Bosniak Party (BS) announcement that it will vote for dismissal Andrije Mandić, raised the question yesterday whether the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) will be lucky enough to "coax" a majority to overthrow the head of parliament on the third attempt, but it is closer to closing last night after the message from the Europe Now Movement (PES) to the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić - that he will not participate in it.
The PES said that the party was founded with the desire to provide citizens with “economic progress and a European future,” and that they believe it is “crystal clear” that they will not vote for “our ugly past to ruin our bright future.” They stated that they leave “war rhetoric” to those political structures “for which it is the only tool.”
"And we have already spoken out on this issue and for us, respect for international rulings is something that goes without saying. We are choosing the future," the PES statement reads.
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The request for Mandić's dismissal (the initiative has not been formally submitted) was initiated by the DPS on Monday because the leader of the highest legislative chamber sent condolences last week on the death of convicted war crimes convict Ratko Mladić. The PES, therefore, distanced itself from Mandić on behalf of the government, stating that this was a "personal and party position".
After the Civic Movement (GP) URA, the European Union (EU), the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and an independent MP announced their support for the initiative Nikola Janović, BS did the same yesterday, saying that the decision was in line with their party's program principles, and "the values, responsibilities and principles on which a democratic and European Montenegro must rest." They said that Mladić was not a military leader, nor a hero, nor a man to whom any respect could be shown.
However, the support of BS - after which the DPS initiative has the support of 31 parliamentarians - does not guarantee the "fall" of Mandić, although it increases the chances of it. For this to happen, a majority of the number of MPs present at the Assembly session is required (at a session attended by more than half of the Assembly members - at least 41).
I can get a lot of votes, but...
If, in addition to BS, the DPS initiative were supported by other minority parties (Albanian Forum, Democratic Union of Albanians and the Albanian Alliance coalition), as well as independent MPs who are part of the opposition or support some of its proposals (Jevrosima Pejović, Radinka Ćinćur, Maja Vučelić and Miodrag Laković), there would be 38 "hands" to remove Mandić (the calculation does not include Nikola Camaj from the Albanian Forum, who announced that he would not support the initiative).
Considering this calculation and the positions of some of the ruling parties led by PES - that they will not vote for the DPS proposal, this means that the ways for it to "pass" are: for some of the ruling MPs to resist the positions of their parties and vote for Mandić's dismissal, for some of them to not come to the session and thus enable the opposition to more easily achieve a majority, and for the Democratic People's Party (DNP) to possibly provide support. Milan Knežević.
The first and second scenarios should not be completely ruled out, given that there have been cases of some ruling party MPs voting "against" their parties or avoiding voting, while the third is almost unrealistic because the DNP is a party that has been in alliance with Mandić's New Serbian Democracy (NSD) for years and whose officials have also praised Mladić in recent days.
The Democrats, the Socialist People's Party and the United Montenegro previously confirmed on the list that they would not vote for Mandić's dismissal.
Krackovic: BS expected, NSD drops the ball
Editor-in-chief of TV Vijesti Radomir Kračković calls yesterday's move by the BS expected, because, according to him, that party would have difficulty explaining to voters a vote against the dismissal of someone who sends condolences on the death of a man who was finally convicted of genocide against members of their people, regardless of the fact that in doing so they risk their expulsion from the Government or its political collapse.
"Support could be sensed on the first day, when DPS submitted the initiative, from the statement of the BS leader Ervin Ibrahimović "who said that BS would not calculate with the truth about Srebrenica," said Krackovic.
The NSD announced that they understand the BS's decision and that they "will not declare them enemies."
"We cannot agree with this decision, but we will not allow a political issue to become a reason for a new political conflict with the Bosniak Party, and especially not for creating distrust between Serbs and Bosniaks in Montenegro. We understand the Bosniak Party, which makes decisions in accordance with the interests of its own political organization, whether it is its participation in the 44th Government of Montenegro, participation in the Bijelo Polje government with the DPS...", stated Mandić's party, adding that they cannot build the "reconciled Montenegro" they want by "re-digging old trenches" after every "difficult vote".
