February 7 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's coalition government led by prime minister Zdravko Krivokapic collapsed late on Friday after losing a no-confidence vote filed by a coalition partner over stalled EU accession process and the influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro's domestic affairs.
A total of 43 MPs in Montenegro's 81-seat Parliament supported the no-confidence motion and 11 voted against, a video file posted on the YouTube channel of the Parliament showed.
The censure motion was backed by MPs from the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS), the Social Democrats of Montenegro, the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (SDP), Albanian and Bosniak ethnic minority parties, as well as the social-liberal United Reform Action (URA) party which filed the motion.
MPs from Democratic Montenegro, True Montenegro and United Montenegro voted against the motion, while representatives of the Democratic Front (DF), Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP) and Movement for Changes (PzP) abstained from voting.
The motion was filed on January 19 by deputy prime minister Dritan Abazovic, the leader of URA.
According to local media reports, a minority government composed of experts and members of URA and minority parties will be formed in the coming days. The new government is expected to be backed by all opposition parties, including DPS - the party of Montenegro's president and former prime minister Milo Djukanovic.
Montenegro's parliament endorsed in December 2020 the government of Krivokapic, backed by 27 MPs from For the Future of Montenegro coalition, comprising DF and United Montenegro, ten MPs from pro-European coalition Peace is Our Nation, led by Democratic Montenegro, and four MPs from URA party.