At the very beginning of the session the deputy speaker of the Parliament Branko Radulovic required a break until “150 fully equipped special police officers leave the building”.
MP Emilo Labudovic (DF) said the Speaker of the Parliament Ranko Krivokapic should explain why 150 police officers were in the Parliament building and whether he had invited them.
Krivokapic said that he had asked the Interior Ministry about the increased security in the Parliament on 4 May, but that he did not get any information.
“There are conditions to work. There is no obstacle in this hall to work. We will wait of the answer form the interior ministry”, he said.
In addition to DF, the Socialist People’s Party (SNP) also requested a break.
Snezana Jonica (SNP) said that the party required an urgent session of the Security and Defence Committee at which the security assessment would be presented by the Interior Minister Dusko Markovic, the police director Slavko Stojanovic and the head of the National Security Agency (ANB) Dejan Perunicic.
The head of the DPS caucus Milutin Simovic said that the opposition’s requests seemed to be a way to avoid discussion.
“Do you want to give up the dialogue? This is not a coupe. The coupe occurred on 24 October 2015”, Simovic said.
Krivokapic announced the break and asked Mevludin Nuhodzic, the chairman of the Security and Defence Committee to organise the meeting and invite representatives of relevant state bodies in order to solve the issue in an hour.
However, Nuhodzic said there was no argument for organising the meeting. Krivokapic replied the reason was the fact that the interior ministry did not reply about the police presence in the Parliament for three days.
After the break the police officers left the Parliament building and the discussion on the lex specialis began.
Medojevic: URA helped Djukanovic’s regime
The special law proposer Dritan Abazovic said that the agreement was aimed at preventing abuse of state resources by one party and the ruling coalition.
“People in power will not protect Milo Djukanovic’s government. We are entering the government in order to take power form DPS. We want to overcome the conflict between the government and the opposition by applying European standards”, Abazovic said.
“No one has the delusion that the elections will be fully free and democratic. But the intensity of the DPS’s manipulation will be reduced”, he said, adding that it is not a betrayal of the opposition idea.
However, the discussion was interrupted again because of the fact that there was no live TV broadcast of the session on RTCG. MPs returned from the break after the regular RTCG news programme was finished at 4PM.
Commenting on the agreement on free and fair elections, Simovic said that it means the signatories agreed to accept the results of the upcoming general elections scheduled for 9 October.
He said that the agreement was the best answer to the destructive and subversive policy of certain parties, adding that PM Milo Djukanovic laid the foundations for it.
MP Nebojsa Medojevic said that DF caucus returned to the Parliament after a seven month boycott because of media blockade.
“Our task is to unmask all the elements of this shameful, traitorous agreement which was reached with the secret centres of power in cooperation with one or two foreign embassies”, he said.
He accused URA Civic Movement of helping the corrupt Djukanovic’s regime.
“Who voted for Zarko Rakcevic? Whom does he represent? Only his company. No one voted for them on the elections and they accept their results”, Medojevic said.
He suggested jointly protesting until the dictator is toppled and forming an interim government in order to get out of the current crisis.
Medojevic added that the agreement between the government and the part of the opposition was an announcement of a state coup which was organised by foreign embassies.
“Thus DPS is absolved of electoral frauds. We are calling on people to join DF in its fight for basic human rights”, Medojevic said.
The future interior minister Goran Danilovic (Demos) denied accusations that the agreement was written by Dusko Markovic and he and Abazovic only signed it.
“Dusko Markovic himself will say whether he had written the agreement or an ambassador. I do not blame anyone for giving up. Demos is aware of its moves and it will support the agreement until there is a slightest possibility of its implementation”, Danilovic said.
“Demos does not think Djukanovic is a mythical creature which cannot be defeated on the elections. He is an outdated politician. I am aware I am entering a government of the past. I know that a revolution will bring people worse than their predecessors. We are not entering the government in order to enjoy benefits of the positions but to work hard to reach free and fair elections”, Danilovic said.
“If you win the elections that will be declared free, then we will congratulate you”, Danilovic said referring to DPS.
SNP will not support lex specialis, but it will control the government
The head of SNP caucus Aleksandar Damjanovic said his party would not vote for the lex specialis. SNP had signed the agreement and announced to enter the government. However, it gave up the idea because it was offered one ministerial post, although the party required two posts.
Damjanovic added that SNP would support every honest attempt to reach free elections.
He added that he was neither a peacemaker nor a neutral person.
“I want to believe persons who will be elected at the ministerial positions would do their job professionally and honestly. They will be punished if they do not keep their promises”, he said, calling on the rest of the opposition to stay in the Parliament and control everyone who works against the interests of the people of Montenegro.
Draginja Vuksanovic (SDP) said that the party would support the lex specialis. She said that the new ministers were expected to work hard.
“Their work will result in a constant contact with the media and NGO sector in order for all of us to be informed about their moves. We expect them to explain why they agree or disagree with certain decisions. The quality will beat the quantity”, she said.
Liberal Party: Lex specialis is a political circus
The MP for the Liberal Party (LP) Andrija Popovic said his party would not vote for the lex specialis.
“It is a serious violation of the legal order. What is this political circus about except for introducing anarchy in the state?”, Popovic said.
Commenting on the fact that LP had signed the agreement on free and fair elections, the president of the party said he did that unwillingly since the LP representatives were not aware that the lex specialis would be the law suspending the Constitution.
Commenting on the claims that the lex specialis would suspend other laws, Abazovic said the special law was not the main problem in the state.
“We are faced with unconstitutional decisions on a daily basis. Such a decision is the regulation on fuel fee for which we gave away €10m”, Abazovic said.
He also replied to the comment that Djukanovic’s offer was generous.
“There is no generosity in it”, he said, adding that such a solution was reached by a lot of efforts.
MP for URA Milos Konatar said that the agreement represented a beginning of changes in Montenegro and a victory over the DPS’s semi-dictatorship.
He added that the agreement would prevent the ruling party from using methods mentioned in the Snimak affair (Audio Recordings).
Konatar added that there were two possibilities for the opposition – to fight and to stay aside watching DPS carrying out yet another electoral fraud.
Representatives of the Bosniak Party said they would support the lex specialis.
Bulatovic: DF is the omnly true opposition
Predrag Bulatovic (DF) said that this alliance was the only opposition.
“This will not be a government of electoral trust, but a reshuffled cabinet of Milo Djukanovic”, Bulatovic said.
MP for DF Slaven Radunovic urged SNP to explain whether it had signed the agreement.
Danijela Markovic (SNP) replied that DF wanted to score some cheap political points by such a question.
“We have not hid anything. It is a matter of someone’s political will whether to sign the agreement or not”, Markovic said.
Goran Danilovic (Demos) said that SNP had not signed the agreement on 26 April, but it had done that several days after.
“For me, the party signed the agreement, unless some of the signatories deny that”, he said.
Danilovic also said he was aware that adopting lex specialis and the agreement are not enough to win the elections.
“But it is a condition to try to defeat you at the elections. I am not afraid of that fight”, Danilovic stated.
At the very end, MPs of DPS and SDP had an argument about who would be held responsible for not being constructive.
