Montenegro Front Rejects Election Deal With SNP

Miodrag Lekic, chair of the Democratic Front, sent his rejection letter to Srdjan Milic, leader of Socialist People’s Party, SNP, on Sunday, in response to the SNP’s offer to form a coalition.

On August 6, Milic suggested that the SNP and the Democratic Front should sign a coalition agreement by which his party would gain 40 out of 81 possible seats in the country's parliament.

Early general elections in the Adriatic republic have been called for October 14.

After the front stated that they cannot discuss the distribution of mandates yet, since the front hasn’t been formed competely, the SNP slightly changed its offer and agreed to renounce some mandates to allow more independent intellectuals join the front.

But Lekic wrote on Sunday that it would be inappropriate to make a separate coalition with the SNP.

If the front signed a separate agreement with the SNP, it would become a disfunctional political subject, which would undermine its political mission to democratically transform society, Lekic added.

Now that these negotiations have failed, the SNP will probably run in the elections independently, experts say.

Montenegro’s former foreign minister repeated, however, that the SNP could still effectively contribute to the unity of the opposition.

The Democratic Front was formed at the beginning of July with the aim of replacing the government, which has been led by the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, for more than 20 years.

Two opposition parties, New Serbian Democracy, NOVA, and the Movement for Changes, PzP, have participated in the front since its formation.

A number of university professors, and pensioner, student and trade union leaders who have played an active role in the Podgorica civic protests for over the year, have also joined the new force.