By Mirjana Boskovic for Southeast European Times in Podgorica -- 31/08/11
The opposition wants Serbian and Montenegrin to be taught equally in schools. [Reuters]
The Montenegrin parliament votes on Friday (September 2nd) on an amendment to the education law that envisions equality between the Serbian and Montenegrin languages in the education system.
The vote is hinged on a bigger hurdle -- the country's election law.
After seven failed attempts to pass the election law -- required by the EU for the country's accession -- a vote on September 6th will be parliament's last chance to garner the needed two-thirds majority to pass the legislation before the deadline to get the information in the country's latest progress report by the European Commission (EC).
If the law does not pass in September, the country will not have completed the seven conditions set by the EU, and will miss its window to get an accession date this year. The next vote would be held on December 31st.
To date, the opposition parties have refused to join in passing the law, and the education language legislation remains at the centre of the controversy.
According to Kenneth Morrison, a specialist in Southeast European Politics at Britain's De Montfort University, it is no surprise that the opposition has taken such a firm stance on the language issue and citizenship -- both of which have been at the cornerstone of their agenda since debates surrounding the 2007 constitution.
The opposition's fire has been fuelled by new census results that indicate 44% of the country's population speaks Serbian, while only 36% declared themselves as Montenegrin speakers.
After an agreement reached between the opposition parties and Prime Minister Igor Luksic in mid-August fell apart, the question remains whether parliament is going to adopt amendments to the election law. The last failed attempt was on July 31st.
The law is the first of the seven conditions that the EC set for Montenegro in order to give it a date for starting accession negotiations.
National Council for European Integration member Boris Raonic believes that if the election law is not adopted soon, Montenegro will lose at least a year in the EU integration process.
As the country heads down the accession road, it will be impossible to sweep problems like weak institutions, corruption and discrimination under the rug.
"Montenegro's European integration course has entered an important stage. The amendment to the election law is one of the most important reforms. Therefore, it will be at the core of the Commission's assessment in its [October 12th] Progress Report," a spokesman for EC Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told SETimes.
Morrison suggests that another failure to adopt the election law would be a setback for the Montenegrin government on what has been, at least thus far, a relatively smooth path towards EU membership.
"[The opposition] will, no doubt, continue to insist upon a dissolution of parliament and fresh elections, arguing that the current government has no legitimacy and lacks the authority to negotiate with the EC. It is likely that another vote on the issue will take place before the end of the year," Morrison told SETimes.
"Expansion is not very high on the agenda while the eurozone financial crisis is worsening. But the gridlock in the Montenegrin parliament will not help matters," Morrison said.
Source: SETimes.com
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