The Marković Cabinet was the 41st cabinet of Montenegro. It was led by Prime Minister Duško Marković. It was elected on 28 November 2016 by a majority vote in the Parliament of Montenegro. The coalition government was composed of the Democratic Party of Socialists, the Social Democrats, and ethnic minority parties. The cabinet lasted until 4 December 2020, when it was succeeded by the Krivokapić Cabinet, and was the last cabinet of the era of DPS dominance, which lasted from the introduction of the multi-party system in SR Montenegro.
Government formation
2016 election
Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on October 16, 2016 and resulted in another victory for the long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists.
Forming the majority
Although DPS failed to win a majority on their own, they succeeded in remaining in power once again, forming a government with the newly formed Social Democrats (SD), as well as parties representing Albanian, Bosniak and Croat minorities.
On 9 November 2016, Deputy PM Duško Marković was nominated as Prime Minister by President Filip Vujanović. On 28 November, the government was elected by 42 out of 81 members of the parliament. The entire opposition boycotted the assembly.
Cabinet composition
Party breakdown
Ministers
Controversy and affairs
In its political rights and civil liberties worldwide report in May 2020, Freedom House marked Montenegro as a hybrid regime rather than a democracy because of declining standards in governance, justice, elections and media freedom. Freedom House stated that years of increasing state capture, abuse of power, authoritative and populist leadership had tipped country over the edge, and for the first time since 2003, Montenegro was no longer categorised as a democracy. The report emphasised the unequal electoral process, cases of political arrests, negative developments related to judicial independence, media freedoms, as well as a series of unresolved cases of corruption within the DPS-led government.
Electoral fraud and abuse of state resources
All 39 opposition MPs (out of 81 in total) started boycotting Parliament since the constitution of its current convocation in December 2016, due to claims of electoral fraud and that the elections were not held under fair conditions, at the 2016 parliamentary elections. They are demanding snap elections and reform of electoral laws.
In its June 2018 report, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, called for election reforms in Montenegro, and for more integrity, impartiality, and professionalism in election administration. The period before the 2020 parliamentary election also was marked by the high polarization of the electorate. Several corruption scandals of the ruling party triggered 2019 anti-government protests, while a controversial religion law sparked another wave of protests. Election observers OSCE stated: "Abuse of state resources gave the ruling party an unfair advantage", and said that although the elections were competitive, the governing party also benefited from a lack of independent media.