Montenegro Parties Haggle Over Public Broadcaster

Montenegro's political leaders are to meet again on Friday in an attempt to resolve the crisis in the country following the failure of a no-confidence vote in the government in January.

But talks between Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, and opposition parties have become stuck over who should control the public broadcaster, RTCG.

The opposition demands the dismissal of the director and editorial team of the television news programs, whom they accuse of biased reporting.

The opposition also wants the post of chief inspector in the intelligence service, the National Security Agency.

Both the public TV and the security agency are considered vulnerable to abuses during election campaigns but Djukanovic's party is not ready to give up its influence on them.

The director of the public broadcaster, Rade Vojvodic, who is considered close to the DPS, on Thursday said that interference in the running of the public service was not best practice in free and democratic countries.

"I cannot support this way of thinking. If the public service is part of the deal to be made by political parties, we should not call it a public service. Rename it. Call it the Public Service of the Central Committees of the Political Parties," he said.

The government said the opposition had no legal basis to participate in the selection of the Inspector General of the National Security Agency, as the cabinet appoints the heads of departments in the service.

Friday is the deadline for the opposition parties to decide on whether they will enter Djukanovic's government, which is due to organize new elections this year.

At the first round of talks, last week, leaders of the main parties did not agree on a way...