VZCZCXRO9901
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPOD #0148/01 1671708
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161708Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1357
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 1446

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000148 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MW
SUBJECT: MEET THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND MINISTERS 
 
REF: A) PODGORICA 143; B) PODGORICA 68; C) PODGORICA 32 
 
PODGORICA 00000148  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Parliament confirmed the new Government of Montenegro 
(GoM) on June 11.  Milo Djukanovic, designated Prime Minister 
for the sixth time, promised a "government of continuity."  The 
new GoM consequently contains mostly holdovers from the previous 
government.  Ref A described changes in the new government's 
structure; this cable lists names and portfolios of all the 
ministers, along with key biographic data on the new ministers. 
 
 
 
 
Meet The New Cabinet 
 
-------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) The following is the list of all 21 Cabinet members (in 
the order presented in the MFA's note to all diplomatic 
missions).  Party affiliations - Democratic Party of Socialists 
(DPS), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Bosniak Party (BS), and 
Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) - are in parentheses: 
 
 
 
--Prime Minister:  Milo Djukanovic (DPS); 
 
--Deputy Prime Minister for International Economic Cooperation, 
Structural Reforms, and Business Environment Improvement (and 
Minister of Finance):  Igor Luksic (DPS); 
 
--Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs (and Internal and 
International Policy):  Svetozar Marovic (DPS); 
 
--Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Policy (and 
Minister of Information Technology):  Vujica Lazovic (SDP); 
 
--Minister of Foreign Affairs:  Milan Rocen (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Justice:  Miras Radovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Defense:  Boro Vucinic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Administration:  Ivan 
Brajovic (SDP); 
 
--Minister for European Integration:  Gordana Djurovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister for Human and Minority Rights:  Ferhat Dinosa (DUA); 
 
--Minister of Education and Science:  Sreten Skuletic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Health:  Miodrag Radunovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Labor and Social Welfare:  Suad Numanovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection: 
Branimir Gvozdenovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Economy:  Branko Vujovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and 
Telecommunications:  Andrija Lompar (SDP); 
 
--Minister of Tourism:  Predrag Nenezic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management: 
Milutin Simovic (DPS); 
 
--Minister of Culture, Sports, and Media:  Branislav Micunovic 
(DPS); 
 
--Minister without Portfolio:  Rafet Husovic (BS); 
 
--Minister without Portfolio:  Slavoljub Stijepovic (DPS). 
 
 
 
Meet The New Ministers 
 
---------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Cabinet contains six "newcomers," most of whom are 
familiar faces on the Montenegrin political scene.  Biographic 
information on Ivan Brajovic, new Minister of Interior, and 
Svetozar Marovic, the new DPM for Political Affairs, can be 
found in Refs B and C, respectively.  (Note:  Refs B and C also 
contain bios of holdover DPS and SDP ministers).  Below are 
biographic sketches of the remaining four new ministers: 
 
PODGORICA 00000148  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
 
--Ferhat Dinosa, Minister for Human and Minority Rights.  Dinosa 
is one of the founders of the Democratic Union of Albanians 
(DUA), which, although formally not a member of the ruling 
coalition, has participated in each GoM since 1997.  Before 
entering the government himself, Dinosa served five consecutive 
terms in the Parliament from 1996 until 2008.  Dinosa was born 
on February 13, 1954 (in a district of Podgorica also called 
"Dinosa") and graduated from the School of English Language and 
Literature in Pristina, Kosovo.  Before entering politics, he 
worked as a journalist for the Kosovo journal "Rilindija" and 
then for Radio Titograd (the former name of Podgorica).  Dinosa 
also taught university English and is a founding member of the 
Montenegro Helsinki Committee.  In addition to Montenegrin and 
Albanian languages, he speaks fluent English.  He is married and 
has three children. 
 
 
 
--Branko Vujovic, Minister of Economy.  Born in Cetinje on 
September 9, 1951, Vujovic comes to his new job from the Agency 
for Economic Restructuring and Foreign Investment, which he has 
headed since 1998.  He also is a member of the National 
Privatization Council, and was Montenegrin Minister of Trade in 
¶1997.  Vujovic has a degree in mechanical engineering, and 
worked as an engineer and general manager for the home appliance 
manufacturer "Obod" from 1977 until 1997.  Vujovic is reputed to 
be a strong Djukanovic loyalist.  He is married and has two 
sons.  He does not speak English.  In 2006, the Chief State 
Prosecutor indicted Vujovic on charges of violating tender 
procedures during the privatization of the national oil company 
"Jugopetrol."  Specifically, Vujovic was accused of hiring 
foreign privatization advisors (for extremely large salaries) 
without publicly advertising the positions.  The Podgorica High 
Court acquitted Vujovic of the charges in April 2008. 
 
 
 
--Rafet Husovic, Minister without Portfolio (Note:  Husovic's 
responsibilities have not yet been defined.)  Husovic is 
President of the Bosniak Party, which he helped found in 2006, 
and which is a member of the ruling coalition.  Born April 2, 
1964 in Rozaje (northern Montenegro), Husovic graduated from the 
mathematics department of the University of Natural Sciences in 
Pristina.  He was a member of the Main Board of the Party of 
Democratic Action (1992-1997), and of the Main Board of the 
International Democratic Union (1997-2002).  He served two terms 
as a councilor in the municipal assembly of Rozaje, and was a 
member of the Bosniak National Council of Sandzak (2002-2004) 
and of the Bosniak National Council of the State Union of Serbia 
and Montenegro (2004-2006).  Husovic is married and has four 
children.  His official CV says that he speaks English, but he 
declined to speak English in several meetings with Embassy 
officers. 
 
 
 
--Slavoljub Stijepovic, Minister Without Portfolio (Note: 
Stijepovic's responsibilities have not yet been defined). 
Stijepovic was born on May 2, 1959 in Podgorica, and graduated 
in law from the University of Podgorica.  He joined the DPS 
early in his career, and after a stint as Legal Advisor for the 
construction firm "Provborac" in Herceg Novi, he has been 
Assistant Minister of Labor and Social Welfare (1991-1996), 
Minister without Portfolio (1996-1998), Minister of Sports 
(1998-2001), Minister of Labor and Social Welfare (2003-2006), 
and Deputy Speaker of Parliament (2006-2009).  (He was known for 
his brusque manners in the last position.)  Stijepovic has also 
been President of the Montenegrin Football Association and 
Chairman of the Podgorica Fund for Physical Culture.  He is 
married and has two children. 
MOORE