Montenegro Opposition Seeks Parliament Speaker’s Dismissal Over Mladic Condolences

Saying “he had crossed a line”, Montenegro’s biggest opposition party is seeking the dismissal of parliamentary speaker Andrija Mandic after he expressed condolences on the death of genocide convict Ratko Mladic.

Parliament speaker Andrija Mandic addresses parliament in Podgorica, October 2023. Photo: EPA/BORIS PEJOVIC.

Montenegro’s main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Socialists, said on Monday it will seek the dismissal of parliamentary speaker Andrija Mandic over his decision to express condolences to the family of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime commander convicted of genocide and other war crimes.

Danijel Zivkovic, the leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, said the party would send an initiative to all parliamentary groups and independent lawmakers before formally submitting it to parliament.

Zivkovic said Mandic had crossed a line

Zivkovic said Mandic “had crossed a line that could no longer be ignored by expressing condolences following Mladic’s death”.

“For a long time we have been told that a distinction should be made between his personal political views and the office he holds, that we should show understanding for the stability of the government and that difficult issues should not be raised because of the European path,” Zivkovic told reporters in parliament.

“But there are moments when silence ceases to be political wisdom and becomes acquiescence. This is one of those moments,” he said.

Zivkovic said the initiative was not simply about

Zivkovic said the initiative was not simply about Mandic, but a test for the other lawmakers in the ruling majority.

“We are not asking them to support the DPS, change the government or change their political relationship with Andrija Mandic,” he said.

“We are asking only one question – can a man who, from the position of parliament speaker, expresses such an attitude toward a legally convicted war criminal and a man responsible for genocide have their confidence to represent the parliament of a country that wants to become the next member of the EU?”

The initiative comes amid renewed controversy and divisions in Montenegro following Mladic’s death.

Mandic, the leader of the ruling pro-Serb New

Mandic, the leader of the ruling pro-Serb New Serb Democracy party, said last week that he had sent condolences to Mladic’s son, Darko, “in his own name and in the name of New Serb Democracy”.

President Jakov Milatovic sharply criticised the move, saying that respect for Mladic’s family could not be used to play down war crimes.

His office said Mladic had been convicted of genocide in Srebrenica and other serious crimes by an international court and that this “must not be subject to political relativisation”.

Several other pro-Serb politicians also praised Mladic

Several other pro-Serb politicians also praised Mladic. Milan Knezevic, leader of the opposition Democratic People’s Party, posted a photograph of Mladic saying that “every Serbian household has one Ratko.”

The Serbian Orthodox Church’s Metropolitan Metodije of the Budimlje-Niksic Eparchy also praised Mladic, saying that Serbs had recognised in him “not only a great Serb and a man worthy of respect, but all the beautiful and holy qualities of the holy Serbian warriors and knights”.

Metodije said Mladic had “stoically” borne his conviction and that his death should serve as a lesson to Serbs not to abandon the path of their “holy ancestors”.

Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ervin

Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ervin Ibrahimovic, who leads the Bosniak Party, another coalition member, took a sharply different position, saying a convicted war criminal, “both alive and dead, deserves only contempt”.

The Bosniak Party later said Ibrahimovic had received death threats and calls for his expulsion from Montenegro, torture and violence on social media. It urged the police and National Security Agency to assess and strengthen security for Ibrahimovic and his family.

Islamic Community leader Rifat Fejzic said Montenegro “cannot move forward while some officials glorify Mladic”, urging the government to “decisively put its house in order”.

Human Rights Action, a prominent Montenegrin rights group,

Human Rights Action, a prominent Montenegrin rights group, meanwhile warned that there was no “military or human honour” in war crimes, and recalled that Montenegro’s criminal code punishes certain forms of public approval, denial or minimisation of genocide and war crimes established by final court judgments when they can incite violence or hatred.

Zivkovic said the DPS would proceed with the initiative regardless of whether it secures enough votes to remove Mandic, arguing that the vote itself would show where each lawmaker stands on the issue.

The positions of the Europe Now Movement and the Democrats, allies of Mandic’s party in the governing majority, are not yet known, but the motion is unlikely to pass in the 81-member parliament, as the three groups hold a majority even without the Bosniak Party.

If there are 41 votes for his dismissal,

“If there are 41 votes for his dismissal, Montenegro will say that, regardless of political differences, there are lines that must not be crossed,” he said. “If there are not, citizens will at least receive a clear answer about who considers preserving the majority more important than those lines.”

Political analyst Stefan Djukic told BIRN that a similar initiative had previously been launched over similar actions by the parliament’s speaker in 2014, but failed to result in his dismissal.

“I do not expect that to happen this time either,” Djukic said briefly.

The European Commission last Friday told Vijesti, responding to Mandic’s condolences to Mladic’s son, that “glorification of war criminals was contrary to fundamental European values and had no place either in the European Union or in candidate countries seeking membership.”

The Commission also recalled that Mladic was serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity and genocide in Srebrenica. “He was a war criminal,” the Commission said.

Source: balkaninsight.com