In Montenegro, the conflict between the president and parliament is escalating

In Montenegro, the majority of members of the Assembly (parliament) initiated the procedure for the dismissal of the country's President Milo Djukanovic, because, in their opinion, he violated the Constitution during the procedure for nominating a candidate for prime minister.

At the same time, Djukanovic himself hinted that he might issue a decree dissolving the Assembly if it rejects his proposal to shorten the parliamentary term and announce early elections, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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The “Motion to initiate proceedings to determine whether the President has violated the Constitution, that is, to dismiss”, which the parliamentary majority submitted to the Speaker of the Assembly Daniela Djurovic, states that Djukanovic violated the Basic Law of the State.

The document notes that on September 19, 2022, less than 30 days after the decision to resign the government of Montenegro led by Dritan Abazovic, a proposal was submitted to the President of Montenegro to nominate Miodrag Lekic for the post of prime minister. Although this is not a constitutional obligation of the majority, the proposal was confirmed by the signatures of 41 deputies (there are 80 deputies in the Assembly of Montenegro).

The Constitution of Montenegro states that “the President is responsible for violating the Constitution,” and such a procedure “may be initiated by the Parliament on the proposal of at least 25 deputies.”

The decision on the presence or absence of a violation of the Constitution in the actions of the president is made by the Constitutional Court, published and immediately communicated to the parliament and the President of Montenegro.

“The President of Montenegro can be dismissed by Parliament if the Constitutional Court finds that he has violated the Constitution,” says the article cited by the initiators of Djukanovic’s dismissal.

The initiators did not explain how they are going to complete this procedure, although the activities of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro are blocked because the Assembly did not elect four of its judges.

Djukanovic and Abazovic.

The actions of the parliamentary majority are a response to the actions of the President of Montenegro, who on September 20 refused to nominate Miodrag Lekic for the post of Prime Minister of the country and sent a proposal to the Speaker of the Assembly, Daniela Djurovic, to shorten the term of office of the 27th Parliament of Montenegro.

Explaining his decision, Djukanovic said that after consultations regarding the composition of the government, he “did not have the impression that there was a clear majority that could form a government that would offer solutions to very complex problems at the financial, economic, legal, institutional and political level.” .

At the same time, representatives of only part of the parties represented in the Assembly were invited to the mentioned consultations.

Local commentators draw attention to the fact that the proposal to fire Milo Djukanovic appeared at the same time when Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, who was in New York at the UN General Assembly, met with US President Joe Biden.

However, there is no official position of the US Embassy in Montenegro, as well as the representative office of the European Union in this country, which largely determine the policy of Montenegro.

Как reported “PolitNavigator”, September 22 The Assembly of Montenegro voted for the resignation of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic; the government under his leadership lasted only 100 days. The vote took place a few days after Abazovic signed the Basic Agreement with Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije.