The newspaper writes that Djukanovic is prepared to resign on Tuesday and a new government headed by Finance Minister Igor Luksic will be quickly formed. Djukanovic, 48, is due to announce his decision to the public at a news conference, sources from his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) confirmed.
The leadership of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Montenegro's ruling party, will hold a meeting on Tuesday and the prime minister will present his reasons for resigning, the daily writes.
If Djukanovic does withdraw, it will be his second withdrawal since he stepped down as prime minister in 2006. He subsequently returned to office in February 2008. Before that departure, Djukanovic served three consecutive terms as prime minister, from 1991 to 1998, and was the country's president from 1998 to 2002.
As Luksic is a close ally of Djukanovic, the changes in the cabinet are not expected to be major and should be approved by the parliament before the end of the year. Luksic, an economic expert, is expected to help the country implement reforms necessary for Montenegro to open accession talks with the European Union.
Djukanovic has long been dogged by suspicions that he was involved in tobacco smuggling in the region, and has been investigated by Italian prosecutors.
In a book titled 'Mafia Export', Francesco Forgione, a former Italian MP who led the Italian parliament's anti-mafia commission from 2006 to 2008, sheds light on organised crime and cites the Montenegrin mafia and Djukanovic as two of the organisers of an international cigarette smuggling route between 1994 and 2000.
Forgione also claims that Djukanovic has not testified more often before the Italian courts in a long-running tobacco smuggling case because he is protected by the immunity granted by his position.
The prosecutor in Bari, Giuseppe Scelsi, has included Djukanovic in his investigation because of the prime minister's alleged role in the smuggling. The trial began in November 2001. Djukanovic went to Bari in March 2008 to answer questions from the prosecution. Soon after that, the case as it concerned him was suspended when he became prime minister in February 2008.
“Milo Djukanovic is protected by immunity while he is the prime minister and head of government. The moment he no longer has immunity, he will be able to be tried in a special trial. The trial will be different from the one that involves seven citizens from Montenegro and Serbia, which began on November 11 [2009],” Scelsi told Podgorica daily Dan in November 2009.
Djukanovic was 29 years old when he became the youngest prime minister in Europe in 1991. He was elected Montenegro president in 1998, before again assuming the premier's job in 2002 and 2008. He is the longest serving Balkan leader.
6 comments:
I'm sure Milo will have a nice and extended vacation in the Hague.
I hear Slobodan's old cell is available was very comfy (it even comes with a rope in case he wants to hang himself)....
Does Mili's resignation really mean anything at all?
Luksic is from the same pol party as Milo; their agenda has always been EU accession, esp the last decade. Now that Milo helped get candidate status, it is time for Luksic to bring it home, prob by 2020.
This is a good thing, right? EU? Minority rights will be scrutinized much closer as MZ works towards closing the chapters of EU requisites, correct?
However, the braoder issue here is the DPS. With or without Milo, the DPS beats to the same drum. People may despise the DPS, and how they reward party loyalty on one hand, and display ruthlessness to the opposition on the other. Its a closely guarded group of party loyalists, they work well together but work in disdain with everyone else. Even those that consistently vote DPS woudl like to see change, but you know what? There is no other party better prepared to guide MZ towards western Europe.
So thus, who in their right minds would vote for any other party in MZ. Would you prefer the SNP in power? I am sure the Serbs will be very nice to Albanian policy.
The fact of the matter is, for right now, and for the next decade, I don't see any other pol party uprooting the DPS.
Their goal is full EU membership, and along the way they will most certainly camaflogue MZ the way they want it to resemble. Does this mean assimilating Albanians? Probably. And without their fight, this will surely come (if it has not already).
Udha e mbare i qofte, per shqiptaret ka qen nje manipulatent, i cili i ka tradhtua, dhe ka qen nje katalist kryesore ne asimilimin tone. Shpresojne se se shpejti do te shohim ne burge ne Itali!
Guri
For Montenegro, he was able to orchestrate their statehood and accomplished their admission to the European Union; for the Albanians, he fucked them up every single time!
Thug for Albanians, just like Kealj Nikolla!
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