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FRY

Roksanda Nincic analyzes for the Belgrade weekly "Vreme" in the September 19, 1998 issue, the current restructuring of the FRY federal government and whether this could change the inherent crisis in the relations of the two republics that constitute this state.

No matter what kind of restructuring the federal prime minister Momir Bulatovic applies, if he ever does this, it is quite probable that this will not influence the crisis in relations between Montenegro and Serbia, nor end that paralysis in the functioning of the federal state.

Bultovic’s permanent reconstruction has been so far reduced to unconstitutional ejection of Montenegrin ministers deputies, assistants and other officials close to the ruling Democratic party of Socialists of Milo Djukanovic from the government. The move that follows, as he has been announcing from the beginning, is to incorporate into the government (where currently the ministerial posts are held by the representatives of the Serbian Socialist Party, Yugoslav Left and Buloatvic’s Socialist National Party) representatives of the Serbian Radical Party and Serbian Renewal Movement.

What would be the meaning, in a political sense, of including the Radicals and SPO in the Federal government, since Montenegro will continue to disregard any government which is headed by Momir Bulatovic ?

The leaders of the SRS, SPO, as well as Bulatovic’s SNP, are of the opinion that the restructured Federal government should have such a number of ministerial seats for each party, as to correspond to the strength of these parties in the (illegitimate) Federal parliament. Even if Bulatovic, abiding to such a concept, offers some positions to the winning coalition of the Montenegrin May elections - this offer will not be accepted.

For the Montenegrin authorities, the restructuring of the Federal government means something entirely different: that they receive the position of the federal prime minister and the possibility to form the Federal government. The deduce this right from the constitutional principle that, when the president of the state comes from Serbia, the prime minister must be from Montenegro, and since the coalition "Da zivimo bolje" won the elections there, it is prerogative to propose the federal prime minister.

It seems that at this moment, the president of the FRY (Slobodan Milosevic) is not willing to accept something like that. When Montenegrin president Milo Djukanovic delivered his four conditions for the functioning of the federal government (verification of the mandates of the new Montenegrin delegation in the Upper house of the Parliament; the election of a new federal government, in which the DPS would hold the post of the prime minister, while the ministerial post would be equitably divided between Serbia and Montenegro; the return of constitutional prerogatives to all federal institutions, first of all to the Federal Constitutional Court and Federal Prosecutor, which mostly deal in politics instead of law now), Milosevic only listened to him and did not comment at all.

Miodrag Vukovic, an advisor of the Montenegrin president says that the mandates of the twenty delegates of Montenegro in the House of the Republics (Upper House) of the Federal parliament have not been verified, even though this is a technical matter, since the Parliaments of the republics elect their representatives to this House.Vukovic calls upon the forthcoming decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, which should soon decide whether the decision of the Montenegrin parliament to appoint only MP’s of the ruling coalition is constitutional.

Momir Bulatovic and his aides constantly mention this forthcoming decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the legality of the new Montenegrin delegation in the Upper house, stating that the authorities in this Republic will have to respect it. On the contrary, it will completely bare its separatistic intentions.

The game is as follows: if all the representatives in the Montenegrin delegation are Djukanovic’s people, they will vote in the same manner concerning the essential questions dealing with the status of Montenegro in the Federation. Since in this House - which exists to secure the equality of the republics within the Federation - Serbian and Montenegrin delegations have the same number of representatives, this means that Serbia would not be able to overrule Montenegro.

Distancing of Montenegro from FRY is quite visible in the last few months. They have decided that the Montenegrin government communicates with the Federal one only at the level of lower officials. They have have taken foreign trade into their own hands, dissatisfied with the decision which banned imports form Slovenia. Since the Federal government did not pay 416 million Dinars for its pensioners, the Montenegrins stopped paying money to the Federal budget.

The stories of its own currency have been reactivated. A possibility of a referendum on the status of Montenegro within the Federation is also mentioned.

Source: Belgrade weekly "Vreme," September 19, 1998

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