After only three and a half months
Parliament overthrows the Montenegrin government
In the NATO country of Montenegro, Parliament overthrew the government of current Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic – after only three and a half months.
ARCHIVES – Dritan Abazovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro, speaks during a parliamentary session. Photo: Risto Bozovic / AP / dpa
Fifty out of 81 deputies voted for her on Saturday night at the initiative of President Milo Djukanovic’s DPS (36) and four other parliamentary groups. A liberal ecological Abazovich had angered the head of state two weeks ago because he had signed a controversial contract with the Serbian Orthodox Church. For now, Abazovic will likely continue to rule on a temporary basis until a decision is made on his successor.
The 36-year-old Abazovic took office only on April 28, after overthrowing the previous government, which was mostly pro-Serb, in Parliament. Like Djukanovic, Abazovic is considered pro-Western. He had led a minority government, with a diverse coalition whose party included the URA, the Green Party, the Social Democrats, the ethnic Albanian and Bosniak parties, and the pro-Serb party.
Controversial Church Contract
The church contract is controversial because it grants the Serb-dominated Orthodox Church special rights. Their leadership never reconciled with the independence of Montenegro. The former Yugoslav Republic gained its independence in 2006 – at that time by agreement with the Serbian state.
The government in Belgrade today is trying to regain more influence in the NATO country of Montenegro through the pro-Serbia church and local parties and organizations.
Three days earlier, tensions between Abazovic and Parliament had led to the failure of the election of members to a politically independent judicial council in Parliament. The EU Commission has called for the move several times. The small Adriatic country has been a member of NATO since 2017 and aims to join the European Union.
(SDA)
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