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48 I Southeast Europe bne December 2021
reform work: “The lack of constructive engagement of all parliamentary
actors prevented a meaningful political dialogue, further polarising the political landscape. The boycott of plenary sessions by a majority of MPs from the opposition and the ruling majority caused a suspension of decision-
making in parliament in 2021.” Further criticisms concern the lack of progress in reforming the judiciary, and while there has been some improvement in the fight
EU integration is apparent across the region, where politicians have seen their hopes of speedy progress towards accession dashed.
“[T]he greatest impediment to Montenegro joining the EU emanates from within the bloc,” says Morrison. “Montenegro still has significant challenges to overcome, but they are not insurmountable. However, the reality
is that there is little or no appetite from
government], and as such their political capital, agenda and accountability is very elusive. They started enacting policies that were not necessarily reflective of anyone in the ruling coalition.”
Over time, says Vukovic, “appetites grew” and the Democratic Front in particular saw “some of their priorities were not really reflected in the way
the government was operating”. Today, he says, it has got to the point there
the party is “providing an active resistance to the government”. At the same time, the political ambitions of the technocrats currently in power are growing, creating a new political force that could form their own party to run in the next general election.
DPS waits for its chance
Throughout the last year, the DPS and Djukanovic have clearly been hoping for – and encouraging – the disintegration of the ruling coalition, which would allow the former ruling party to make
a comeback. The distribution of seats in the parliament is so close that only one MP would need to switch sides for the government to fall.
Moreover, as Morrison points out, “the DPS, though now in opposition and seemingly unable to reform, was a ‘state party’ that had ruled Montenegro, in one form or another, for three decades. They created a system in which party members or loyalists were deeply embedded into state institutions
and many that remain in post are, inevitably, resistant to any changes proposed by the new government. The DPS were not simply a government; they had established a system of power and control that could not be easily dismantled simply because the party lost the August 2020 elections.”
The closest the DPS came to achieving this was when Krivokapic moved to sack the country’s then justice minister Vladimir Leposavic in June over his denial of the Srebrenica genocide
in Bosnia & Herzegovina. As the Democratic Front refused to back Krivokapic, Leposavic was dismissed in a parliament vote with the support of
“There have also been well published efforts to tackle organised crime, including the seizure of the largest haul of cocaine ever found in the country"
against organised crime, the country has made just limited progress in the fight against corruption, which ” remains prevalent in many areas and an issue
of concern”.
Despite the shortcomings of Djukanovic and the DPS, particularly on the issue of corruption, the president and his party had long been committed to pursuing EU accession. By contrast, some of the members of the new ruling coalition are more ambiguous on this ambition, favouring close relations with Serbia and Russia.
“The pan-European reformist agenda that would move the county closer to EU integration has at best stalled, at worst reversed,” comments Vukovic.
“I have seen some very troubling reactions from various European officials over the past 10 months, especially in recent months. The progress report pointed out point blank that progress towards the EU has been halted, no meaningful process has been made
and there are troubling signals that the country lacks ability and appetite to pursue those types of reforms.”
Responsibility for the slowdown in progress cannot, however, be entirely cast onto the new government in Podgorica, as waning enthusiasm for
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within the EU for further expansion,
at least not any time soon ... there
is a growing perception that the EU accession process is, at least for now, stalled. Recent reports that there simply is no consensus within the EU regarding the accession of the ‘Western Balkan Six’ have only added to the pre-existing scepticism.”
Democratic Front's appetite grows
The biggest division within the ruling coalition doesn’t concern policy, but the composition of the cabinet. While the parties behind it initially agreed on a government of technocrats, the Democratic Front in particular is now unhappy with that, and has been pushing aggressively for a reshuffle that would allocate ministries to its leaders. As Taylor points out, “in
a Balkan-style government it’s always a good thing to have a ministry”.
The Democratic Front thus “wanted a reshuffle to get rid of the technocrats and have their own people in various portfolios”.
Meanwhile, with the ruling coalition members failing to find agreement on
a common strategy in many areas, the policies that got backing were “largely random”, says Vukovic. "The people who were given ministerial roles were never politically active [before joining the