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

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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