Dritan Abazović

Dritan Abazović (Cyrillic: Дритан Абазовић, Albanian: Dritan Abazoviq; born on 25 December 1985) is a Montenegrin politician, President of the United Reform Action since May 2017, he was member of the Parliament of Montenegro, from 2012 until 2020, when he assumed the office of Deputy Prime Minister for the national security in the cabinet of Zdravko Krivokapić.[1]

Dritan Abazović
Dritan Abazoviq
Abazović in Astana, Kazakhstan, 2016
Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro
Assumed office
4 December 2020
Prime MinisterZdravko Krivokapić
Preceded byZoran Pažin
Milutin Simović
Rafet Husović
Member of Parliament of Montenegro
In office
14 October 2012 – 4 December 2020
PresidentRanko Krivokapić
Darko Pajović
Ivan Brajović
Aleksa Bečić
Personal details
Born (1985-12-25) 25 December 1985
Ulcinj, SFR Yugoslavia
(now Montenegro)
NationalityMontenegrin
Political partyUnited Reform Action
(2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		Positive Montenegro
(2012–2014)
Alma materUniversity of Sarajevo
University of Montenegro
ProfessionPolitician

Biography

Early life and education

He was born in 1985 in Ulcinj to an Albanian family. Having finished elementary and secondary school in Ulcinj, Abazović graduated at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo, becoming a valedictorian and winner of the "Golden Badge" and "Golden Charter" of the University of Sarajevo. He obtained a master's degree in 2008 from the Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of International Relations, University of Montenegro.[2] He finished his PhD in 2019, in the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo, doctoral dissertation on "Global Politics - Ethical Aspects of Globalization".[3]

He was a longtime associate of non-governmental organizations in the field of human rights, the Euro-Atlantic, and civic activism. He was engaged in projects related to the promotion of multiculturalism in post-conflict areas of the former Yugoslavia. As a participant in international programs, conferences, and seminars, he specialized in several study programs. From 2005 to 2007 he was an assistant at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo. In 2009, he completed the course for the Study of Peace (Peace Research) at the University of Oslo. At the same university, he completed a seminar for professional development (Professional Development).

In 2011, he resided in the United States while participating in the State Department program in Washington D.C. From 2010 to 2012, he was the Executive Director of the local broadcasting company Teuta (Ulcinj, Montenegro). From 2010 to 2012, he was Executive Director of the NGO Mogul in Ulcinj. In 2010, he published his first book “Cosmopolitan Culture and Global Justice”. Since 2010, he has worked as a high school teacher in Ulcinj, teaching the sociology of Culture, Communication and the history of religion. Abazović is fluent in Serbo-Croatian, Albanian and English language.[4]

In 2017, he has signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the Montenegrins, Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks.[5]

On 8 November 2020, Abazović announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 and that he feels well.[6]

Political career

Abazović was one of the founders of the social liberal political party Positive Montenegro in 2012. At the 2012 Montenegrin parliamentary election, the party won 7 out of 81 seats, leading to Abazović becoming the youngest member of the new convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro. In 2014, following a split in the party, Abazović left Positive Montenegro, serving as an independent MP before joining the newly founded United Reform Action (URA) in 2015. He is currently president of URA and one of its four parliamentary representatives.[7] In June 2020, delegates from thirty-eight European countries voted at the XXXI Congress to admit Civic Movement URA to the European Green Party, making Civic Movement URA the first opposition party in independent Montenegro to join a family of European parties. On 11 July 2020 the Civic Movement URA decided to run independently, presenting its centre-left "In Black and White" election platform, led by independent candidates, including well known journalist and activist Milka Tadić, some university professors, journalists, civic and NGO activists, Abazović was a ballot carrier of the list, as the URA leader.[8] URA electoral list also contains one representative of the Bosniak minority interests SPP party, as well of some minor localist initiatives.[9]

Deputy PM Abazović giving a speech in December 2020

2020 elections in Montenegro achieved the first democratic change of government in the history of Montenegro. Abazović's electoral list won four mandates of the votes on the 2020 parliamentary election. With this result, they won four mandates, which proved to be crucial because the opposition coalitions (For the Future of Montenegro (27 seats) and Peace is Our Nation (10 seats)) needed so much to have a ruling majority with 41 seats after 30 years in power of Milo Đukanović and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).[10][11] Abazović, on behalf of URA, and the leaders of the lists For the Future of Montenegro and Peace is Our Nation, Zdravko Krivokapić and Aleksa Bečić, agreed during meeting on several principles on which the future government will rest, including the formation of an expert government, to continue to work on the European Union accession process, fight against corruption and overcoming society polarization.[12] They welcomed minority parties of Bosniaks and Albanians, and wished to form government with them.[12] After the election, Abazović's interview with Professor Kenneth Morrison was published by The London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE.[13] On 4 December 2020, the new big tent cabinet of Montenegro was elected by 41 out of 81 members of the Parliament of Montenegro, and independent politician Zdravko Krivokapić became the new Prime Minister of Montenegro, with Abazović as Deputy Prime Minister, for security sector coordination and national security, formally ending three decades of the DPS regime in the country. The new cabinet vows to dismantle a state apparatus built by the DPS, and root-out corruption and organized crime.[14]

On 5 January 2021, Abazović revealed that the company Global Montenegro whose part-owner is President Milo Đukanović is in a 12.45 million euro debt to the state and that there are no more "untouchable" officials.[15]

References
  1. "Montenegro Elects First Government Without Djukanovic Party". Balkan Insight. 4 December 2020.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Dritan Abazović doktorirao u Sarajevu
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Signatories of the Declaration on the Common Language, official website, retrieved on 2018-08-16.
  6. "Dritan Abazović pozitivan na koronavirus". NOVA portal. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Šta piše i ko je potpisao platformu "Crno na bijelo": Smjena vlasti će izroditi drugačiju Crnu Goru, Vijesti
  9. SPP Hazbije Kalača podžala Platformu Crno na bijelo
  10. "Objavljeni konačni rezultati parlamentarnih izbora u Crnoj Gori". N1 Srbija (in Serbian). Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  11. Nedeljnik.rs (30 August 2020). "Dritan Abazović, nosilac liste "Crno na bijelo": Pobedili smo mafiju, svima neka je srećno. Crnu Goru treba da vodi ekspertska vlada..." Nedeljnik. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  12. "Montenegrin opposition agrees on expert government, revision of disputed laws". N1. 31 August 2020.
  13. Science, London School of Economics and Political. "Dr Dritan Abazovic in conversation with Professor Kenneth Morrison". London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  14. "Krizu prevazići reformama i znanjem", Radio Televizija Crne Gore (RTCG), 2 December 2020
  15. "ABAZOVIĆ ODGOVORIO MILU: Providno je tvitnuo, ali nije demantovao dug od 12,4 miliona evra". kurir.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
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