Duško Marković Explained

Duško Marković
Office1:Member of Parliament
President1:Aleksa Bečić
Term Start1:23 September 2020
Office2:Prime Minister of Montenegro
President2:Filip Vujanović
Milo Đukanović
Term Start2:28 November 2016
Term End2:4 December 2020
Predecessor2:Milo Đukanović
Successor2:Zdravko Krivokapić
Office3:Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro
Primeminister3:Igor Lukšić
Milo Đukanović
Term Start3:29 December 2010
Term End3:28 November 2016
Predecessor3:Igor Lukšić
Successor3:Zoran Pažin
Office4:Minister of Justice of Montenegro
Primeminister4:Igor Lukšić
Milo Đukanović
Term Start4:29 December 2010
Term End4:12 May 2016
Predecessor4:Miraš Radović
Successor4:Zoran Pažin
Office5:Head of the National Security Agency
Primeminister5:Milo Đukanović
Željko Šturanović
Term Start5:5 May 2005
Term End5:29 December 2010
Predecessor5:Position established
Successor5:Vladan Joković
Birth Date:6 July 1959
Birth Place:Mojkovac, Montenegro, Yugoslavia
Party:SKJ (until 1991)
DPS (1991–2024)
SEP (2024–present)
Alma Mater:University of Kragujevac
Nationality:Montenegrin
Native Name Lang:sr

Duško Marković (Serbian Cyrillic: Душко Марковић; born 6 July 1959) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the Prime Minister from 2016 to 2020.[1] Formerly a high-ranking member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), he is now the president of the Party of European Progress (SEP).

Early and personal life

Marković was born on 6 July 1959 in Mojkovac, Yugoslavia. He finished elementary and middle school in Mojkovac, and graduated in law at the University of Kragujevac.[2] After he graduated from Kragujevac, he began working in legal consulting for the Brskovo mine in Mojkovac.[3] He is married and has three children.[3]

Political career

In 1986, Marković was appointed secretary of the municipal assembly of Mojkovac, and mayor in 1989.[3] He left the post in 1991 to be appointed Secretary-General of the Montenegrin government led by Milo Đukanović within Yugoslavia. In 1997, he was elected to the Montenegrin Assembly, and the following year he became assistant Minister of the Interior, in charge of the State Security Service.[3]

During his time in the State Security Service, the editor-in-chief of daily newspaper Dan, Duško Jovanović, was killed on 27 May 2004. In 2014, Marković was sued for concealing information which may have exposed Jovanović's killers.[4] Jovanović's wife testified in court that Marković threatened to kill Jovanović during a phone call in April 2003, the same month the Dan office was set on fire.[5]

In 2005, following the establishment of the new National Security Agency (ANB) in May that year, Marković was appointed by Parliament to head the agency, a position he held until 2010.[3] In 2010, Igor Lukšić's government appointed him first as a minister without portfolio, then as deputy prime minister and Justice Minister.[3] In March 2012, he was appointed Minister of Human and Minority Rights.[3] He left the government in 2015 and the same year the congress of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) elected him Deputy president of the party. In 2016, he was again appointed the Minister of the Justice in Provisional government.

On 25 October 2016, ten days after the parliamentary election, the DPS bureau chose Marković to replace Milo Đukanović as prime minister.[6] His nomination was condemned by the opposition, who accused Marković of involvement in corruption scandals and of omission of information in the inquiry about the murder of Duško Jovanović in 2004.[7]

Prime Minister

See main article: Marković Cabinet.

