DPS lawmakers walk out of Parliament session: Nikolic seeks vote on Mandic’s dismissal, he fires back

Lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) walked out of today’s extraordinary session of the Parliament of Montenegro, declaring that they would not take part in what they called a “spectacle” meant to create the appearance of normal parliamentary work, as the Montenegrin portal ETV reports.

The head of the DPS parliamentary group, Andrija Nikolic, said at the start of the session that the situation in Parliament is not normal: the majority, by failing to ensure a quorum, prevented lawmakers from voting on the responsibility of the Parliament Speaker. “We are not boycotting Parliament, but there will be no cooperation in the institutions and no joint voting with the parliamentary majority until a vote is allowed on the glorification of war criminals — or until Mandic says publicly and unequivocally that Ratko Mladic is a war criminal and that genocide was committed in Srebrenica,” Nikolic said, according to ETV.

Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandic responded with accusations against the opposition. He said the DPS voted least of all for European laws (only 26 percent), but has “the loudest European rhetoric”, and that precisely those who in the 1990s helped Ratko Mladic and the Army of Republika Srpska “are today lecturing me”. According to ETV, Mandic added that he had never met Mladic and that he had expressed his condolences to his son, following a Montenegrin tradition.

Zoran Mikic, a lawmaker of the Civic Movement URA, asked why debate had not been allowed a few days earlier and announced that URA lawmakers would not take part in today’s session. Social Democrat lawmaker Boris Mugosa accused Mandic of breaching the Rules of Procedure by holding a monologue instead of allowing the session to proceed, and asked him to step down himself. After the opposition walked out, lawmakers approved the agenda with 43 votes in favour and continued the session, ETV reports.