A Strike From The North

Is this possible, after all the bitter words and insults exchanged in the election campaign and the recent trials of Kilibarda and Perovic? Time will tell whether the confronted officials made some kind of a deal or simply exchanged views and opinions. It is certain at this time that opposition leaders can’t help Djukanovic and Marovic in their plot to impede President Momir Bulatovic’s sudden election campaign. By starting a self-initiated election campaign, Bulatovic created yet another rift within his ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). With the intention of inspiring hatred for Djukanovic in Montenegro’s north, namely in Pljevlja, Berane and Bijelo Polje, Bulatovic accused the Prime Minister of pursuing a policy aimed at seceding Montenegro from Serbia and accused his government of engineering the development of the republic’s south at the expense of its north.

During Bulatovic’s tour of the north, Djukanovic and Marovic called a session of the DPS executive board which released a statement to the effect that the President had broken the rules, and that he was therefore no longer entitled to appear in public as the party’s presidential candidate. Bulatovic was told that he wasn’t the only candidate anyway, and that the party’s main board would have the final say. Vreme’s sources say that things didn’t go too well for Bulatovic in Pljevlja either. A DPS deputy, Ljubica Beba Dzakovic, allegedly put forward a proposal that Bulatovic should run as a presidential candidate in the elections, no one had any objections to the alleged proposal, and that was it. Some deputies later said they were quite confused and that Bulatovic’s candidacy was forced.

The same script was in store for Bijelo Polje, except that the proposal on Bulatovic’s candidacy was responded to with proposals for Marovic and Djukanovic as well. The chairman of the DPS Bijelo Polje board had no choice but to declare that the party’s agenda has to be respected. While Bulatovic was on his way to Berane, the DPS executive board held an urgent session (Bulatovic didn’t show up because he knew he would be the talking point) and told the President to come without his "tutors", more precisely the working group to be appointed by the party’s leadership. Bulatovic’s "representative" in this body, Zoran Zizic, tried to convince the others that the President never intended to cause any political damage with his campaign in Pljevlja and Berane, but abandoned the session when he realized that no one was prepared to believe him.

The pre-election convention in Berane followed. In order to avoid undesired consequences, Bulatovic called an extended DPS session. The end result was that there were more DPS supporters than party members in the hall. He spoke about Yugoslavia as a solution with no alternative, he mentioned the "robbers from down south", and got his candidacy. In order to foil other candidates, the chairman called for a vote on Bulatovic’s candidacy only when the deputies were getting ready to leave.

Djukanovic’s and Marovic’s supporters in Niksic and Cetinje sent a quick reply. DPS Vice-President Milica Djurisic-Dejanovic subsequently called the chairmen of DPS municipal boards and told them what the executive board had decided. "What are we supposed to do if Bulatovic, Marovic and Djukanovic all show up at future sessions and start fighting," some of them asked . Bulatovic then called Djukanovic and Marovic to talk things over, but no agreement was reached during a two-hour sesssion. On the contrary, they went their own ways even more angry.