Montenegro has already lost a year and there is no more time, so it is necessary for the political crisis to unfold as soon as possible, Democratic Party of Socialists spokesman Milos Nikolic told the City Portal and confirmed that opposition parties are close to an agreement on joint action.
“In the parliamentary opposition, we have an indisputable consensus on key values, which are the pro-Western course, the continuation of EU integration, the rule of law and anti-fascism. Since the parliamentary elections, we have strong cooperation with our opposition colleagues, and whether it will be formalized or not, in the form of an alliance, remains to be seen. But, it certainly already exists”, said Nikolić to the City Portal.
He reminded of the joint statement of all opposition parties, a month ago, in which they stated that Montenegro is in the biggest crisis since the introduction of multi-party system and that early elections are the only solution.
“At that time, we stated that, before the extraordinary parliamentary elections, it is necessary to regulate the issue of a possible transitional government, and I believe that this is something that could be discussed at various levels and on several modalities. But what is definite and what citizens have had the opportunity to see in previous years is that the current parliamentary majority is not able to form an effective government and that the expert, or any other that would be the product of these three coalitions in power can not be successful and functional”, concluded Nikolić.
Omeragic: BS ready to support preservation of pro-European course
Commenting on the announcement of the Social Democrat MP Damir Sehovic that all opposition parties will gather around the European platform, the content of which will be presented to the public next week, the spokesman of the Bosniak Party, Adel Omeragic, said that it was too early to comment on such statements.
“These are announcements that have been known for a long time, that all pro-European subjects should gather around one initiative. We have always said in our statements that we are ready to support all ideas that go in the direction of preserving the pro-European course of Montenegro, no matter where they come from,” Omeragic told the City Portal.
He reminded that the BS also supported the SDP's initiative ten days ago on starting a dialogue in Montenegro, and stated that these were “similar stories”.
Popovic: The Euro-Atlantic platform has no alternative
The leader of the Liberal Party, Andrija Popovic, said that the parliamentary opposition has constant consultations at the level of party leaders, and that it was concluded that the Euro-Atlantic platform has no alternative.
“Montenegro is bursting at the seams, the executive does not have the support of the parliamentary majority, which currently has 19 deputies out of the required 41. There is great responsibility on the parliamentary opposition, which is united in its efforts to urgently elect a temporary government with limited duration until early elections”, said Popovic to the City Portal.
As he pointed out, the announced European platform will be based on that, “which should offer a solution to the huge political, social and economic crisis in Montenegro.”
“The Assembly has not been in this position since World War II”
Popovic mentioned that the Assembly has not been sitting for four months, except for the extraordinary one at the end of September, with one item on the agenda – the Law on Amendments to the Law on Higher Education, which extends the deadline for students to complete their studies.
“That session was presented by the opposition, which had about 25 deputies, while only 15 deputies from the parliamentary majority were present,” said Popovic.
According to him, a lot of things have accumulated in the drawers of the Assembly.
“I assume that the Assembly has not been in such a position since the Second World War. The Bill on the Budget should arrive in about a month, so I am afraid that it will all be so buried”, said Popović.
“Citizens will suffer the most damage”
He states that he does not see a way out of the parliamentary crisis, “except that a new majority elects an interim government that would last a maximum of one year, until early elections are held.”
“This is not going anywhere, the citizens will suffer the most damage, and we see what is happening on the socio-economic level, the prices are skyrocketing, especially the fuels that are pulling everyone else. We don't have much time, I believe that with the triple coalition, which still only exists on paper, common sense will prevail and that they will sit at the table with the opposition and look for urgent solutions”, concluded Popović.