An electoral earthquake. The political scene in Montenegro was turned upside down on Sunday evening by the defeat in the presidential election of veteran Milo Djukanovic after three decades of reign in the Balkan country, against newcomer Jakov Milatovic.
“Together with all the citizens of Montenegro, we have said a crucial no to crime and corruption this evening”, welcomed Jakov Milatovic, a 36-year-old pro-European economist. “It’s the evening we’ve been waiting for for more than thirty years. May this victory bring us all happiness! “, he continued in front of his jubilant supporters.
“We will tie Montenegro to the European Union over the next five years,” he promised. Jakov Milatovic obtained 60% of the vote against 40% for his rival, according to projections by the NGO CeMI covering almost all the polling stations. Official results are expected later in the week.
Djukanovic admits defeat
In the first round, two weeks earlier, Milo Djukanovic had won 35.4% of the vote against 28.9% for Jakov Milatovic. Outgoing President Milo Djukanovic, 61, admitted defeat. “Montenegro has chosen. I respect this choice. I congratulate Jakov Milatovic,” he said. “I want Milatovic to be a successful president because that will mean that Montenegro can be a successful country,” he added.
In the streets of Podgorica and other towns across the country, supporters of the Europe Now candidate celebrated his victory with honking and fireworks. In Montenegro, the president has mainly a representative role and the prime minister holds the main levers of power.
A must in political life, arrived in 1991
Early legislative elections are scheduled for June 11 after months of deadlock. The current government was overthrown by a vote of no confidence in August 2022 but continues to run day-to-day business.
Milo Djukanovic had been a fixture on the Montenegrin political scene for more than thirty years, repeatedly serving as Prime Minister or President. This is his biggest setback since the historic defeat of his party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), in the last legislative elections of 2020. Since then, the country has been going from crisis to crisis, with the fall of two governments.
Milo Djukanovic came to the helm in 1991, at the age of 29, supported by Belgrade strongman Slobodan Milosevic at the start of the bloody wars that were to smash the former Yugoslavia. His detractors accuse him of clientelism, widespread corruption and links with organized crime, which the person concerned strongly denies.