ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 32, No. 1 (ME)

September 2020

Montenegro political briefing: Political shock in - victory of the opposition Vojin Golubovic

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+36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin

Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

Political shock in Montenegro - victory of the opposition

The party that participated in the government in the last 30 years - the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), did not win the parliamentary elections that took place on August 30th. This is a kind of surprise at first glance, despite the fact that the leaders of that party were aware that due to the adoption of the controversial Law on Freedom of Religion, they are losing some of their earlier support. However, despite the fact that the party and the government in general were accused of various corrupt practices, it was difficult to expect that change would happen. Because the same rhetoric was present during the previous elections, which the DPS and its coalition partners regularly won. So, the predominant factor, unfortunately for the secular organization of society, was the adoption of the disputed law, which assumed the registration of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in Montenegro, as well as re-registration of the church's property in favor of the state, if there was no evidence of possession before 1918. 1

The election results are such that the DPS is still the strongest party in Montenegro, but it does not have enough seats in parliament to form a government with its traditional coalition partners. Thus, compared to the previous parliamentary elections (2016), the DPS now won 6 less seats (a drop from 36 to 30 seats). This party got approximately 35% of the votes, i.e. over 6 p.p. less than in the 2016 elections. That reduction has largely spilled over into the strongest opposition coalition gathered around the pro-Serbian Democratic Front (DF). That coalition won as many as 27 seats or almost a third of the votes. It is obvious that the Serbs who previously voted for DPS voted for the DF this time, precisely because of the controversial Law on freedom of religion. Democrats, as traditional opponents of the DPS, won a similar percentage of votes as in the previous elections (12% compared to 10% from 2016, but this time in a coalition with DEMOS and some smaller parties - a total of 10 seats), while the coalition gathered around the URA movement won 5% of votes or 4 seats in the Parliament. The rest of the seats went to the Social Democrats (SD, 3 seats), the Social Democratic Party (SDP, 2 seats) and the minority parties of Albanians and Bosniaks.

1 The year of 1918 is taken as a border year, because after the end of the World War I, occupied Montenegro, and the Serbian heir to the throne abolished the autocephalous Orthodox Church, which became part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, by Serbian Decree. Also, the Montenegrin king, who was in exile at the time, was banned from returning to the country (although his army was destroyed due protection of Serbian army in WWI), and Montenegro was illegaly annexed to Serbia.

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It is almost certain that the post-election alliance will be formed by the pro-Serbian coalition gathered around the DF, together with the two coalitions gathered around the Democrats and the URA. The three coalitions together have 41 seats, which is exactly what is needed for a majority in parliament, given that the total number of seats is 81. However, it is strange how the coalition gathered around URA agreed to a coalition with the DF, given that earlier statements went in the direction that no coalition would be formed with either the DPS or the DF, because first were accused of corruption and crime, and others of Greater Serbia's nationalist policy. So, DF did not distance itself from earlier support for World War II collaborationist and quisling movements that fought against the communists who were leaders of the only internationally recognized national liberation movement against the fascists on the territory of Montenegro in the mentioned war). Therefore, the question arises whether a real step has been made in democracy in these elections, knowing that the new government will include parties that are ultra-right nationalist pro-Serbian parties that deny the Montenegrin state, Montenegrin nation, Montenegrin church, , or the entire Montenegrin identity that exists for centuries.

Involvement of a foreign factor and a church

However, despite the controversial law, the question is whether there would have been a change in the winner of the election if there had not been significant support for pro-Serbian opposition parties from the Serbian authorities, as well as from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro itself. When it comes to the interference of the Serbian authorities, that help to the opposition parties is more indirect, through the help and financing of the SOC eparchies in Montenegro and the financing of Serbian organizations with a total of about 11.6 million EUR, in the last few years, especially before the elections. The so-called Serbian House received the most money (approximately 3.4 million EUR). Although the official statement of the donations states that their purpose is "to buy a building that would be the seat of the Serbian House and the center of future cultural and social events related to the Serbian people in Montenegro", it is revealed that Serbian House openly promoted the coalition gathered around the pro-Serbian Democratic Front. (DF).

Special assistance stands out during this year, when the Serbian government approved significant funds for the continuation of works on the construction of SOC temples, but it was

2 also generous to “Matica Srpska”, but also for "promoting cooperation between Montenegro, Republika Srpska and Serbia", which is particularly problematic given that many analysts do not see such assistance as an intention for cooperation and mutual respect for national interests and diversity, but a desire for hegemony and the violent imposition of "Serbism" in Montenegro. The also fiercely helped the dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. Serbia supported the SOC in Montenegro with about 4.6 million EUR, in the period 2014-2020, through three lines, directly from the budget. This would not have been disputable if this church had not interfered in the electoral process as a political subject and collapsed the principles of secularism on which Montenegro as a state was built. Announcements that this church will withdraw from the political debate after the elections proved to be largely incorrect, given that the first negotiations of the three coalitions on the composition of the new government were held in the monastery in the presence of representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church. This represents huge humiliation for the Montenegro as a secular state, but also reveals the real face of certain opposition leaders who called themselves "civil". This primarily refers to the URA leader who, it seems, does not have the capacity to distinguish subjective feelings (personal intolerance towards the DPS president, also the president of Montenegro) from the objective political reality and the fact that Montenegro is plunging into clericalism.

Future developments

Negotiations on participation in the government and the distribution of responsibilities between the three coalitions are underway. It is almost certain that the leader for the composition of the new government and new Prime Minister will be a person proposed by the coalition around the DF (which advocates pro-Serbian nationalist policy, although (only formally) he advocates for the EU in foreign policy. Also, a leader of Democrats is elected as a new President of the Parliament).

When it comes to the DPS, it is obvious that this party will lose additional trust, unless major personnel changes take place within the party. That development was announced, between the lines. Therefore, it is possible to expect an extraordinary congress of the party soon, which should answer the question whether this party has the capacity to remain united and to reform and consolidate until the next elections.

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On the other hand, the celebration of the victory of the opposition revealed an undisguised desire of a significant part of the opposition to deny the existence of Montenegro as a state. The best confirmation of that is the fact that during the celebration, there were almost no Montenegrin flags, while the flags of the Republic of Serbia were flying, but also the flags of the Serbian nationalist movement from the World War II, which cooperated with fascists and Nazis. This was followed by a response in the form of a so-called "patriotic gathering" that spontaneously brought together members of all national structures in Montenegro who see Montenegro as a multinational and multicultural secular state. Therefore, it is possible to expect the spontaneous creation of a that would be free of both, nationalist and corrupt attributes, and would see Montenegro as its state. This would be perhaps the best response to the faltering political consciousness that reigns in the minds of almost all politicians in Montenegro, regardless of which party they belong to. Such a party, unencumbered by a negative context in any sense, could bring together independent intellectuals, but also all those who see Montenegro as a state that nurtures sincere civilizational values and respects Montenegrin cultural identity and tradition of anti-fascist values. Therefore, if that happens, that party would have to get support from relevant international addresses, but also centers of power, not only from the EU, but also from China and all those who truly value the achievements of anti-fascism.

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