November 27 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's prime minister-designate Zdravko Krivokapic proposed Dritan Abazovic, president of social-liberal party United Reform Action (URA), to serve as deputy prime minister in the new government that will be voted on by parliament on December 2, Krivokapic said on Friday.
The candidate for the position of minister of the interior will be Sergej Sekulovic, a lawyer of the Montenegrin non-governmental organisation Centre for Civil Liberties (CEGAS), while university professor Olivera Injac will be nominated for minister of defence, Krivokapic told a news conference broadcast live on the Facebook page of public broadcaster RTCG.
"This government is very competent, half of the government are doctors of science," Krivokapic said.
Earlier this month, Krivokapic proposed Djordje Radulovic, a second secretary of Montenegro's embassy to Romania, to serve as foreign minister; Milojko Spajic, a former credit analyst at Goldman Sachs and an activist defending the Serbian Orthodox Church during the clerical protests in Montenegro in December 2019, as finance minister; and Jakov Milatovic, a principal economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as economy minister.
Last month, Montenegro's president Milo Djukanovic nominated Krivokapic, leader of opposition coalition For the Future of Montenegro, as prime minister-designate. Krivokapic received in September the support of 41 of 81 members of parliament to form the country's next government. The nomination of Krivokapic was backed by 27 MPs from For the Future of Montenegro, the runner-up in the general election held in August, ten MPs from pro-European coalition Peace is Our Nation, and four MPs from URA party.
Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) won the election with a narrow margin ahead of For the Future of Montenegro. Based on 100% of the ballots counted, DPS led with 143,548 votes, or 35.06% of the ballots cast - its weakest election result since 1990.
DPS holds 30 mandates in the new parliament. For the Future of Montenegro coalition that comprises right-wing populist alliance Democratic Front, conservative alliance Popular Movement, and the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro, has 27 MPs. Peace is Our Nation has ten mandates in the new assembly, while URA has four MPs. Two other non-ethnic formations passed the threshold for entry into parliament -- the Social Democrats of Montenegro has 3 MPs, and the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro has two mandates.
Among ethnic minority parties, the Bosniak Party has three MPs, the Albanian List coaliton of New Democratic Force (Forca), the Albanian Alternative (AA), Albanian Coalition Perspective (AKP) and the Democratic League of Albanians, and the Albanian Coalition of the Democratic Party (DP) of former пayor of Ulcinj, Fatmir Gjeka, the Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) and the Democratic League in Montenegro (DSCG), have one mandate each.