2015–16 Montenegrin crisis

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Anti-government protests in Montenegro
Date 27 September 2015[1] — late 2016
Location Podgorica, Montenegro
Causes
Goals
Methods Demonstrations, riot, civil disobedience
Result
Parties to the civil conflict
Lead figures
Milo Đukanović
Duško Marković
The opposition has demanded a transitional government and the resignation of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, who has led the country since the 1990s.

A political crisis in Montenegro (Montenegrin: kriza u Crnoj Gori) was initiated by the opposition parties which staged protests requesting fair elections and transitional government. Opposition coalition Democratic Front organised continuous protests in October 2015 which culminated in a large riot in Podgorica on 24 October. A split in the ruling coalition followed in January 2016, leaving the government functioning as a de facto minority government.

Background[edit]

Milo Đukanović's leadership[edit]

See also: Milo Đukanović

In 2015, the investigative journalists' network OCCRP has named Montenegro's long-time President and Prime Minister Milo Đukanović 'Person of the Year in Organized Crime'.[2] The extent of Đukanović's corruption led to street demonstrations and calls for his removal.[3][4][5]

Accession of Montenegro to NATO[edit]

Main article: Accession of Montenegro to NATO

Anti-government protests[edit]

Anti-government protests in Montenegro began in mid-October 2015 and culminated in riots on 24 October 2015 in the capital of Podgorica. The protests were organised by the opposition coalition Democratic Front, which is requesting the formation of a transitional government which would organise next parliamentary elections.

On 27 September the Democratic Front set up tents by the building of the Parliament of Montenegro.[6]

After thousands of people rallied to protest government corruption and demand a transitional government and resignation of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, who has held prime ministerial or presidential positions for most of the time since 1990, the police intervened tear-gassing the demonstrators on 24 October.[7] Montenegrin police fired tear gas at opposition supporters, while chasing away the demonstrators with armored vehicles.[8]

A protest against joining NATO was held in Podgorica on 12 December 2015.[9] A new protest against the government was held on 24 January 2016.[10]

DPS–SDP split[edit]

On January 27, 2016, a parliamentary vote saw the split of the ruling DPS and up until then coalition partner SDP.[11] This followed a failed crisis talk over the organization of the "first free and fair election".[11] The President of the National Assembly Ranko Krivokapić (SDP) strongly criticized Prime Minister Milo Djukanović and the ruling party (DPS). With the split of SDP, Djukanović lost the Assembly majority. Djukanović started an initiative to remove Krivokapić from the seat.

Parliament interruption[edit]

On 13 May 2016, Prime Minister Milo Đukanović's speech was interrupted by the Democratic Front MPs, who chanted "Milo, you thief" (Milo, lopove), which was followed by a verbal clash and an attempt at physical altercation, which was prevented by other MPs and parliamentary security service.[12]

Alleged coup attempt[edit]

A group of 20 Serbian and Montenegrin citizens were arrested on 16 October, the day of the parliamentary election. Fourteen remain in custody (as of 12 November), including former head of Serbian Gendarmery Bratislav Dikić, and some that fought for the pro-Russian side in the War in Donbass. The Montenegrin prosecutor Milivoje Katnić initially stated that there was no evidence of Russian state involvement, but that two Russian nationalists organized the plot; in February 2017, Montenegrin officials accused the Russian authorities of being behind the coup plot, envisaging an attack on the country's parliament and assassination of Prime Minister Đukanović.[13][14]

Russian citizens in Serbia, monitoring Prime Minister Đukanović, had been supervised by the Special prosecution, which prevented them from realizing the plan. The Serbian authorities found €125,000 in cash and uniforms, and deported an unknown number of Russian citizens. At the same time, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić told that there had been increased activity by a number of different intelligence agencies, 'from both the East and the West', against Serbian interests, and that members of these agencies had been apprehended. The Montenegrin prosecutor said that the intention was to have 500 people enter Montenegro on election night to "cause violence", and hire assassin snipers to murder Prime Minister Đukanović – to stop Montenegro from entering NATO and prevent Russia from losing an ally in the Balkans. The Montenegrin opposition claims that the conspiracy was created to influence the outcome of the elections.[15][16]

Parliament boycott[edit]

Following the events which surrounded the latest parliamentary election, the entire opposition decided for a collective boycott of all parliamentary sittings. Currently 39 out of 81 MPs are boycotting the parliament, requesting new elections to be held no later than 2018, when the next presidential elections are scheduled.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ У Подгорици протест опозиције, демонстранти у шаторима
  2. ^ "OCCRP announces 2015 Organized Crime and Corruption ‘Person of the Year’ Award". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  3. ^ "Montenegro's fractious opposition takes to the streets". Deutsche Welle. 16 November 2015.
  4. ^ "The Balkans’ Corrupt Leaders are Playing NATO for a Fool". Foreign Policy. January 5, 2017.
  5. ^ "Montenegro invited to join NATO, a move sure to anger Russia, strain alliance’s standards". The Washington Times. December 1, 2015.
  6. ^ Протест опозиције у Подгорици
  7. ^ "Tear gas as thousands demand Montenegro PM quits". 
  8. ^ "Montenegro Police Throw Tear Gas on Protest". AP. 24 October 2015 – via The New York Times. 
  9. ^ Protest protiv NATO u Podgorici
  10. ^ Održan još jedan protest u Podgorici
  11. ^ a b Montenegro Parliament Set to Oust Speaker
  12. ^ Atmosfera u Crnoj Gori podseća na kraj Miloševićeve vlasti
  13. ^ Farmer, Ben (19 February 2017). "Russia plotted to overthrow Montenegro's government by assassinating Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic last year, according to senior Whitehall sources". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2017. 
  14. ^ "Kremlin rejects claims Russia had role in Montenegro coup plot". The Guardian. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017. 
  15. ^ "Slučaj "državni udar" i Đukanovićev "stari recept"". 
  16. ^ "Montenegrin prosecutor says Russian nationalists behind alleged coup plot". 

External links[edit]

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