Montenegro government loses no-confidence vote

Legislators vote 50-1 towards PM Abazovic’s authorities weeks after he signed pact regulating place of Serbian Church.

A no-confidence movement has been handed by Montenegro’s parliament, following a rift over a long-disputed deal regulating ties with the highly effective Serbian Orthodox Church.

The movement, which paves the best way for the tip of the present authorities and the start of a brand new spherical of political upheaval within the Adriatic nation, handed shortly after midnight on Saturday (22:00 GMT on Friday) with 50 votes.

Just one legislator voted towards it, whereas the remainder of the 81-seat parliament’s members boycotted the measure.

“We’d like an election and a steady authorities,” mentioned parliamentarian Danijel Zivkovic, who filed the movement and triggered the arrogance vote.

The movement got here simply months after a no-confidence vote in February ended the rule of one other coalition authorities.

It was not instantly clear whether or not the autumn of the federal government would result in snap parliamentary elections or if the events would attempt to type a brand new governing coalition.

Political tensions have been smouldering in Montenegro for weeks after the federal government signed a controversial new settlement with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).

The settlement lined a spread of points, together with measures to supply a regulatory framework for the lots of of properties – together with church buildings and monasteries – owned by the SPC.

The nation’s prime minister, Dritan Abazovic, hailed the deal, saying the settlement would hopefully easy over relations between divisive teams inside the nation, notably pro-Serbia and pro-Western events.

Felony teams sponsoring some political events had been behind the no-confidence movement with a purpose to forestall his authorities’s anti-corruption marketing campaign, Abazovic mentioned after the vote.

“This nation will probably be dominated both by criminals or by residents,” he mentioned. “And I’m sorry … that organised crime in Montenegro nonetheless makes use of its tentacles to control political relations.”

“I’m very pleased with every thing we have now accomplished in 100 days,” Abazovic added. “We will probably be remembered as the federal government that lasted the shortest however which made probably the most troublesome selections.”

Flashpoint non secular points

The SPC is the dominant non secular establishment within the state, however opponents accuse it of serving neighbouring Serbia’s pursuits.

The problem is delicate for a lot of within the Balkan nation of 620,000 folks that break up from Serbia in 2006. Nonetheless, a 3rd of the inhabitants establish as Serbs and a few deny Montenegro ought to be a separate entity.

President Milo Djukanovic has lengthy been a fierce opponent of the SPC, and has been accused of eager to nationalise the church’s properties.

For weeks, Djukanovic – who’s at present within the opposition – has used the accord as a cudgel to destabilise the federal government and push for early elections.

Non secular points have been a perennial flashpoint in Montenegro, with previous governments toppled over disputes involving the SPC.

The nation has lengthy witnessed fights over identification, together with final 12 months when protesters calling themselves “Montenegrin patriots” tried to stop the inauguration of a brand new SPC chief in Montenegro.

Djukanovic, the architect of  independence, has been wanting to curb the SPC’s clout in Montenegro and cement a separate nationwide identification, together with its personal impartial Orthodox church.

Political bickering in Montenegro has blocked progress in the direction of integration into the European Union. Montenegro in 2017 defied its former ally Russia to turn out to be a member of NATO.