BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2022) Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, who initiated a parliamentary vote on the dissolution of the acting government with President Milo Djukanovich's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), may turn the country into a major drug trafficking economy, Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic said on Thursday.
In Podgorica, months-long discord within the ruling majority has reached its peak. On Friday, a parliamentary vote of confidence in the government is scheduled, and on the same day the cabinet will vote on reducing the parliamentary mandate. The largest opposition party DPS and its proponents have repeatedly advocated the cabinet's resignation, with Abazovic filing such a proposal on Wednesday. Krivokapic decisively refused to dissolve the cabinet.
"There was speculation that I would resign. Some have convinced me that it is the best way. But I say that I do not care if I am prime minister today or another day. I want citizens to see who is who in Montenegro," Krivokapic said in a public address, noting that he expects his duties to be terminated after Friday's parliamentary vote, given that President Djukanovic has agreed with that part of the coalition.
The coalition was formed according to the will of citizens which is now being broken, Krivokapic added.
He also pointed out that Abazovic in the acting cabinet oversaw security services and supervised the interior minister and the police director.
"This is the group that convinces us that Montenegro is rightfully the biggest importer of bananas in Europe... I expect that we will now slash imports, and the vanguard led by Mister Abazovic will turn Montenegro into a banana republic," Krivokapic ironically noted.
The term "banana republic" in Montenegro is traditionally attached to drug trafficking from Latin America. In early January, in a warehouse of the largest supermarket chain, Voli, in Podgorica, a total of nearly 500 kilograms of cocaine were found in banana boxes. According to data unveiled in the parliament, imports of bananas by Voli have increased by 450% since 2017. Before Voli appeared as the major banana importer, this place was held by San Francisko company, from which 1.4 tonnes of cocaine were discovered in 2021.
In Podgorica, Niksic, Budva and other cities, spontaneous protests are taking place in defense of the voters' will and against the government's resignation.