On 9 November 2016, Marković was nominated as prime minister by the president of Montenegro Filip Vujanović,[8] and on 28 November he was confirmed by 41 out of 81 members of the parliament (with the opposition boycotting the assembly), with the support of the Albanian, Croat and Bosniak minority parties.[9] On 25 May 2017, Marković made headlines around the world when the United States president Donald Trump appeared to brusquely shove him aside to get in front of him at a photo op during a NATO summit meeting, which was attended by Montenegro for the first time, days prior to its formal accession to the alliance.[10] Later, Marković responded to questions about the incident by shrugging it off.[11]

On 10 October 2018, Marković expressed his support[12] for amendments on the Law on State Symbols and Day of Statehood, which would penalize those who don't stand up for the Montenegrin national anthem by up to 2,000.[13] The amendment included tiers depending on the subject's occupation, with penalties for businessmen up to €6,000, and up to €20,000 for those working in the legal system.[13]

When a journalist asked Marković whether the amendments could be enforced, Marković suggested that it could be enforced at stadiums, saying that "everyone will be watching, every institution which bears a flag, every citizen who loves this country. And of course state agencies, inspection agencies. Whoever we recognize at the stadium who wouldn't stand, if we identify them we'll file a charge."[12]

Protests against corruption within Marković-led 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 Democratic Party of Socialists 2016 parliamentary election campaign.[14]

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.[15]

In June 2024, Marković left DPS and founded the Party of European Progress (SEP).[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Crna Gora dobila novu Vladu. Murić. Darvin. Gudović. Ivana. 28 November 2016. vijesti.me. 3 December 2016. 28 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728035903/http://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/crna-gora-dobila-novu-vladu-913808. dead.
  2. Web site: Prime Minister Duško Marković - Biography. gov.me. 5 January 2017. 21 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150721002659/http://www.predsjednik.gov.me/en/primeminister/Prime_Minister_s_biography. dead.
  3. Web site: Ko je Duško Marković, čovjek od povjerenja Mila Đukanovića. Dnevni avaz. bs. October 27, 2016. October 30, 2018.
  4. Web site: Montenegin Minister Sued For Concealing Murder Facts. Dušica Tomović. Balkan Insight. January 29, 2014. October 30, 2018.
  5. Web site: Dusko Jovanovic. Committee to Protect Journalists. March 26, 2019.
  6. Web site: fr. . Monténégro. Dusko Markovic va devenir Premier ministre . 26 October 2016 . ouest-france.fr/ . 6 December 2016.
  7. Web site: fr. Eurasia Times . Monténégro : l'opposition ne tolère pas la candidature de Dusko Markovic . 28 November 2016 . eurasiatimes.org/ . 15 December 2016.
  8. Web site: fr. . Au Monténégro, un ex-chef de la police secrète Premier ministre . 9 November 2016 . boursorama.com/ . 15 December 2016.
  9. Web site: fr. Le Courrier des Balkans. Monténégro : un nouveau gouvernement qui ne tient qu'à une voix . 29 November 2016 . courrierdesbalkans.fr/ . 6 December 2016.
  10. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/25/at-nato-gathering-trump-brushes-past-montenegros-prime-minister/ At NATO gathering, Trump brushes past Montenegro’s prime minister
  11. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/26/breaking-down-trumps-shove-the-internet-debates-and-montenegros-leader-shrugs/ Breaking down Trump’s ‘shove’
  12. Web site: Marković: Svako ko voli ovu zemlju će pratiti ko ne ustaje na himnu. Vijesti. sr. via Wayback Machine. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20181031133109/https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/markovic-svako-ko-voli-ovu-zemlju-ce-pratiti-ko-ne-ustaje-na-himnu-1007749. October 31, 2018. dmy-all.
  13. Web site: Za neustajanje na himnu kazna do 2.000 eura. Vijesti. via Wayback Machine. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20181005122950/https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/za-neustajanje-na-himnu-kazna-do-2000-eura-1006942. October 5, 2018. dmy-all.
  14. https://www.antenam.net/drustvo/106891-objavljen-snimak-knezevic-urucio-kovertu-stijepovicu Objavljen snimak: Knežević uručio kovertu Stijepoviću
  15. Web site: Montenegro Adopts Law on Religious Rights Amid Protests by pro-Serbs. Voice of America. en. 2020-01-05.
  16. News: Evropa . Radio Slobodna . 2024-06-24 . Bivši crnogorski premijer osnovao stranku jer 'ne vidi budućnost Crne Gore kao DPS' . 2024-06-28 . Radio Slobodna Evropa . sh.