For Foreign Use

Whether the MP's from Montenegro will withdraw from the Federal Parliament is a mystery which has been presented as a Christmas gift by Svetozar Marovic, the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, on the local Radio Budva air waves. The announcement has spread throughout the world at the speed of light, yet has remained as inaccessible to the largest number of Montenegro citizens since state media showed no interest in it.

Svetozar Marovic has in the strongest possible way disassociated himself from the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, disputing his right to do what he is doing, especially challenging his wife with "her phantom organization, in the wake of which many problems in Serbia arrived". Marovic says that no correspondence should have been made with the OSCE but rather, in the sense of "you've asked for it", that report should have been accepted. On top of that, Marovic admits that fifteen days ago he believed that "our MP's should not take part in the workings of the Federal Parliament, until the situation in Belgrade is democratically resolved", which would "express non-confidence to all those who do not acknowledge the will of the people"... The Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament concluded that, in case a political solution is not found in Serbia in the nearest future, "Montenegro would have to seriously reconsider its future moves".

Therefore, what move can ensue? Shall the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) pull out its deputies from the Federal Parliament, its members from the federal government, will it definitely sever its coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and open up a process identical to the already witnessed Slovenian split, which had commenced the collapse of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia? We are left to guess at the activities of the Montenegrin government over the New Year's and Christmas holidays, especially in the eventual diplomatic contacts on which nothing has been officially announced.

On those activities guesses are being made here and there, there is talk of certain diplomatic contacts with the American administration, even of a certain American warning to Podgorica to take a clear stand with regards to the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. Along with those guesses, Podgorica has started to open up its media towards the occurrences in Serbia to inform of the dangers of a re-establishment of the complete sanctions, of how the new wave of inflation could be fatal for Montenegro and is threatening that their own currency could be introduced...There was a speculation of a possible meeting between a representative of the American administration and the leaders of the coalition Zajedno on Montenegrin territory even that such a proposal was made by the top political officials of Podgorica.

Marovic's statement that he thought they should not enter the Federal Parliament while the situation in Serbia is not resolved democratically speaks of the fact that different opinions had existed over that issue even in the ruling party, while various stories from "confidential sources" are gaining in strength that establishing a new orientation toward Milosevic is bringing about cracks in Montenegrin top circles.

The day following the statement made by Svetozar Marovic, a statement of Ratko Knezevic, the head of the Montenegrin trade mission in America and personal advisor of the Prime Minister Djukanovic, was made public which revealed that Djukanovic has been invited to attend Clinton's inauguration and is preparing for Djukanovic's future visit to America in February. Knezevic also expressed his belief that Milosevic is in an American clinch, and that Serbia shall, in case Milosevic does not prove to be cooperative, be absolutely diplomatically isolated from the USA and the European Union, and that a hypothetical possibility exists that Montenegro could evade such a fate.

None of the collocutors wish to declare whether the present pressure on Milosevic could be concluded by DPS's withdrawal from the joint state. In such predictions Dr. Nebojsa Vucinic, professor of the School of Law in Podgorica, does not wish to dwell either on who says for VREME that Marovic's statement is aimed toward protecting the existential and fundamental vital interest of Montenegro, that withdrawing their MP's in a certain sense means disputing the legitimacy of the federal state. However, the word out concerns measures of political pressure which would lead to a recognition of the results of the local elections in Serbia.

In name of the coalition Zajedno Vuk Draskovic has asked the Montenegrin government to withdraw from parliament and to help resolve the situation in a decisive manner.

The Montenegrin government is obviously buried beneath requests and demands to do something, which taking into account their constitutional position in the federal state, they could. The question however remains of whether it still can and wishes to. It has been faced with accusations that by their conduct they are only providing Milosevic with more time. In that sense, Zarko Rakcevic, president of SDP, evaluates Marovic's statement and says: "DPS is consistent in its inconsistency. In the spirit of their already traditional policies, DPS shall -following this statement made by Mr. Marovic- offer a new one, which shall mean an oath to a modern federation and a gush of loyalty to the great leader."