Montenegro’s ruling party wins election

Milo Djukanović set to return as prime minister.

The Democratic Party of Socialists, which has ruled Montenegro without interruption since 1991, has won a clear victory in yesterday’s parliamentary election.

Its leader, Milo Djukanović, announced last night (14 October) that he would seek to form a government right away.

The 50-year-old Djukanović has been the country’s president or prime minister for all but two years in the past two decades.

“We will continue to bear the burden of responsibility for the continued development of Montenegro,” Djukanović said in declaring victory.

According to preliminary figures, the DPS has won around 46% of the vote, which would leave it a couple of seats short of an outright majority in the 81-seat parliament. The party is expected to seek a coalition with one of the smaller parties representing Montenegro’s ethnic minorities.

The main opposition bloc came a distant second, with around 24%.

In the last parliamentary election, the DPS won an outright majority of 52%, with the main opposition party at 17%.

Djukanović’s political comeback – he had handed over as prime minister to Igor Lukšić, a young reformer, at the end of 2010 – has raised concerns in the European Union about the government’s willingness to root out pervasive corruption and to force business to become more transparent.

The election had been moved ahead from next year to capitalise on Montenegro’s success in its bid to join the EU.

Montenegro started membership talks with the EU in June and received a positive progress report from the European Commission last week. The first policy chapter in the negotiations is expected to be opened before the end of the year. The tiny Adriatic Republic of some 680,000 people split from Serbia in 2006, the last country to break loose from what was once Yugoslavia. It is the only candidate for EU membership other than Iceland and Croatia, which is set to join next summer, with a realistic chance to become a member before the end of this decade.

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