Defense Minister Dragan Krapović says he is looking forward to President Jakov Milatović's initiative to examine the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Army Law, but he also believes that it is a mistake and that it will fail in the Constitutional Court.
Krapović assessed for Radio Montenegro that the initiative also has a political background, that is, that, on the one hand, it seeks to eliminate the role of the Government from managing the defense system, and that Milatović is trying to make himself politically relevant, reports the Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG) portal.
President Jakov Milatović's initiative to examine the constitutionality of the Army Law in the part concerning the cadres in the Armed Forces, according to Minister Krapović, has failed and will fail before the Constitutional Court.
"Yes, I welcome the initiative of the President of the State, Mr. Milatović, to institutionally check all his potential dilemmas and doubts. The Ministry of Defense, when it receives the initiative through the Government, will very clearly and item by item expose this initiative to the end. Of course, I leave it to the Constitutional Court as an institution to give its judgment - I will not decide before the ore and give my final judgment - but I think that in a large part this initiative has been completely missed and that it will fail, that is, fail before the Constitutional Court," said Krapović.
The Minister also believes that the initiative of the Head of State has a political background, that is, that the government's role in managing the defense system is being eliminated.
"Therefore, the goal is to eliminate the role of the executive branch - the role of the Government of Montenegro when it comes to managing the defense system and the Armed Forces, as well as when it comes to civilian control of the Armed Forces," he added.
Krapović also claims that Milatović wants to give himself political importance with this move and divert attention from the scandal that shook his cabinet.
"I believe that the second goal of this initiative is to make the proposer, in this particular case, in quotes, the commander-in-chief, politically relevant," the minister said.
The Minister of Defense has no information on when the next session of the Security and Defense Council will be held, but he blames the President of the country for not convening it.
"Postponing the session of the Defense and Security Council caused enormous damage to the defense system, individuals and members of the Army of Montenegro. In that process, great damage was caused to the credibility of the state and the Army of Montenegro, because many important decisions were on the agenda," explained Krapović.
Minister Dragan Krapović adds that the department he heads is the proposer of most decisions awaiting the green light from the Defense and Security Council, so he hopes that a session of that body will be scheduled soon.
Krapović, as announced by the Ministry of Defense, said that Milatović's goal was to "distract attention".
"Why divert attention? Because a scandal occurred in the office of the president of the state, a very unpleasant incident and, I would say, a serious failure when it comes to the integrity of the office of the president of the state. We have seen that there was also the publication of certain explicit recordings, but also a public conflict between the now former advisor and the former director of the Directorate at the Ministry for the Protection of Human and Minority Rights," said Krapović.
He also said that this is primarily related, "as Mr. Vukšić stated, to the process of electing judges to the Constitutional Court."
"I think that in the coming period, the public, but certainly the competent institutions, will have to address this problem and determine what the epilogue of this very serious omission in the office of the President of the State is, and whether Mr. Vukšić's possible withdrawal from his candidacy for judge of the Constitutional Court — as he claims — is the result of blackmail. It also remains to be determined whether the candidacy of lawyer Vučinić, which followed, is also the result of the same kind of blackmail," said Krapović.
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