PODGORICA, Montenegro, 13 October 2007 -- After months of negotiations, the ruling coalition reached a deal with part of the opposition on the country's new constitution, opening the way for its adoption by a 2/3 majority in parliament.
Svetozar Marovic, vice president of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), and Nebojsa Medojevic, leader of the opposition Movement for Changes (PzP), announced late on Tuesday (9 October) that a coalition of the DPS and the Social Democratic Party will be backed by the PzP, the Albanian Alternative Party (Sinishtaj) and the Bosniak Party.
The stragedy to seal the Albanian vote in support of the new constitution was spearheaded to include a deal that would "guarantee" Albanians (in Malesia) a full municipality within 6 months of implementation.
The official language in Montenegro will be Montenegrin, with Serbian, Bosniak, Albanian and Croatian in official use. This is the result of an agreement reached by the Montenegrin authorities and opposition parties, as they negotiated the country's new constitution.
It was agreed that the constitution defines Montenegro as a civic state, but that all the nations who live in Montenegro will be individually named in the preamble of the future top legal act.
In regard to the contentious issue of dual citizenship it was proposed that the constitution determines that all those who had dual citizenship on the day of the declaration of independence of Montenegro, June 3, 2006, keep their citizenships, and that the state bodies be given one year to reach bilateral accords on the matter with states, whose citizenships have in the meantime been acquired by the citizens of Montenegro.
It was agreed that after the adoption of the new constitution, early parliamentary elections be held in 2009, one year before the date for a regular vote, and that the issue be regulated by a constitutional law.
Deputy Secretary of the Venice Commission Thomas Markert welcomed the agreement between the ruling and some oppositional parties in Montenegro about the approval of the constitution in the parliament with a two thirds majority, the Montenegrin Republika newspaper writes. The Venice Commission will rule on the new constitution in December. Markert said expert from the body of the Council of Europe did not plan to visit Montenegro over the next months, but they would keep in contact with the officials in Podgorica.
Montenegro, which lost its statehood in 1918, regained independence in a successful referendum in May 2006. The country has large non-Montenegrin communities, most notably ethnic Serbs and Albanians.
Montenegro Rebuffs Albanian Demands:
http://www.birn.eu.com/en/87/10/3314/
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Do we know this for a fact, that a full commune is on the table?
Something doesn't sound right. If the constitutin is all encompassing, including proper language on minority rights, as per European standards, than why did the ruling coalition have to offer a full commune to Albanians? Why not save this for something far greater down the road?
Was this constitution even presented, in layman's terms, to Albanians by their elected MPs -- Sinishtaj, Bardhi, Dinosha???? I guess NOT. With all respect, these three stooges are not the brightest of the bunch when it comes to analyzing public policy, especially the legal jargon that is conceived from a nation's constitution. But why not take this document, break down the speciific articles that deal directly with Albanian/minority rights, present/explain it to YOUR PEOPLE THAT IT WILL AFFECT MOST AND FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES -- then seek support, or perhaps you may get some positive criticism from those you may least expect.
THE FATE OF ALBANIANS IN MONTENEGRO SHOULD NOT BE SEALED WITH THE FINAL APPROVAL OF ONLY 2.5 REPRESENTATIVES (and we all know very well that Dinosha heirs on the side of Slavs, thus he represents only 0.5 of our people).
Has it been this easy for them to toss this deal around? Were they holdiong the full commune as a bargaining chip for future negotiations with Albanians?
First of all, Albanians should be ashamed that they know only to demand a cummune and nothing else. They have done nothing else these past three years but cry for a pitiful commune, then they gave it a rest for a year and cried for the prisoners, now back to the commune again.
What about Employment? Education? Privatization? Healthcare? Access to public institutions, representation, etc., etc. The commune CANNOT solve all these problems, but a competent population can. Or in this case cannot.
Grrrrrrrrr
promises, promises, promises ... all broken.
PODGORICA, Montenegro -- The Montenegrin parliament voted on Friday (October 19) to adopt a constitution reflecting the country's newly gained independence. Fifty-five lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, while 22 voted against it. According to the document, which was drafted by Montenegrin experts with support from the Council of Europe and the EU, Montenegro is a civil country in which all citizens enjoy equal rights, including within religious communities. Friday's vote provides one of the missing elements for Montenegro's bid for membership in the EU. (AP, Xinhua - 19/10/07; Pobjeda, Dan, Svoboda radio, B92, DPA - 20/10/07; MINA, RTCG, Tanjug, AFP, BIRN, Beta- 19/10/07)
Head of Serbian Church Condemns New Montenegrin Constitution
The newly adopted constitution is equal to spitting on the church in Montenegro, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije stated during his speech in the Trebesina village near Herceg Novi [Montenegrin coastal town], after a divine service marking the day of the village saint protector. According to Amfilohije, we all believed that the ungodly times were behind us but "unfortunately they are not".
While saying that today things are the same as during the ungodly times, the metropolitan pointed out that there will be no mention of the church of Christ in the Montenegrin constitution.
"Everything else is allowed but there can be no name of the Orthodox Church there. The church will be called by some name it was never called before. For two thousand years this church had its name and today they call it a religious community. What does a religious community mean? Who has the right, based on what law and ideology, to deprive the church of its name? Today the Montenegrin parliament is determined to deprive the church of its name, to turn it into some abstract religious community, to erase the church of Christ, of St Sava, the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral which gave birth to Montenegro."
[Passage omitted: Amfilohije says that these times are more difficult than the life under the communist regime]
"In Montenegro we are ruled by actions of the ungodly Communist Party. Nothing has changed. They changed their outlook but not their nature. God is crucified in Montenegro and his church persecuted and hunted down," Metropolitan Amfilohije concluded.
Pozdrav prijateljima Albancima iz CG. Nisam Albanac, ali razumem da se zeli veca demokratizacija Crne Gore.
Hvala na pomoci tokom referenduma.
Nije ovaj Ustav idealan ni za Crnogorce, ali je za sve gradjane CG bolji nego prethodni.
Naravno, to ne znaci da se ne treba boriti za vecu demokratizaciju.
***TRANSLATION to above POST***
"Pershendetje to our Albanian friends from Montenegro.
I'm not an albanian, but I understand the wish for a greater democracy in Montenegro.
Thank you for your help during the referendum.
This charter (or organic law) is not ideal for Montenegrins, but it better for all the citizens of montenegro then the previous one.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't fight for a better (or a greater) democratization."
UPDATE: BARDHI & SINISHTAJ ABSTAINED FROM VOTING FOR TEH NEW CONSTITUTION.
THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THE CONSTITUTION HAS BEEN DRAFTED TO PROTECT ALBANIANS IN MONTENEGRO FROM WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE HARMFUL SETBACKS IN THE SOCIOPOLITICAL SPHERES OF SOCIETY.
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