Home BreakingMontenegrins go to the polls to try to end years of crisis

Montenegrins go to the polls to try to end years of crisis

11.06.2023

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Montenegrins go to the polls to try to end years of crisis

Montenegrins are voting in early elections on Sunday to try to end the political crisis that has undermined their country since the historic defeat three years ago of the training of local veteran Milo Djukanovic, also beaten in the presidential election in April.

Two governments have been overthrown by motions of no confidence since the August 2020 legislative elections in Montenegro, a Balkan state of 620,000 inhabitants.

Since the defeat of Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), defeated by a heterogeneous coalition composed, among others, of pro-Russian and pro-Serbian formations, no camp has managed to build a stable majority.

Montenegro, which joined NATO in 2017 and has been negotiating its membership of the European Union since 2010, has since gone from crisis to crisis. A paralysis of the institutions which has hampered in particular its rapprochement with the EU.

“I would like to see political appeasement and the coming to power of the forces sincerely committed to our march towards Europe,” Dragan Bjelic, a 72-year-old retired economist, told AFP on his way to a vote place.

In the April presidential election, Jakov Milatovic, a 36-year-old pro-European economist, easily defeated Milo Djukanovic, the dominant figure on the Montenegrin political scene for three decades.

His training, “Europe Now!” (PES) is well placed to come out ahead in the polls and be a pillar of the next government.

Founded barely a year ago, this party promises to move Montenegro on the European path, to bridge the religious and community gaps that divide this country where a third of the inhabitants identify as Serbs.

This formation hopes to attract young voters who want to see new faces in charge.

However, voters seem not to be very motivated by the ballot. At 3 p.m. (1300 GMT), the turnout was 35%, compared to 50% at the same time in the second round of the presidential election in April, according to the estimate of the Center for Democratic Transition, one of the NGOs responsible for monitoring the conduct of the vote.

PES co-founder and chairman Milojko Spajic, 35, is aiming for the post of prime minister. But, a few days before the legislative elections, this candidate accused of populism was the subject of a resounding controversy relayed by the interim Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and his allies.

They discussed his alleged links to the South Korean founder of the Terra cryptocurrency, Do Kwon, who was arrested in March in Montenegro. Accused of billions of dollars of fraud, Do Kwon is wanted by Washington and Seoul.

Economist and former finance minister Milojko Spajic again dismissed the allegations on Sunday, saying it was “the latest attempt to sabotage” his party. He promised “a big leap forward” for Montenegro economically and a better atmosphere for business.

“We want to become the Singapore of Europe, the most business-friendly country in Europe. Obviously, our geopolitical goal is EU membership. That’s the goal we will work hard on.”