Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic has failed to sack his deputy Dritan Abazovic after not enough members of parliament supported his proposal for a plenary vote.
On Thursday, only 20 out of 81 MPs voted for the parliament agenda to include a vote on Abazavic’s sacking.
Krivokapic’s proposal followed Abazovic’s motion of no confidence against the former’s government which will be voted on Friday, February 4.
Abazovic is the junior ally of the ruling majority in Montenegro. His party’s four votes were crucial to Kriptokapic forming a government in December 2020, barely reaching the 41-vote threshold required for a majority in the 81-seat parliament.
The remaining two coalition parties hold 27 and 10 votes each, while the largest party in Parliament still remains that of Milo Djukanovic, the former president, with 30 seats.
Issues occurred within the ruling coalition after its two largest parties disagreed on whether to replace technocrat ministers with party politicians. Kriptokapic’s refusal to do so resulted in a stalemate that froze government operations.
Abazovic, the smallest member of the ruling coalition, moved in with a motion of no confidence seeking to remove Krivokapic’s cabinet and open the way for a minority government led by himself that would lead the country to early elections. The opposition have voiced their support for Abazovic’s proposal.
The rest of the ruling allies decried the move and Kriptokapic asked for an extraordinary parliament session to remove Abazovic.
After today’s vote, Abazovic told journalists that he expected the support of at least 49 MPs for his future government, which will be tasked with organizing the early general elections.
