Aleksa Becic appointed President of the Parliament of Montenegro

Aleksa Becic appointed President of the Parliament of Montenegro

45 deputies voted for his appointment, and one deputy was against, while there were 25 blank ballots.

The election of Becic was supported by the deputies of the three winning coalitions - "For the Future of Montenegro", "Peace is our nation" and "Black and white", the Bosniak Party and the Albanian list Nik Djelosaj.

DPS, SD and SDP deputies abstained from voting, while the Liberal Party voted against.

After the secret ballot, Becic took the oath:

"I swear that I will perform my duty according to the Constitution and the law, honestly, responsibly and conscientiously, so God help me," Becic said after the vote.

"It is an indescribable honor and privilege to be elected president of the highest legislative and representative house, and at the same time to be the first elected public official after the first democratic change of government in Montenegrin history," Becic said in his address to MPs.

He thanked his colleagues from the coalitions for the election, especially their colleagues from minority parties for their support and trust.

"Those who did not vote for me know that I will fight for them even more, that my door is wide open to them. I will not attack, criticize or declare them opponents of the state. I want the opposition to have a better status than we had," Becic said.

He said that democratic culture and cohesion in societies dictate that the one who heads the parliament must protect the opposition, because without it, there is no parliamentarism.

He said that the parliament must never again be "a barrier to the reform and development policy of Montenegro".

"Parliament is the foundation and roof of Montenegro, the soul of democracy, and no one must endanger that. Disrespect, intolerance and quarrels should be replaced by dialogue, tolerance," Becic stated.

President Milo Djukanović did not attend the constitutive session.

The session began with the verification of 81 parliamentary mandates.

The three winning coalitions, which make up the future government in Montenegro, have proposed that Zdravko Krivokapić be the holder of the list "For the Future of Montenegro".

Representatives of all parties spoke about Becic as president, and the most frequently repeated sentence of today's session was: "The citizens of Montenegro, may you have happy freedom".

The most frequently published shots on television were those in which the DPS, with its long-term partners, was in seats in the parliament designated for the opposition, which has not been seen in the last 30 years.