Mandić calm as Knežević watches his back

Even if it is resubmitted, the proposal to dismiss the President of Montenegro’s Parliament, Andrija Mandić, will hardly reach the agenda of any regular parliamentary session, as Vijesti reports. Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, in Article 85 paragraph 2, give the opposition the possibility of putting an item of its own on the agenda, but only with a “harmonized proposal of all leaders of the opposition parliamentary groups” — something for which, at the moment, there is no agreement.

The main obstacle is the stance of Milan Knežević’s Democratic People’s Party (DNP), which, although still formally in alliance with Mandić’s New Serb Democracy (NSD), is against his “overthrow.” The extraordinary session of September 24, at which the dismissal was to be discussed, failed for lack of a quorum: only 39 MPs were in the hall, when at least 41 were needed. The governing majority denied the quorum, while Mandić did not allow the public to learn, through the live broadcast, who was present and who was absent from the hall.

The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), which launched the dismissal initiative, announced the suspension of institutional cooperation with the Government and the parliamentary majority, until MPs are able to declare themselves on the proposal. The cause of the initiative was Mandić’s public telegram of condolences following the death of Ratko Mladić, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the genocide in Srebrenica, crimes against humanity and other war crimes. Vijesti could not learn whether the DPS-led opposition will submit a new proposal; the DPS says its stance remains unchanged — no institutional cooperation with the Government and the majority until the session is held at which MPs declare themselves freely on Mandić’s dismissal.

Meanwhile, two proposals for constitutional changes are in parliamentary procedure: integrity verification before entering the Government, and the removal of immunity for members of the executive for corruption offenses. The EU Delegation considers the second package of constitutional changes among the main remaining obligations for the rule of law, which must be adopted quickly and responsibly, with broad political support. DPS MP Nikola Rakočević said he expects “strong pressure from the international community” on the parliamentary majority to hold the session. “Whenever progress is made toward the EU, someone from the majority comes out and puts sticks in the wheels of the common vehicle heading toward the EU,” he said.

Mandić replied that six months remain until the elections and that no one will destabilize the majority which, according to him, has done a lot for European integration — around 500 laws harmonized with the “tradition of Europe.” He added that the DPS has voted for only 26 percent of European laws, but delivers “sermons” as the chief Europeans. Regarding the condolence, Mandić said he expressed it to Darko Mladić, the son of Ratko Mladić — “an honest and upright man” who, according to him, has not broken any law — and not to his father. This is the second serious political crisis in recent months — the first, over the laws on internal affairs and the National Security Agency, was resolved in early July with the mediation of the EU Delegation.