Marković Cabinet

The Marković Cabinet, led by Duško Marković, is the 41st cabinet of the Montenegro. Cabinet was elected on 28 November 2016 by a majority vote in the Parliament of Montenegro. The coalition government was composed of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Social Democrats (SD), and ethnic minority parties.

Marković Cabinet

41st Cabinet of Montenegro
2016–2020
Date formed28 November 2016 (2016-11-28)
Date dissolved2 December 2020 (2020-12-02)
People and organisations
Head of governmentDuško Marković
No. of ministers20 (1 of them without portfolio)
Member partiesDPS, SD, BS, DUA, HGI
Status in legislatureCoalition government
History
Election(s)16 October 2016
PredecessorĐukanović VI Cabinet
SuccessorKrivokapić Cabinet

Government formation

2016 election
Main article: 2016 Montenegrin parliamentary election

Elections for the composition of new parliament of Montenegro were held on October 16, 2016 and resulted in a new victory for the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) led by long-term PM Milo Đukanović, which has been in power since introduction of multi-party system in 1990.

Forming majority

Although the DPS failed to win the majority on its own,[1] they succeeded in remaining in power once again, forming a government with the newly formed Social Democrats (SD) and national minorities parties.

On 9 November 2016, Deputy PM Duško Marković was nominated as Prime Minister by the president of Montenegro Filip Vujanović, and on 28 November new government was elected by 41 out of 81 members of the parliament (with the entire opposition boycotting the assembly), with the support of DPS, SD and the Albanian, Croat and Bosniak minority parties.[2]

Investiture votes for Marković Cabinet
Ballot → 28 November 2016
Required majority → 41 out of 81
42 / 81
0 / 81
39 / 81

Cabinet composition

Party breakdown
11
3
2
2
1
1

Ministers
Portfolio Minister Party Took office
Prime Minister
General Affairs Duško Marković DPS 28 November 2016
Deputy Prime Ministers
Justice Zoran Pažin none 28 November 2016
Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović DPS 28 November 2016
Regional Development Rafet Husović BS 4 December 2012
Ministers
Interior Mevludin Nuhodžić DPS 28 November 2016
Defence Predrag Bošković DPS 28 November 2016
Finance Darko Radunović DPS 28 November 2016
Foreign Affairs Srđan Darmanović none 28 November 2016
Education Damir Šehović SD 28 November 2016
Science Sanja Damjanović DPS 28 November 2016
Culture Aleksandar Bogdanović DPS 28 December 2017
Economy Dragica Sekulić DPS 28 November 2016
Transport and Maritime Affairs Osman Nurković BS 28 November 2016
Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović DPS 28 November 2016
Health Kenan Hrapović SD 28 November 2016
Human and Minority Rights Mehmet Zenka DUA 28 November 2016
Labour and Social Welfare Kemal Purišić BS 28 November 2016
Public Administration Suzana Pribilović DPS 28 November 2016
Sports Nikola Janović DPS 28 November 2016
Without Portfolio Marija Vučinović HGI 4 December 2012

Controversy and affairs

In its political rights and civil liberties worldwide report in May 2020, Freedom House marked Montenegro as a hybrid regime rather than a democracy because of declining standards in governance, justice, elections and media freedom. Freedom House stated that years of increasing state capture, abuse of power, authoritative and populist leadership had tipped country over the edge, and for the first time since 2003, Montenegro was no longer categorised as a democracy. The report emphasised the unequal electoral process, cases of political arrests, negative developments related to judicial independence, media freedoms, as well as a series of unresolved cases of corruption within the DPS-led government.[3]

Accusations of electoral fraud

All 39 opposition MPs (out of 81 in total) started boycotting Parliament since the constitution of its current convocation in December 2016, due to claims of electoral fraud and that the elections were not held under fair conditions, at the 2016 parliamentary elections. They are demanding snap elections and reform of electoral laws.

The "Atlas" and "Envelope" affairs

In mid-January 2019, a video clip from 2016 surfaced in which businessman Duško Knežević, chairman of the Montenegro-based Atlas Group, appeared to hand the Mayor of Podgorica and high-ranked ruling party member, Slavoljub Stijepović, an envelope containing what Knežević later said was $97,000, to fund a Democratic Party of Socialists parliamentary election campaign.[4]

Anti-corruption protests

Protests against corruption within Montenegrin DPS-lead government have started in February 2019 soon after the revelation of footage and documents that appear to implicate top officials in obtaining suspicious funds for the ruling party.

Controversial religion law and protests

As of late December 2019, the newly proclaimed religion law which de-jure transfers the ownership of church buildings and estates from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro to the Montenegrin state, sparked a series of massive protests followed with road blockages, which continued to 2020.

See also

References
  1. Ovo su rezultati koje je proglasio DIK, Vijesti
  2. Le Courrier des Balkans (29 November 2016). "Monténégro : un nouveau gouvernement qui ne tient qu'à une voix". courrierdesbalkans.fr/ (in French). Retrieved 6 December 2016..
  3. "Nation in Transit 2020: Dropping the Democratic Facade" (PDF). Freedom House. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  4. Objavljen snimak: Knežević uručio kovertu Stijepoviću, Antena M
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