A novice against a veteran for the presidential election in Montenegro
At a polling station in Podgorica, April 2, 2023. REUTERS - STEVO VASILJEVIC
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Will the young liberal economist Jakov Milatovic bring down the unalterable Milo Djukanovic, in power for three decades in this tiny Balkan country? The second round of the presidential election, this Sunday, April 2, promises to be tense.
Advertising
Read more
Will this election be one too many for Milo Djukanovic, 61, the veteran politician in the Balkans, who has reigned over Montenegro for 32 years with the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), alternating the functions of Prime Minister and President of the Republic?
This time, he is not approaching the election as a favorite, analyses our special envoy in Podgorica, Jean-Arnault Dérens: in the first round, on March 19, he won only 35% of the vote and has almost no reserves of votes, while all the other candidates have turned to his rival, Jakov Milatovic, a 36-year-old liberal economist. presented by the Europe Now movement. He became known two years ago when, as Minister of the Economy, this former member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), launched an ambitious program to increase salaries and pensions.
Block
Milo Djukanovic took the helm at the age of 29, backed by Belgrade strongman Slobodan Milosevic. But as Serbia became a pariah on the international stage, he distanced himself. He moved closer to the West, broke with Belgrade and won independence from Montenegro in a referendum in 2006. Under the aegis of Milo Djukanovic and his party, Montenegro joined NATO, became a candidate for the European Union and left the Russian sphere of influence. His critics nevertheless accuse him of widespread corruption and links with organized crime, which he strongly denies.
Milo Djukanovic tries to dramatize the issue by presenting his opponent as subservient to the Serbian Orthodox Church, or even to Putin's Russia, but these accusations hardly take place, especially since Jakov Milatovic has always affirmed his European and pro-Western commitment.
Montenegro could therefore turn a page in its history for good this Sunday. And even if the president essentially has only a representative role in Montenego, the election could be decisive for the balance of power in the run-up to early legislative elections called for June 11. The country has been blocked for months after the August 2022 overthrow of the government, which has since managed current affairs.
(
And with AFP)
Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Read on on the same topics:
- Montenegro
- Society