Hopes Fade For New Montenegro Crisis Talks

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 last week.

At the first round, held on Monday, leaders of the main political parties could not agree on the way ahead after Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's government survived a no-confidence motion the previous Wednesday with the help of three MPs from the opposition.

The outcome of the vote opened up a new chasm between the main ruling party, the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, led by Djukanovic, and its former junior partner, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, led by the speaker of parliament, Ranko Krivokapic.

Following a marathon three-day parliamentary debate, a plot to unseat Djukanovic foundered when the smallest opposition party, Positive Montenegro, which has been getting closer to the DPS, voted in favour of the Prime Minister and provided his government with enough votes to survive.

In exchange for their support, Djukanovic has offered five seats in the cabinet to opposition representatives - the interior, labour, agriculture and finance ministries, as well as the post of deputy prime minister. All are considered the most vulnerable to abuses during election campaigns.

Meanwile, Djukanovic, explaining his offer, said he was ready to continue talks with the opposition and offer also "deputy ministers' positions with additional powers.

"This would imply that the use of state funds could not be granted without the signature of those deputies," Djukanovic said.

The offer is not acceptable for the opposition, however. Three centre-left oppostion parties and the SPD have said they want additional controls over the use of state...