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Krackovic assesses this reaction by the NSD as an attempt to "drop the ball" in order to preserve the government and the current authorities, because the NSD "obviously calculates that this initiative will not pass."
"Whether they are calculating correctly, or have they miscalculated - the session itself and the vote, if it takes place, will show. Judging by the number of possible votes, this is the most serious DPS initiative to remove Mandić so far. Since this requires a simple majority, not 41 MPs, it is clear that everything will be broken down into a few votes, and a lot will depend on how many MPs will attend the session and how many will vote," the interlocutor of "Vijesti" indicates.
He notes that, first of all, it is necessary to ensure a quorum, and that this will require several MPs who support Mandić to attend the session.
"If in the end there is no quorum or a sufficient majority is not secured for Mandić's dismissal, we can talk about a 'play' aimed at satisfying the partisan appetites of all parties. But, I would add that the matter may be very uncertain, although at this moment it seems that more MPs are against than for Mandić's dismissal," Krackovic pointed out.
BS and NSD remain silent about the coalition breakup
BS did not respond to "Vijesti's" question about whether, if the initiative does not pass, they will break up the coalition with NSD and leave the government. Mandić's party did not respond to the question about a possible breakup of the coalition either.
DPS announced the initiative to remove Mandić on Monday. Their leader, Danijel Zivkovic, said on that occasion that Mandić, by expressing condolences over Mladić's death, "crossed the line beyond which one cannot close one's eyes."
"We have long heard that a distinction should be made between his (Mandić's) personal political views and the function he performs, that there should be understanding for the sake of the stability of the government, that difficult topics should not be raised because of the European path... But there are moments when silence ceases to be political wisdom and becomes acquiescence. This is one of those moments," he said.
Mandić's condolences on the death of a Hague convict caused a new storm in relations between Montenegro and Croatia, opening up the issue of the political consequences of celebrating war criminals in a country that aspires to join the EU.
The European Commission has said that glorifying war criminals has no place in the EU or in candidate countries for membership in that bloc.
On the other hand, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs characterized Mandić's move as unacceptable and contrary to EU values, saying that in accession negotiations, the country will insist on facing the past, prosecuting war crimes, respecting the rulings of international courts, and good neighborly relations.
The head of parliament has "survived" initiatives for his removal on two occasions - in March 2024 and early June 2025. Like the current one, both were submitted by the DPS.
The party first proposed it, claiming that Mandić was unworthy of office, among other things, because he “never provided evidence that he was in legal possession of Montenegrin citizenship.” At that time, 27 MPs, including BS (which was not in power at the time), voted for his dismissal, while 44 MPs were against.
The second time, Mandić again emerged as the “winner”, and this initiative of the DPS and the Social Democrats (now the European Alliance) was supported by 20 MPs, while 41 were against. Representatives of the BS were not in the hall when the vote was taken.
The main reason for the initiative for dismissal at the time was the case of the nephew of the speaker of parliament, Danilo Mandic, who was meanwhile convicted in the first instance for unauthorized use of a Parliament vehicle, but was acquitted of charges that he injured two people in the center of Podgorica on April 19 last year, as well as charges of unauthorized possession and carrying of weapons.
BS: Graffiti glorifying Mladić painted on the wall of the BS MP's house
Graffiti praising Mladić was written on the retaining wall in front of the house of BS MP Kenana Strujić Harbić in Pljevlja, where she was born and where she resides, the party announced yesterday.
"We have no doubt that the choice of a wall to glorify the greatest war criminal since World War II on European soil is not accidental. On the contrary, after the threats made to the President of the Bosnian Serb Party, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ervin Ibrahimović, we also consider this a direct threat to the MP," the statement said.
MP and leader of the Pljevlja-based NSD Milan Lekić said last night that the graffiti on the wall in front of Strujić Harbić's house was written by "someone who wants to cause discord between Serbs and Bosniaks in Pljevlja."
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