Most of Montenegrin Parties Submit List of Candidates

Presidential elections in Montenegro, Podgorica, March 19 2023 (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

Most of Montenegro’s parties submitted lists of their candidates for an early parliamentary vote scheduled for June 11, having met a deadline for the nominations to reach the National Election Commission that expired at midnight, on May 16.

In the run-up to the deadline, the parties that formed a parliamentary majority would break the existing political alliances and enter into new ones, and all opposition leaders and officials left the leading posts they had held. Judging by its successes in presidential and local polls, Montenegro’s Movement “Europe Now” will be the pillar of a new cabinet. The movement has also submitted a list of candidates headed by the party leader, Milojko Spajic.

The Democratic Montenegro and the Civic Movement “URA” also submitted the list of nominees titled “Courage Counts!” The first-listed candidate is a Democrat, Aleksa Becic. The prime minister serving a technical term in office, Dritan Abazovic, is also included in the list. The Democratic Front, the largest coalition in the parliamentary majority, decided not to run together with the two parties.

Analysts say that the drastic reshuffling was quite expected after “a political earthquake” following Djukanovic’s decision to step down and leave the leading post in the Democratic Party of Socialists. A professor at the Boston University, Vesko Garcevic, teaching the Practice of International Relations, says though that the is surprised how quick the change has been. “Even though I have forecast the regrouping, I didn’t expect it to take place until after the elections on June 11,” the professor explained.