2022 Montenegrin pro-government protests

Protests are being held in Montenegro against the dismissal of the Prime Minister, Zdravko Krivokapić, and the 42nd Cabinet of Montenegro, along with the possible formation of a temporary minority government. Since most ministers of the cabinet are close to Krivokapić, most ministers supported or attended these protests, including Vesna Bratić, Jakov Milatović and Milojko Spajić.[1] The protests are being held in multiple cities such as Podgorica,[2] Bijelo Polje and Berane. While most have been peaceful, there have been incidents of violence at the protests, such as the assault of a reporter of RTCG, the state media of Montenegro.[3]

2022 Montenegrin pro-government protests
Part of the 2022 Montenegrin crisis
Date
19 January 2022 1 years ago –
Location
Podgorica, Bijelo Polje, Berane and other cities
Caused by
StatusOngoing
Parties
Lead figures

On 24 January, Vesna Bratić was accused by opposition parties of insulting national minorities due to comments she made about the leaders of parties that represent national minorities in Montenegro, as well as comments glorifying the Serbian Orthodox Church.[4]

On 4 February, a vote of no confidence was held against the Krivokapić cabinet and it was dismissed.[5]

On 7 February, President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Aleksa Bečić, was dismissed.

Background

The protests started as a response to the proposition of the United Reform Action (URA) and some other parties and political leaders to dismiss the current government and Prime Minister. The reason for these propositions is that Krivokapić outright refused to dismiss some of his ministers, such as Bratić, after a majority of parliament voted to dismiss them[6] because of “not doing their jobs correctly” or being outed as extremists.[7] The protests were composed of mostly conservatives and supporters of the Serbian Orthodox Church which has a significant influence in the Krivokapić government, as most of the ministers are close to it.[8]

Symbolism and slogans

Symbolism

Unlike most of the protests in Montenegro in the last few years, these protests are mostly secular. However, a lot of Serbian Orthodox Church flags and symbolism can be seen at the protests, along with the Montenegrin tricolour, which was a partly official Flag of Montenegro from 1905 to 1918. The flag is today used as a symbol of Serb politics in Montenegro. Along with historical flags, parody Euro bills were printed with figures such as Abazović, Joković and Đukanović on them.

Slogans

Slogans used include chants like “Traitor!”, and sayings like “You took the money, Dritan!” (Montenegrin: Uzeo si pare, Dritane!),[9] referring to a claim that Abazović took a bribe of €21,000,000, even though this claim turned out to be false.

izdaja.me

An anonymous website was launched at https://izdaja.me that showed certain members of the Parliament of Montenegro that agreed to dismiss Krivokapić's government, with captions such as “Sold! Betrayal!” (Montenegrin: Prodato! Izdaja!).[10]

On 4 February, the host of izdaja.me went down, which was suspected to be related to the no confidence vote held against the government. As of 5 February, a Cloudflare Error 525 appears when visiting the site.

See also

References
  1. "Montenegrin Education Minister Accused of Insulting Minorities". Balkan Insight. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  2. "Montenegrin Cabinet Faces Vote Of No Confidence". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  3. "Protest u Nikšiću, napadnut i dopisnik TVCG". vijesti.me (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  4. "Montenegrin Education Minister Accused of Insulting Minorities". Balkan Insight. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  5. "Pala Vlada Zdravka Krivokapića - CdM". www.cdm.me (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  6. "Omeragić: Još jedan pokazatelj Krivokapićeve samovolje - CdM". www.cdm.me (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  7. "(VIDEO)Bratić: Bake su u crnom zbog korote za Kosovom". Standard (in Montenegrin). 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  8. "Državna nagrada za djelo koje negira Crnogorce i nacionalne manjine". www.slobodnaevropa.org (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  9. "Protest u Podgorici, prisustvovao i dio ministara; Spajić: DPS još nije pobijeđen do kraja". vijesti.me (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  10. "Pojavio se sajt izdaja.me: Targetiraju se poslanici CnB i SNP i potpredsjednik Vlade". vijesti.me (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2022-01-24.
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