An expert for transitional solutions

This consent was verified with the support of all parliamentary parties with the exception of DEPOS. Special emphasis is given to the support, albeit conditional, of Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, who underscored that he "would look at Kontic's program," which is supposed to mean that the new prime minister's tenure will last as long as Seselj decides.

Radoje Kontic was born in Niksic in 1937, and is of Montenegrin nationality. He graduated from the Faculty of Technology and holds a doctorate in technological sciences. He started his career at the Niksic steelworks, reaching the post of assistant director for technological and commercial affairs, when he left in 1978 to take up a post with the Federal Executive Council. From 1984 he was vice-premier of the Montenegrin Executive Council, and in 1986, once again became a member of the Federal Executive Council. After the January upset in Montenegro, he was elected Montenegrin Premier and held this post until the first multi-party elections in Montenegro when Milo Djukanovic took over the office. Kontic was then chosen chairman of the Montenegrin delegation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Assembly, and since July 14, 1992 has been vice-premier of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia government.

With three federal and two republican governments behind him, it is expected that Kontic will find a way out of the Yugoslav crisis. As Montenegro's premier he tried to do so shortly towards the end of his term in office when he presented a "program of 14 separate parts for accelerating social and economic reforms" in the Montenegrin Assembly, as an alternative to the program of Ante Markovic who was Federal Premier then. Montenegrin economist Bozo Kovac said at the time: "What is right has been rewritten, what is original, is wrong." The program did not have a chance of taking off, and it remains to be seen if Kontic will come up with it now.

Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) General Secretary Svetozar Marovic said: "To our knowledge and belief, Kontic is a guarantee that Montenegro will play a representative role as regards the support and affirmation of a policy of reason for which the DPS has been specially interested in, in the last few months, and which it particularly wished to uphold at the federal level." The ruling DPS leadership does not hide its satisfaction over the fact that with the acceptance of Kontic's candidacy, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constitution has been respected. Under the constitution, if the post of President of the Federal Republic is held by a candidate from Serbia, then the Prime Minister must be from Montenegro.

Kontic is on the draw now. In Montenegro he won the reputation of an "expert for transitional solutions," a man who had managed leave drastically different governments without moral and political bitterness. It is thankless to forecast if he will continue in this manner, or the duration of his mandate.