Parliamentary elections in Montenegro are finished. According to the preliminary estimates, Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) won 30 seats in the Parliament, coalition gathered around Democratic Front won 27 seats, coalition “Mir je naša nacija” – Peace is our nation eon 10 seats while platform “Crno na bijelo – Black and white” will have 4 seats. New political majority consisting of “Za budućnost Crne gore”, “Mir je nača nacija” and “Crno na bijelo” has announced formation of expert government.
In line with the Constitution, after the constitution of the parliament, president of the state has 30 days to propose a prime minister designate for the constitution of nee government that has to be formed within 90 days after that. If that doesn’t happen, new parliamentary elections will be called.
President of the state gives the mandate for the constitution of the new government to representative of the party that won the majority of votes, in this case, its DPS. If the representative fails to do this, the mandate goes to the second strongest alliance or party, and in this case that will be coalition “Za budućnost Crne Gore”.
Political analyst, Mr Srđan Vukadinović, says for CdM that there will be problems in the formation of expert government.
“A hot political autumn is ahead of us. It will be very difficult to form the government because these three coalitions are diverse. URA is already talking about the expert government, Democrats have already named their leader, Mr Aleksa Bečić for prime minister. DF, as the strongest group, definitely won’t remain silent. The question is: will they be able to reach an agreement in 90 days? “, Mr Vukadinović says.
President of the state will give the first mandate to DPS representative who will try to form the government.
“If DPS representative returns the mandate, then it will be given to the second strongest party – in this case coalition. The fact that expert government is an option probably suggests that the three coalitions are trying to conceal differences that exist among them and that will cause troubles. The objective was to defeat DPS. They did it. But we must not forget the animosity that existed between DF and Democrats, and clashes they had on the committee on reform of electoral legislation. What linked them was resentment at DPS. They won with the help of the Church. Will church be the factor that will iron out differences, reconcile? We’ll see”, mr Vukadinović points out.
Analyst Ljubo Filipović, says that expert government is something new. It’s a political experiment that is not possible in MNE for two reasons:
1.small capacities Montenegro has when it comes to expertise in all areas covered by the administration
2. patriotic nature of our society.
“I am not very optimistic that expert government will bring peaceful transition and prosperity. Experience in Budva taught me a lesson. In 2016, DPS was defeated. URA supported DF and Democrtats. Today, after four years, DF has absolute power in ma town and doesn’t need URA anymore”, Mr Filipović says.
Mr Filipović stresses that we should not forget that the center of the new government is DF, a group loyal to Aleksandar Vučić and Vladimir Putin.
“With their “experts” in the Government, loyalty of the new administration to MNE is brought into question. To make it clear, DPS government was far from perfect and its long rule had consequences on institutions, it trapped them. But we must be aware that fuel for the change of this government was not dissatisfaction with corruption or nepotism for example, but propaganda activities of the church and government in Serbia and Republika Srpska”, Mr Filipović said in his statement.
President of Civil Alliance, Mr Boris Raonić, says that expert government has to be composed of people with political experience. E warns that the process carries risk.
He says this is all happening at the moment when finances are facing bankruptcy and says that settling these problems and many other challenges are thin lines the new government has to walk on.
