will resign, and the party will withhold support from Spajić and Mujović.
They did not respond to a request for clarification as to whether this means that, if the initiative does not receive support at the first regular session of the Government, they will resign immediately after the end of that session.
Knežević last announced that the DNP would withdraw from the state and Podgorica government on December 30th of last year. After the police in Botun carried out an action that ended a two-month protest by the residents of that Zeta settlement against the plan to build a wastewater treatment plant there, he said that he would propose to the DNP presidency that they withdraw from "this bloody government".
A day later, during the blockade of the roundabout towards Podgorica Airport, Knežević underlined that if his party's presidency rejects his proposal, he will resign from his parliamentary position and the position of leader of the DNP.
The DNP presidency did not make a decision yesterday to leave power due to the police intervention in Botun, because Knežević proposed something else - four demands to the Government, instead of fulfilling his promise. When asked when he would do this, the DNP did not directly answer the question to "Vijesti", saying that Knežević "received unanimous support from the presidency for initiatives that will soon be in the Government", and that Spajić was next. They added that they were satisfied "that you obsessively want Knežević to withdraw from politics", but that "we will see him on the political scene for a long, long time to come".
ĐUKANOVIĆ: COLLECTOR A TOOL FOR POLITICAL GAMES
Docent at the University "Donja Gorica" Nikoleta Djukanovic She told the editorial staff that the citizens of Botun were "completely manipulated", and that this is best seen now, when after the holidays there are no more protests or riots. She stated that it turned out that the issue of building a collector was only used as a means for political games and the achievement of party goals, which, according to her, are largely aligned with the interests of centers of power outside Montenegro, primarily in Belgrade.
"Now, instead of Botun, identity issues, language, citizenship, constitutional changes are coming to the fore, which shows that the threats to leave the government were just political maneuvers without any real intention. These initiatives look more like an attempt at internal sabotage of the European path, but I doubt that the government will agree to them now, not because they are ideologically alien to Spajić, but because it knows that it would currently jeopardize an important European project and have serious financial consequences," she said.
However, she said that she is certain that both Spajić and the head of parliament Andrija Mandic (New Serbian Democracy) "left this topic for last", and that it will become a subject of political bargaining in the run-up to, or after, the 2027 parliamentary elections.
"So, it is not in dispute that such an ultimatum will be accepted, just not now, and rather as a concession to Mandić, rather than to Knežević," she explained.
When forming Spajić's government at the end of October 2023, the DNP signed a coalition agreement on power, which states that its constituents will refrain "from all topics that may renew or deepen divisions, with the aim of building a united future for all citizens of Montenegro."
TADIĆ MIJOVIĆ: KNEŽEVIĆ'S TRANSPARENT GAME
Director of the Center for Investigative Journalism Milka Tadic Mijović She assessed that proposing constitutional changes and amendments to laws was frivolous, considering that the DNP presidency meeting was initiated due to the situation in Botun.
She said that it is obvious that Knežević does not want his party to leave the executive branch, and that he is playing a "transparent game."
"I think constitutional changes are a dangerous game, so I wonder if Knežević is playing to the tune of the Serbian President." Aleksandar Vučić", in order to hinder Montenegro's European integration, because neither Vučić nor Knežević would be in favor of Montenegro joining the European Union," she told "Vijesti".
When asked whether Knežević threw a "hot potato" at Mandić with this decision, Tadić Mijović replied that it is clear that Knežević and Mandić do everything in agreement, and that only the roles are different - while Knežević is on the "front line", Mandić plays the conciliator in the background.
"... They are playing for someone else, and everything is brewing in the triangle Vučić - Knežević - Mandić," she stated.
Knežević has threatened to step down from power several times. In May 2024, his DNP announced that it would reconsider its support for the executive branch, six months after its formation, after Spajić announced in the Parliament that Montenegro would support the adoption of a resolution on the Srebrenica genocide at the United Nations General Assembly, which it did shortly thereafter. Despite this, Knežević did not leave the state government.
The DNP leader also claimed that he would not support the reconstruction of the Government in the summer of 2024, 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 said, he hears when the ruling Bosniak Party (BS) will leave the coalition with the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in Bijelo Polje. He also promised that he would not support the "refreshment" of the government if the BS votes to remove his coalition partner Mandić from the position of Speaker of the Assembly, which the BS did.
However, Knežević supported the reconstruction even though his demands were not met. The DNP became part of the executive branch through the reconstruction, and until then it had been giving the government parliamentary support.
The departure of the DNP with four MPs cannot threaten the Government or the parliamentary majority, unless all MPs from Mandić's NSD join them. If the DNP leaves the ruling coalition in Podgorica, the majority in the capital's parliament could only be maintained by the entry of at least small opposition parties into it.
Knežević rejected Spajić's solution for Botun?
The DNP announced yesterday that they had accepted Mandić's initiative to start new negotiations to overcome the "growing crisis" around Botun, but that the negotiations ended the day before yesterday without results, because Spajić did not accept "the proposed options that could have been the basis for further talks with the residents of Botun."
"Vijesti" unofficially learned that Spajić and Mandić communicated about the situation in Botun the day before yesterday, and that the Prime Minister offered a solution - that a sludge incinerator in Botun be built and put into operation, and that it would cease operations if pollution exceeds European environmental standards.
A source familiar with the content of the conversation said that Spajić told Mandić that in that case the sludge would be burned in a newly planned incinerator in Podgorica. Knežević reportedly rejected the proposal, which can be inferred from the DNP statement.
Yesterday, at Iks, five minutes before the start of the DNP presidency session, Spajić announced that the first incinerator will soon be built in Podgorica, which will enable the production of up to 50 megawatts of renewable energy from waste.
He wrote that this would solve a major problem in the capital, but would also be a backup option if the level of concentration of harmful particles is exceeded in other municipalities, and that among the companies interested in the project is the Japanese "Itochu".
A source for "Vijesti" from the government confirmed that Spajić and Mandić were in contact, indicating that she had already given guarantees that the operation of the plant in Botun would be suspended if its operations turned out to be harmful to the environment.
It is not clear what options for resolving the "Botun" case were proposed to Spajic by Knežević and Mandić the day before yesterday. Zeta President Mihailo Asanović said on a December 31 broadcast on TV Adria that their condition for continuing negotiations was the return of the construction site in Botun "to its previous state", i.e. the removal of machinery and a sign with information about the construction from the site.
Bonus video:
