Montenegro votes for president in a close second round

Observers say President Milo Djukanovic faces a tough challenge from newcomer and economist Jakov Milatovic.

Montenegrins went to the polls on Sunday to choose their next president in a runoff vote that could see a young upstart unseat incumbent Milo Djukanovic, who has dominated the country’s political scene for decades.

The polling stations opened at 07:00 (05:00 GMT) and will close at 20:00 (18:00 GMT). The first unofficial results from pollsters, based on a sample of the electorate, are expected about two hours later.

The outcome of the contest will likely determine the balance of power in the Balkan nation ahead of an early parliamentary vote scheduled for June, following months of deadlock after the government collapsed in August.

The president of Montenegro, elected for a five-year term, holds a mainly ceremonial position, with most political power vested in the prime minister.

Sunday’s runoff will take place after neither contender won majority support in the first round of voting two weeks ago. Some 540,000 people have the right to vote in Montenegro, a country of 620,000 people located on the Balkan Peninsula and next to the Adriatic Sea.

Djukanovic, 61, has dominated Montenegro as president or prime minister for 33 years, since the beginning of the collapse of the former federal Yugoslavia. He led Montenegro to independence from Serbia in 2006.

Under the leadership of Djukanovic and his party, Montenegro joined NATO, began the negotiation process for EU membership, and moved away from Russia’s influence.

Opponents have long accused the former communist and his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of corruption, links to organized crime and running the small Adriatic republic as his fiefdom, charges they deny.

Nikola Zarkovic, a student, said he hoped the vote would benefit everyone in the country, which relies heavily on revenue from tourism along its picturesque coastline.

“Free and independent Montenegro will emerge victorious, as always,” he told Reuters news agency after voting at a school inside one of Podgorica’s drab communist-era apartment blocks.

Milan Popovic, a 64-year-old teacher, said he was “waiting for a good day…a historic day.”

“Like most people, I want changes for the better,” he added, according to Reuters.

close race

Djukanovic’s rival is Jakov Milatovic, 37, a former economy minister and deputy head of the Europe Now movement, which has vowed to curb corruption, improve living standards and strengthen ties with the European Union and the former Yugoslav republic of Serbia.

Djukanovic finished with 35.37 percent of the vote in the first round of the March 19 election, with Milatovic 28.92 percent, which required a runoff because neither won a 50-percent majority. Analysts have predicted a close race in the second round.

Sunday’s vote follows a year of political instability in which two governments were overthrown by votes of no confidence. He too was marked by a dispute between politicians and Djukanovic over his refusal to name a new prime minister.

On March 16, Djukanovic dissolved parliament and scheduled early elections for June 11. Although the presidential post in Montenegro is largely ceremonial, victory in the election would boost the party’s chances of winning in June.

Montenegro has a legacy of bitter divisions between those who identify as Montenegrins and those who consider themselves Serbs and oppose the country’s independence.

The country joined NATO after a 2016 coup attempt that Djukanovic’s government blamed on Russian agents and Serb nationalists. Moscow dismissed such claims as absurd.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Montenegro joined EU sanctions against Moscow and expelled several Russian diplomats. The Kremlin has placed Montenegro on its list of hostile states.