The initiative of the opposition European Alliance to shorten the mandate of the capital's Assembly, according to information from "Vijesti", will probably not receive the unanimous support of the entire opposition, and thus not a real majority for voting.
Analyst Stefan Djukic He believes that this primarily increases pressure on the government and creates the impression among voters that "something is being done", although it is unlikely that the proposal will pass, while some opposition entities say that they will take a position only after additional consultations and clarification of the goal of the initiative.
The Capital City Assembly has 59 councilors. The ruling majority, until the decision of Free Montenegro and the Democratic People's Party (DNP) to withdraw from it, consisted of 31 councilors: the Europe Now-Democrats Movement alliance has 14 representatives, the parties of the former Democratic Front (of which DNP is a part) with minor partners have 13 councilors, and the Movement for Podgorica, close to the head of state Jakov Milatović four.
With the withdrawal of Slobodna (one councilor), and then of DNP, which has four representatives (in agreement with Prava Crna Gora, they have since gained a fourth), from the city government, the ruling coalition “falls” to 26 councilors, and must seek the support of at least four opposition representatives in order to “survive”. As “Vijesti” previously wrote, in the Podgorica parliament, the “hands” for some of the government’s proposals could allegedly come from the Party of European Progress (SEP) of the former prime minister. Duško Marković and the Civic Movement (GP) URA also of the former Prime Minister Dritan AbazovićHowever, SEP officially denies that they discussed this with PES, while GP URA and its officials did not respond to the editorial team's questions.
The government crisis in the capital, which culminated in the DNP's decision to leave Podgorica and state government, began over the issue of the collector in Botun, a project being implemented by the city government and opposed by Knežević's party.
DPS ready to consider initiative, SEP cautious
The opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) is indicating that it is ready to consider supporting the ES initiative, but the final decision will be made by the party bodies.
Head of the DPS councilors' club Andrija Klikovac told "Vijesti" that at the session of party bodies they will also consider potential initiatives to remove the mayor of Podgorica. Saša Mujović (PES) and the dismissal of the President of the Capital City Assembly JElena Borovinić Bojović.
SEP expresses caution and reservations, assessing that the announcement of the ES seems to them to be a continuation of the initiative that the DNP launched through a media campaign at both the city and state levels.
"We want to believe that our colleagues from the European Union have found some reasons that the DNP initiative is good for Podgorica, and thus for Montenegro. We do not hide our caution and reservations about the proposals initiated by the DNP, because their actions are at odds with the development needs of both Podgorica and Montenegro," SEP told "Vijesti".
They stated that their position will only be known later, because "the proposals of the initiators still need to be fully clarified, through an appropriate platform," regardless of the fact that, as they say, the actions of the European Union in a broader sense are not politically incompatible with them.
The Podgorica board of the GP URA has not yet formed a position because, as they told "Vijesti", the initiative has just been sent, and the decision will be made by the party bodies in the short term.
Perić: On the initiative of the organs of the Upheaval
President of the Upheaval Srdjan Peric He told "Vijesti" that their position has been clear all along, stating that they were the only ones who voted against the election of mayor in the city council, and that they would not overturn anyone's majority and could run for elections whenever they were called.
"Regarding the aforementioned initiative, we have neither been contacted nor consulted. Of course, all of this will be discussed in the bodies of the Upheaval, but the agreed position has been stated here," he said.
He points out that it is enough for the previous majority to simply not vote for the initiative and for it to not pass, recalling that at the state level, everyone together, both the government and the opposition, adopted a law according to which "the term that would be elected, in these theoretically new elections, which would be called after the shortening of the mandate, would be until June 2027."
"Therefore, an Assembly would be elected with a term of only a few months," said Perić.
He pointed out that everyone has the right to take their own political angle, but in practice, we are only seeing another layer of disagreement in which the actors of the previous and current government, as they have already announced, will refuse to vote for anything that comes from the opposition.
"By doing so, they are actually prolonging the possibility of governing Podgorica in one way or another, initially without a clear will expressed in the elections, because part of the government is made up of those who criticized them the most in the election campaign, and now even without an parliamentary majority," said Perić.
