Parliament of Montenegro

It all started this morning, in front of the assembly building in Cetinje, where the spring session of the Parliament of Montenegro is being held today, when supporters of the opposition DPS gathered, protesting the arrival of Andrija Mandi, the president of the Assembly.

The head of the Parliament will be the leader of the New Serbian Democracy Andrija Mandi, and the government Milojko Spaji. The continuation of the first constitutive session of the Parliament of Montenegro of the 28th convocation of the Parliament is scheduled for 10 o'clock.

A Montenegrin parliament session in Podgorica. Photo: Parliament of Montenegro.

On Monday, parliament adopted the amendments proposed by the ruling Peace is Our Nation bloc enabling monthly compensation to be paid to family members of civilian war victims who were killed, died or disappeared during armed conflicts on the territory of Montenegro.

Democratic Montenegro MP Momo Koprivica at a parliament session in Podgorica. Photo: Parliament of Montenegro.

Koprivica made the announcement at a parliamentary debate on war crimes committed against Montenegrins at the Lora military prison in the Croatian coastal city of Split.

The Parliament of Montenegro voted a vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, reported AFP.

The agency notes that this opens the way for new political upheavals in the small Balkan state. The previous coalition government was also voted out in February.

The Higher State Prosecution launched an investigation into the mass killings in July 2019, and political parties and civic activists called on the authorities to exhume the remains from the cave and identify the victims.

Vujicic cautioned however that the process requires a stable government, which politically-turbulent Montenegro does not have at the moment.

According to the Montenegrin media, Djukanovic can do it in the same way as he did two years ago in the case of Tivat - by changing his decision.

The initiative was signed by 38 opposition MPs led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
As previously announced, the Civic Movement URA will decide before the beginning of the Assembly session whether it will vote for the dismissal of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro.

On the two extraordinary sessions, MPs will decide separately, first on shortening the mandate of the parliament, which was proposed by the government, and then on distrust in the current executive power, which was initiated by the opposition and Dritan Abazovic's 'In Black and White' coalition.