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Demonstration in Podgorica, to demand the resignation of the president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, on February 16, 2019. Savo PRELEVIC / AFP

Several thousand protesters marched Saturday night February 23 in the streets of Podgorica to demand the resignation of the Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, in power for 30 years and accused of maintaining an authoritarian and corrupt regime.

With our correspondent in Podgorica , Laurent Geslin

The icy gusts falling from the mountains to sweep Podgorica did not stop several thousand people from marching for the third time in less than a month on the streets of the Montenegrin capital.

The protesters call for the resignation of President Milo Djukanovic, who has been undivided for three decades in the small country, that of the prosecutor in charge of organized crime, and that of the director of public television, accused of being in the pay of the regime.

This wave of revolt broke after the broadcast of a video featuring a famous businessman handing an envelope of $ 100,000 to the former mayor of Podgorica, a member of the ruling party, to finance an election campaign.

Milena, a teacher, came from the coastal town of Budva and she does not mince words: " We are demonstrating because we want the rule of law, we want a normal state. We have a thief as president and he has been in power for 30 years. And the movement will be expected because the people have it over their heads . "

Organized by a small group of intellectuals, researchers, members of civil society and journalists, these gatherings manage to mobilize outside the traditional networks of opposition parties, divided and largely discredited. In the procession, no one has any illusions, it will take much more to bend the clan to power, but all are certain, the wind will soon turn.