On February 7, the DNP announced that their councilors' club has no intention in any way to participate, together with the DPS and its satellites, in the removal of Mayor Saša Mujović and the shortening of the Assembly's mandate.
They then announced that they would not participate in the further work of the Capital City Assembly, and that they would not give legitimacy to the mayor who "was left without a council majority."
President of Free Montenegro Vladislav Dajkovic he announced a day later that the party did not want to overthrow the mayor of Podgorica together with the DPS.
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Mašković: Elections are needed in Podgorica
Councillor of the European Union Miloš Maskovic He said yesterday at a press conference that early local elections must be held in Podgorica.
He said that "the ruling majority, created by deceiving citizens, no longer has legitimacy, even though its legitimacy has been questionable from the start," and that they had been reduced from 31 to 26 councilors.
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"The damaged inter-party relations in the capital have made it impossible for the coalition to survive and for the city to develop further, which has slowed down anyway. If this continues, the consequences will be felt later," he said, adding that "the basic postulates of democracy require that early elections be held in these conditions."
Mašković said that the initiative to shorten the mandate of the local parliament is one solution to get out of the crisis, and the other is a possible forced administration, "or preventing citizens from expressing their views in relation to the newly emerging political situation."
When asked by a journalist who they expect to support this initiative from, the Social Democratic MP Boris Mugoša said that their initiative is "a way to normalize political processes," and that he expects support from everyone.
Ruling parties against the initiative
Government representatives assessed that such an initiative would divert focus from the European agenda, lead to the irresponsible calling of elections just a year before those already scheduled for 2027, which would bring unnecessary costs to citizens, two election cycles in a short period of time, and reduced administrative functionality.
Councillor of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) Maša Stevović said that the party would not support the announced initiative:
"There are numerous problems facing citizens in Podgorica that must be resolved without delay. Organizing and conducting early local elections would require large budget funds, and with the comprehensive elections in 2027, these elections would be the fourth in a row over a five-year period," she said in a statement.
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President of the Democratic Councilors' Club, Mitar Paunović He assessed that, given that three councilors cannot submit such an initiative, the announcement can currently be viewed "exclusively as an idea, which is not part of the parliamentary procedure."
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He assesses that launching elections now is politically irresponsible and financially irrational, with the message that elections can be held next year, but that the European agenda has no alternative.
The head of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) councilors' club also has a similar opinion. Mitar Susic saying that he will not vote for the ES initiative nor does he expect support from the parties that formed the government in 2024.
"If this initiative were conditioned by something that contained some serious political overtones - we could discuss it as the government and the opposition. Here, the opposition is only concerned with relations within the ruling coalition and this is not a reason for an irresponsible approach towards citizens that would lead to elections just a year before the elections scheduled for 2027," Šušić told "Vijesti".
Head of the parliamentary group of the Movement for Podgorica (PzPG) Miloš Krstović He said that at this moment, no initiative to shorten the mandate of the Assembly has been submitted to the parliamentary procedure, nor has the PzPG been contacted regarding any official initiative.
"As we currently see, the problem exists within the relationship between PES and the ZBCG coalition," he told "Vijesti".
He said that the PzPG will continue to remain a constructive partner on issues of essential importance and concern the interests of citizens.
"If there are any initiatives or a possible reshuffle of government, we will respond to such a situation adequately and responsibly," he said.
Đukić: Creating the illusion that something is being done
Đukić states that it is understandable that every opposition wants to overthrow the government even when it knows that there is no realistic possibility of doing so.
As he says, instead of proposing new solutions or topics for discussion, improving life even though they may not pass, "they are spinning initiatives to overthrow the government that will not pass and giving citizens the illusion that they are doing something, when, like those in power, they generally are not doing anything."
He recalled that the government and the opposition made a "slightly undemocratic" agreement to hold elections in all municipalities in June 2027, and the current convocation of the Podgorica parliament will rule for a shorter period than provided for by law.
"Now I'm curious what the goal is here - to initiate elections so that someone will be in power even less than this term, or to have some kind of forced administration the whole time?" asked Đukić.
He believes that this is a redundant initiative that is not much different from the exit of the DNP from power, which "kept its word" - it left power, without abandoning its deep-rooted positions and not destroying it.
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