BELGRADE (Reuters) – Montenegro’s opposition parties and one grouping in the ruling coalition jointly proposed a no-confidence motion on Wednesday in Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic’s Cabinet.
The small Adriatic country’s parliament must vote on the no-confidence motion by mid-February. To pass, it will require the support of at least 41 lawmakers in the 81-seat assembly.
The motion was signed by 31 deputies, including those of Black on White, a pro-European grouping in the ruling coalition, and of opposition parties including the Democratic Socialist Party of Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro’s long-serving president.
“The prime minister … has jeopardized cooperation between executive and legislative bodies and that … led to the institutional and political crisis,” said the motion, which was published on the parliament’s website.
The current coalition, comprising both pro-Serb and pro-European alliances, narrowly won a parliamentary election in 2020, ending the three-decade rule of Djukanovic’s Socialists. Djukanovic faces re-election next year.
Since its creation in December 2020, Krivokapic’s government has been beset by bickering between the coalition partners. He has resisted pressure from the coalition parties to replace his mostly technocrat ministers with politicians.
Montenegro, which has a population of only 680,000, is a NATO member and also aspires to join the European Union.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Gareth Jones)
