Montenegrin Opposition Seeks Constitution Changes, Without Albanian Input

15 08 2007 Podgorica, Montenegrin: Opposition parties agreed on Wednesday to prepare a common platform for changes they want to the draft of the new country’s first constitution, however there was no representation or input from the four Albanian parliamentary representatives.

The attending representatives of four opposition parties agreed at a meeting in Podgorica to prepare a the text of their platform in next few days.

“We agreed on a remarkable number of questions regarding the new constitution that are disputable for us, but supported by the parliament majority,” Velizar Kaludjerovic, the coordinator for opposition activities on the new constitution, told journalists.

The opposition’s main objections to the draft constitution include the current language on citizenship and the relationship of parliament to the executive powers.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of Movement for Changes (Pokret za Promjene, or PzP), Socialist People’s Party, People’s Party and Serbian List. Another meeting of opposition parties is planned after the platform is prepared, Kaludjerovic said.

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Albanian reps in Montenegro have been absent from these forums and have failed to impress upon parliament that as a significant minority in the country their rights should be on a level with the rights of the Montenegrins, the majority ethnic group.

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At a minimum, the new wording of the Constitution should not use the terms ‘Montenegrin people’, ‘nationalities’, and ‘minorities’, but rather speaks of ‘majority population’, ‘communities’ and ‘communities not in the majority’; provide for a stronger participation of members of the minorities in public institutions, as ‘equitable representation’ should now becomes a constitutional principle; the Orthodox Church should be mentioned on an equal footing with the Islamic Community, the Catholic Church and other denominations; the government will henceforth have to provide university education for language communities which speak another official language than Montenegrin; particular attention to the principles of non-discrimination and equitable representation of communities in public bodies at all levels and in other areas of public life, and a clearer depiction on the law of local self-government and its applicability and review of Tuz. These are constitutional rights that need to be guaranteed/protected prior to any concessions or final vote. But without a true Albanian voice in parliament, these issues will wither away and never be realized.

External monitoring, support and occasionally intervention is crucial for the realization of
the constitutional planned reforms because without them, nothing will come to fruitition. In the interim, Albanian parties should boycott parliament sessions as long as the Montenegrin parties refute these demands (the boycott of parliament should be used as one of the Albanian parties’ preferred tactics when they were faced with votes in parliament they can not win).

After ten months of discussion on the new constitution, the Constitutional Commission of the Montenegrin Parliament adopted a draft two weeks ago without opposition representatives.
The constitution can be adopted either by the support of a two-thirds majority voting in parliament or by the approval of voters in a national referendum.