The president of the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, said that he and the leader of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), Andrija Mandić, see different directions for realizing the interests of Serbs in Montenegro.
He said that the two have yet to discuss the future of the "For the Future of Montenegro" coalition, and that the party bodies of the DNP and NSD will make a decision on whether to continue cooperation within that political alliance.
"I have friendly relations with my colleague Mandić, but we certainly see different directions for achieving the interests of the Serbian people in Montenegro. If you ask me, it is a bit unusual for one part of the coalition to be in opposition and the other in government. That is why my colleague Mandić and I believe that the party bodies (should) analyze the newly created situation. After that, we will have talks and the public will be informed in a timely manner whether we are continuing our coalition relationship or not," Knežević said in the "Oko" show on Radio Television of Serbia.
He also said that Mandić has a completely legitimate political right to lead his party "in the way he thinks and in the way he believes that the models of political action will lead to the realization of his party's goals."
Knežević explained that the key reason for DNP leaving the government was "the rejection of the basic rights of the linguistic majority in Montenegro, which declared itself to speak the Serbian language", and that they believe that they should fight for the realization of their ideological goals through another form of institutional action.
The DNP leader said that they did not question the standardization of the Montenegrin language as an official language in the Constitution, but that they only requested an amendment - that Serbian also have such status.
"There are two faculties for the Montenegrin language in Montenegro. One is in Nikšić, with 30 graphemes, and the other is in Cetinje, with 32 graphemes. And that best tells you how much this so-called Montenegrin language has been accepted by the people of Montenegro and that it was a linguistic, freakish engineering, which was trying to create a new Montenegrin, operated on the Serbian language, shared history, culture and tradition, and spirituality itself, literature with Serbia and the Serbian people," he claims.
Reiterating that they are not seeking changes, but rather amendments to the Constitution, he said that this means that "there is no need to go to a referendum."
He says that the votes of the NSD, the Europe Now Movement, and the Democrats are sufficient for the DNP to implement amendments to the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship and declare the tricolor the "national flag."
"For amendments to the Constitution, it is necessary to have a two-thirds majority and a political agreement, which at this moment Mr. Spajić does not want to support and has referred us to working groups. And you know, when you form a working group in Montenegro, it means that you do not want to complete something. It was clear to us that the running away from these essential, civil and elementary rights, not only of the Serbian people, but also of speakers of the Serbian language, actually came from certain ambassadors who determine significant political processes here, including this one," claims Knežević.
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