Montenegro, extraordinary elections are announced, the parliamentary majority requests the intervention of the Constitutional Court

The President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, announced on Friday the extraordinary parliamentary elections for June 11 of this year.

The decision comes a day after Djukanovic, citing the constitution, issued a decree to dissolve parliament.

Mr. Djukanovic took the decision after the current parliamentary majority failed to form a new government or rebuild the existing government of Dritan Abazovic, which lost a vote of confidence in August last year.

Mr. Djukanovic said at the press conference that “everyone is aware of the deep crisis caused by the irresponsibility of the current political majority”.

The parliamentary majority consists of the pro-Serb Democratic Front, the Democrats and the Civic Movement, which in the August 2020 elections sent Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists into opposition after more than three decades in power.

Responding to Mr. Djukanovic’s decision to dissolve the parliament, the deputies of the parliamentary majority submitted a request to the Constitutional Court for the constitutionality of this decision.

Until then, they are asking the Court to order a stay of all actions arising from the dissolution decree.

The parliamentary majority assessed that Djukanovic’s decree represented “a form of classical individual arbitrariness”.

Even Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, whose government did not receive a vote of confidence in August, believes that Djukanovic’s decision is unconstitutional.

“I call on the MPs to take the matter of shortening their mandate into their own hands”, Abazovic said at today’s press conference and called on the Constitutional Court to react.

Both decisions were taken by Mr. Djukanovic two days before the presidential elections on Sunday, March 19, in which he is the candidate of the Democratic Party of Socialists.

After the vote of no confidence in Mr. Abazovic’s government, the Democratic Front, the largest party in the ruling coalition, which is known for its pro-Russian and pro-Serbian stances, nominated its candidate, Miograd Lekic, for prime minister. President Djukanovic opposed this candidacy and proposed new elections.

This prompted the parliament to amend the Law on the President, removing some of his powers, to enable the election of the prime minister by the parliament, without the need for approval from the president. The Venice Commission criticized the law as violating the Constitution.

The international factor has continuously expressed concern about the prolonged political crisis in the country, the blocking of institutions, the increasing polarization of society and the inability of the authorities to find a way out of the crisis.