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DE RUEHPOD #0110/01 1171529
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271529Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1300
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 1389

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PODGORICA 000110 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MW
SUBJECT: COALITION DISPUTE CUTS SHORT NEW PARLIAMENT'S OPENING 
SESSION 
 
PODGORICA 00000110  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  The first session of Montenegro's new 
Parliament April 23 was quickly adjourned because the ruling 
coalition failed to agree on the Parliament's Deputy Speakers. 
Adding to the drama, the two largest opposition parties 
boycotted the playing of the national anthem which marked the 
opening of the session.  We expect the coalition partners will 
resolve the Deputy Speaker impasse soon, but the initial 
squabbling over electoral spoils does not bode well for 
coalition cohesion.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
New Parliament Opens, Quickly Closes 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) Montenegro's new Parliament, elected on March 29, 
convened for the first time on April 23.  The oldest and 
youngest MPs ceremonially co-chaired.  After the playing of the 
national anthem and a vote to set the agenda, the State Election 
Commission chair confirmed the results of the parliamentary 
election.  At this point, MPs were supposed to move on to the 
second agenda item - the election of the Speaker and Deputy 
Speakers - but the co-chairs called a ten-minute break.  As MPs 
milled about in the hallway, word circulated that the session 
had adjourned, with no information when it would resume. 
 
 
 
Coalition Squabbling To Blame 
 
----------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to both the press and our contacts, at issue 
is a dispute within the ruling coalition over the Deputy Speaker 
positions.  (Note:  The coalition consists of the leading 
Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS; which has 35 of the 
coalition's 48 MPs), long-time junior partner the Social 
Democratic Party (SDP; nine MPs), and the Bosniak Party (BS; 
three MPs) and Croat Civic Initiative (HGI; one MP). 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) While SDP leader Ranko Krivokapic is supposed to retain 
his Speaker position as part of the initial coalition agreement, 
his (currently two) deputies are up for grabs (and the DPS 
refused to vote for Krivokapic until the issue was settled).  In 
the last Parliament, the DPS and SDP each had one Deputy 
Speaker, but the coalition has expanded, and one Deputy slot 
should go to an opposition party (likely the Socialist People's 
Party (SNP)).  (Note:  The OSCE and EC recommended in 2006 that 
the opposition receive one Deputy Speaker, but the coalition 
refused to confirm a candidate from the Serbian List (SL) in the 
previous Parliament because of the SL's refusal to accept 
Montenegrin state symbols.) 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Currently, the coalition's three main parties all 
insist on a Deputy Speaker (and the Democratic Union of 
Albanians (DUA), a pro-GoM party, also has argued that one slot 
should go to an Albanian): 
 
 
 
--SDP: Krivokapic told the press on April 24 that the Deputy 
position was a matter of principle for his party.  "We are not 
asking for anything more than what we had," he said.  Asked 
about reports that the DPS was pressing the SDP to cede its slot 
to the Bosniak Party, SDP Deputy Head Ivan Brajovic told us 
April 22 that, since the DPS invited the Bosniaks into the 
coalition, "any concessions need to come from the DPS." 
 
 
 
--Krivokapic told the Ambassador on April 24 that the DPS move 
(to hold up his candidacy until the Deputy Speaker issue was 
worked out) had come as a last-minute surprise.  He added that 
there were no limits to the number of Deputy Speaker positions 
allowed, and he had no objection to increasing the number.  He 
said he would wait ten days or so before re-submitting his 
candidacy. 
 
 
 
--DPS: DPS Political Director Predrag Sekulic told us April 23 
that the DPS, as the strongest party in Montenegro, should 
 
PODGORICA 00000110  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
retain the Deputy Speaker.  (Note:  There is strong sentiment 
within the DPS that the SDP, which will receive 20 percent of 
all government positions despite low polling numbers, is getting 
far more than it deserves in both Parliament and Government.) 
Sekulic also told us the DPS felt no obligation to give its 
Deputy slot to the Bosniaks.  The DPS-BS agreement promised the 
latter thee MPs in Parliament and a Minister or two Deputy 
Ministers in the GoM.  "If they want the Deputy Speaker," he 
told us, "they will need to give up their Minister." 
 
 
 
--Bosniak Party: BS leader Rafet Husovic confirmed to us on 
April 22 the terms of the DPS-BS agreement, and noted that his 
party also would get five percent of all GoM positions. 
However, he said, it was important that one Deputy Speaker 
position went to a minority party, and as the largest minority 
grouping, his party was the logical recipient.  "In fact," he 
told us, "we will insist on it." (He added that the DPS and SDP 
needed to remember that many Bosniaks were against the party 
joining the coalition in the first place.) 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Several interlocutors mentioned (as Krivokapic had to 
the Ambassador) that one way out of the impasse was to expand 
the number of Deputy Speakers from two to three or even more. 
However, sentiment within the DPS is still running against 
giving anything to the SDP.  As DPS parliamentary whip Miodrag 
Vukovic told us April 23, "there should be three positions - for 
DPS, a minority party (either BS or the HGI), and the opposition 
- and no more." 
 
 
 
Opposition Boycotts Anthem 
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Adding to the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the 
Parliament's opening, the two largest opposition parties - the 
SNP and the New Serbian Democracy (NOVA) - boycotted the 
national anthem.  NOVA's move was not a surprise.  NOVA is the 
successor of the Serbian List, and while the new party has 
grudgingly accepted Montenegrin statehood, its Serb nationalist 
base continues to object to the country's symbols.  However, the 
SNP boycott was unexpected, and indicates that the civic party 
is still hobbled by Serbs who still comprise the majority of the 
party's supporters.  (Comment:  Pro-Serb parties are 
particularly neuralgic about the national anthem, which contains 
elements supposedly drafted by a WWII-era fascist collaborator. 
End Comment.) 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Krivokapic told the press after the session that the 
boycott made the coalition's job of choosing an opposition party 
to receive the Deputy position easier.  "Only those parties who 
respect the Constitution should hold the position," he said, 
noting the SDP now would support a candidate from the Movement 
for Change (PzP) or one of the opposition Albanian parties. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) We expect the dispute over the Deputy Speaker slots 
will be resolved soon (the press reported April 27 that the DPS 
and SDP would begin formal talks this week), and that Parliament 
could resume on May 5, after the May Day holiday.  However, it 
is not a good sign that the coalition - which campaigned on the 
promise of stability and an energetic response to the economic 
crisis - is off to such a disorganized and acrimonious start. 
It also indicates that this new iteration of the DPS-SDP 
coalition will not be immune to the squabbling that 
characterized the previous Parliament. 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The DPS-SDP talks, which presumably will be paralleled 
by DPS-BS meetings, also will discuss the composition of the new 
GoM, whose head (per the Constitution) must be named within 30 
days of the new Parliament's first session.  At this point, 
there have not been reports of significant disagreements over 
which party is getting which ministry.  DPS interlocutors tell 
 
PODGORICA 00000110  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
us that although names of ministers have not been decided (and 
some changes are inevitable), they expect Djukanovic to return 
as PM. 
MOORE