Good morning! After the first round of meetings and reactions, almost no one has mentioned the negotiations since last week. As if everything’s fine, as if the interim cabinet hasn’t been running the government for over a year.
Negotiations on government: The calm before the storm?
I shall correct my statement from the introduction – only a couple of media, such as Borba and Vijesti, don’t stop talking about the negotiations, and have available “first-hand” info about the negotiations that are out of the public eye. In the sense that they push hard every day so that the Front becomes part of it. First on the order of Belgrade, second thinking that the Front inside will mean DPS outside. The question is how – when the 30th of August majority and pro-government columnists were constantly talking that the DPS and DF were a coordinated duo, one body.
The fact is that behind-the-scenes negotiations on the government lasted until the elections, and that the announcement of the official results was awaited in order for the whole story to be formalized. After the president nominated Spajic as PM-designate, the 90-day period started to run. Although Spajic expressed hope that the government would be formed quickly, the puzzle over the Front’s participation/non-participation in government is becoming more complicated. Instead of a blitzkrieg, we’ve gotten bulldozing.
I repeated this for several times. Whether our Western allies oppose or agree with the Front’s inclusion in the government is the least important for Spajic. They’ll be against it, and then get used to it. They got used to much worse things in the rest of the Serbian World. Nevertheless, for those who don’t know, the Front has been part of the government for three years already. And to say it again – the position that the security sector should be protected from the Front’s members, but the education sector should be theirs, is the cruellest hoax on this society.
The biggest problem for Spajic, in case they enter the government, is that he’s going to have in his team an uncontrollable and hard-to-manage group of people who are going to undermine him from the first day.
Let us use the phrase about a hot political autumn – can we expect it, or will the negotiations last until November – so long that we all get tired of accepting not only the Front but also Seselj in power. Oh wait…*
A wise man recently told me that all except Spajic should wish for the Front in the government, because the government with them won’t last for too long.
Spajic could play it smart and use the Front to form a government, silently preparing the imminent reconstruction. But for that he would have to be sure of every card in his hands. There is no bluffing in such a scenario.
The opposition is clueless and disoriented. The DPS is still in the shadow of Djukanovic’s charisma and legacy. Both good and bad. The SDP has been shut down, while for the majority former after the 2020 elections, the SD is more radioactive than the DPS. Instead of being aggressive and biting, our opposition members quietly wish that Spajic would open the doors of power for them.
Until next elections, URA will cease to exist if they don’t elect a new leader and new management at the next congress. They’ve boiled down to Abazovic’s cabinet and recruited and awarded activists. All those who supported them believing in their values have long left.
If no one sparks the flame this autumn, the Montenegrin political stage will most likely become boring and less people will take part in all the forthcoming elections. The citizens got tired and it looks like they accepted and voluntarily decided to withdraw because of the party-backed recruitments and parasites from the political class.
*(Correct me if I’m wrong – the Radicals are officially part of the For the Future of Montenegro bloc)
That’s all for today. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM observer and columnist
(The opinions and views of our columnists are not necessarily those of the editorial staff of CdM)
