MEET THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND MINISTERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000148 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL MW SUBJECT: MEET THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND MINISTERS REF: A) PODGORICA 143; B) PODGORICA 68; C) PODGORICA 32 PODGORICA 00000148 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Parliament confirmed the new Government of Montenegro (GoM) on June 11. Milo Djukanovic, designated Prime Minister for the sixth time, promised a "government of continuity." The new GoM consequently contains mostly holdovers from the previous government. Ref A described changes in the new government's structure; this cable lists names and portfolios of all the ministers, along with key biographic data on the new ministers. Meet The New Cabinet -------------- ¶2. (U) The following is the list of all 21 Cabinet members (in the order presented in the MFA's note to all diplomatic missions). Party affiliations - Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS),Social Democratic Party (SDP),Bosniak Party (BS),and Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) - are in parentheses: --Prime Minister: Milo Djukanovic (DPS); --Deputy Prime Minister for International Economic Cooperation, Structural Reforms, and Business Environment Improvement (and Minister of Finance): Igor Luksic (DPS); --Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs (and Internal and International Policy): Svetozar Marovic (DPS); --Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Policy (and Minister of Information Technology): Vujica Lazovic (SDP); --Minister of Foreign Affairs: Milan Rocen (DPS); --Minister of Justice: Miras Radovic (DPS); --Minister of Defense: Boro Vucinic (DPS); --Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Administration: Ivan Brajovic (SDP); --Minister for European Integration: Gordana Djurovic (DPS); --Minister for Human and Minority Rights: Ferhat Dinosa (DUA); --Minister of Education and Science: Sreten Skuletic (DPS); --Minister of Health: Miodrag Radunovic (DPS); --Minister of Labor and Social Welfare: Suad Numanovic (DPS); --Minister for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection: Branimir Gvozdenovic (DPS); --Minister of Economy: Branko Vujovic (DPS); --Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Telecommunications: Andrija Lompar (SDP); --Minister of Tourism: Predrag Nenezic (DPS); --Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management: Milutin Simovic (DPS); --Minister of Culture, Sports, and Media: Branislav Micunovic (DPS); --Minister without Portfolio: Rafet Husovic (BS); --Minister without Portfolio: Slavoljub Stijepovic (DPS). Meet The New Ministers -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Cabinet contains six "newcomers," most of whom are familiar faces on the Montenegrin political scene. Biographic information on Ivan Brajovic, new Minister of Interior, and Svetozar Marovic, the new DPM for Political Affairs, can be found in Refs B and C, respectively. (Note: Refs B and C also contain bios of holdover DPS and SDP ministers). Below are biographic sketches of the remaining four new ministers: PODGORICA 00000148 002.2 OF 002 --Ferhat Dinosa, Minister for Human and Minority Rights. Dinosa is one of the founders of the Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA),which, although formally not a member of the ruling coalition, has participated in each GoM since 1997. Before entering the government himself, Dinosa served five consecutive terms in the Parliament from 1996 until 2008. Dinosa was born on February 13, 1954 (in a district of Podgorica also called "Dinosa") and graduated from the School of English Language and Literature in Pristina, Kosovo. Before entering politics, he worked as a journalist for the Kosovo journal "Rilindija" and then for Radio Titograd (the former name of Podgorica). Dinosa also taught university English and is a founding member of the Montenegro Helsinki Committee. In addition to Montenegrin and Albanian languages, he speaks fluent English. He is married and has three children. --Branko Vujovic, Minister of Economy. Born in Cetinje on September 9, 1951, Vujovic comes to his new job from the Agency for Economic Restructuring and Foreign Investment, which he has headed since 1998. He also is a member of the National Privatization Council, and was Montenegrin Minister of Trade in ¶1997. Vujovic has a degree in mechanical engineering, and worked as an engineer and general manager for the home appliance manufacturer "Obod" from 1977 until 1997. Vujovic is reputed to be a strong Djukanovic loyalist. He is married and has two sons. He does not speak English. In 2006, the Chief State Prosecutor indicted Vujovic on charges of violating tender procedures during the privatization of the national oil company "Jugopetrol." Specifically, Vujovic was accused of hiring foreign privatization advisors (for extremely large salaries) without publicly advertising the positions. The Podgorica High Court acquitted Vujovic of the charges in April 2008. --Rafet Husovic, Minister without Portfolio (Note: Husovic's responsibilities have not yet been defined.) Husovic is President of the Bosniak Party, which he helped found in 2006, and which is a member of the ruling coalition. Born April 2, 1964 in Rozaje (northern Montenegro),Husovic graduated from the mathematics department of the University of Natural Sciences in Pristina. He was a member of the Main Board of the Party of Democratic Action (1992-1997),and of the Main Board of the International Democratic Union (1997-2002). He served two terms as a councilor in the municipal assembly of Rozaje, and was a member of the Bosniak National Council of Sandzak (2002-2004) and of the Bosniak National Council of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (2004-2006). Husovic is married and has four children. His official CV says that he speaks English, but he declined to speak English in several meetings with Embassy officers. --Slavoljub Stijepovic, Minister Without Portfolio (Note: Stijepovic's responsibilities have not yet been defined). Stijepovic was born on May 2, 1959 in Podgorica, and graduated in law from the University of Podgorica. He joined the DPS early in his career, and after a stint as Legal Advisor for the construction firm "Provborac" in Herceg Novi, he has been Assistant Minister of Labor and Social Welfare (1991-1996), Minister without Portfolio (1996-1998),Minister of Sports (1998-2001),Minister of Labor and Social Welfare (2003-2006), and Deputy Speaker of Parliament (2006-2009). (He was known for his brusque manners in the last position.) Stijepovic has also been President of the Montenegrin Football Association and Chairman of the Podgorica Fund for Physical Culture. He is married and has two children. MOORE