The political scene in Montenegro was turned on its head on Sunday evening, April 2, 2023, by the defeat of veteran Milo Djukanovic in the presidential election after three decades of rule in the tiny Balkan state to newcomer Jakov Milatovic.
The result of the second round of presidential elections will be decisive for the balance of power in this Adriatic country, with the approach of snap general elections, called for June 11 after months of deadlock, with a censored government that does not just cover current affairs .
According to CeMI NGO projections, which cover almost all polling stations, Jakov Milatovic, 36, received around 60% of the vote, versus 40% for his rival.
“I congratulate the new President Jakov Milatovic”a pro-European economist, Ana Nenezic, the director of this NGO, to the press.
On the streets of Podgorica and other cities across the country, supporters of Europe Now’s candidate celebrated his victory by setting off fireworks and honking their horns.
Milo Djukanovic has been a fixture on the Montenegrin political scene for more than 30 years and has repeatedly served as Prime Minister or President.
“Defeat of the Old Regime”
This is his biggest setback since the historic defeat of his party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), in the last general election in 2020. Since then, the country has been in crisis after crisis, with the fall of two governments.
“I am convinced of my victory”said Jakov Milatovic during the vote. “It will represent the final defeat of the symbol of the old regime” and “we will take a big step towards a reconciled, richer and more just Montenegro”.
According to analysts, Jakov Milatovic could count on the votes of voters willing to change.
Milo Djukanovic took over at the age of 29, backed at the time by Serbia’s strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
When Serbia became a pariah on the international stage, he distanced himself. He moved closer to the West, broke with Belgrade, and won Montenegro’s independence in a 2006 referendum. His country joined NATO, became a candidate for the European Union and left the Russian sphere of influence.
But his critics accuse him of clientelism, generalized corruption and links to organized crime, which the person concerned vehemently denies.
“We have had a man in power here for 30 years who enabled the embodiment of dictatorship, abuse of power, corruption, allowed crime to thrive.”told AFP Mladen Vukovic, a doctor in Podgorica.
vulnerability
Milo Djukanovic led the campaign, in which he questioned the sincerity of his rival’s and his Europe Now movement’s European roots, while accusing him of being vulnerable to Serbian interference.
To which Jakov Milatovic replied that his “ The number one priority for Montenegro was full membership of the European Union”. He also said he was in favour “good relations with Serbia as well as with all nations of the Western Balkans”.
For years, Milo Djukanovic has tried to limit Serbia’s influence and cement a national identity separate from Montenegro. A difficult task in a country where a third of the 620,000 inhabitants identify themselves as Serbs.
Jakov Milatovic, a former member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), entered politics by becoming Economic Development Minister in the first government to be formed after the 2020 general election.
Dubbed a populist by some, the father-of-three has hit particularly hard with a controversial economic program that has nearly doubled the minimum wage to €450.
For many voters, the election is likely to result in better economic conditions in Montenegro, which, like the rest of the Balkans, is suffering from the outflow of its youth.
In any case, the President has an essentially representative role and the Prime Minister holds the main levers of power.