President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović has appointed Dritan Abazovic as Prime Minister of Monetegro and tasked him with forming a minority government.
Following a meeting with Abazovic on Thursday, March 3, Đukanović said that representatives of Abazovic’s party, Black on White (URA), had convinced him they have the support needed to establish a new government and a new parliament.
Abazovic is expected to establish a minority government with the participation of Albanian and Bosnian parties and the support of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Milo Djukanovic.
Abazovic is becoming Prime Minister after being a key figure in the toppling of Montenegro’s previous government. On February 5, the Montenegrin Parliament approved a motion of no confidence against the then ruling government of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic.
The voted had been set in motion by Abazovic’s URA, the smallest member of the coalition it voted to remove from office.
In August 2020, the Future of Montenegro (27 MPs), Peace is Our Nation (10 MPs) and Black on White (4 MPs) were able to topple Djukanovic’s party after a 3o-year rule. Abazovic’s Black and White agreed to join the coalition on the condition that the government would comprise a non-partisan cabinet of ministers, which was voted in parliament in December 2020.
However, disagreements started soon between Abazovic and the other pro-Serb coalition parties with regard to the appointment of ministers from their parties. In recent months, both the government and parliament were effectively unable to be productive as a result of internal disputes.
Abazovic intervened by setting in motion a no confidence motion against the government and the parliament speaker after receiving the opposition’s approval.
