“A diplomat is a man who thinks twice before he says nothing” – a saying by famous statesman and British PM Winston Churchill.
Thus, not even Churchill himself would be able to resolve the political situation in Montenegro, professor Vladimir Goati told CdM. Therefore, he said, the international community should start mediation between prime minister Dusko Markovic and the opposition which is boycotting everything – the Parliament, the local elections in Niksic and possibly local elections in Herceg Novi.
For the time being, the international community officially takes part in the process only through appeals to the opposition to return to the Parliament, but the main area for action is in direct contacts with the government and with the opposition, which ordinary people do not have to know anything about.
According to Goati, the issue lies in the fact that there are no negotiations either on boycott, ie returning to the Parliament, or on local or general elections, but about some other topics that have burdened the Montenegrin society for a long time.
“The issues that cannot be resolved could be regulated by a compromise. If you do not make compromises, then conflicts appear on random issues, such as the one ‘shall we run in these or those elections’. But in fact, there is dissatisfaction on several real divisions in Montenegro – NATO, EU, relations with Russia and Serbia. No politician, no genius, not even Winston Churchill (whom I consider great statesman) could solve that in Montenegro unless he/she had the support from abroad. I can see room for the EU and the United States to play an essential role. International mediation is the only way to achieve that Montenegrin ruling coalition and the opposition to sit at the same table,” Goati said.
As he added, this means it does not matter anymore who is right.
“It is a polarisation that the ruling party must not underestimate. All of this is difficult to solve because those are conflicts that have not been ‘on the table’. It cannot be regulated in a conventional manner. Economic and political authority of the EU and the US will help to resolve it,” Goati said.
He added that the involvement of the international community is not a sign of political weakness either of the government or the opposition.
Prime minister Dusko Markovic left the door open for the opposition to join the government, which they refuse until the case of the attempted coup on 16 October 2016 is solved. The opposition, which lost the elections, believes that citizens did not vote freely on that day. Therefore, the opposition requires repeating general elections. The prime minister refuses that option.
