Montenegro’s new ruling coalition beats president’s party in his hometown

Montenegro’s new ruling coalition beats president’s party in his hometown
By bne IntelliNews March 15, 2021

Montenegro’s new ruling coalition, which came to power after winning the August 2020 general election, has scored its second victory over President Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), winning the local election in Djukanovic’s hometown Niksic. 

The local election in Niksic on March 14 was the first vote since the government of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic took office. It was seen as the first real test of public opinion on the change of power at state level, a comment published by the Centre for Monitoring and Research (CEMI) said on March 15.

The three blocs that make up the new ruling coalition won 23 of the 41 seats in the local assembly, while the DPS took only 18.

That broadly reflects the result of the August general election that marked the end of the DPS’ 30 years in power in Montenegro, for much of which the Djukanovic had been either president or prime minister. 

As voters turned against the DPS over its handling of the pandemic and the controversial church law adopted by the previous government, for the first time a collection of opposition parties and coalitions managed to put together a majority in the parliament. 

The new government under Krivokapic is backed by around 20 small parties with a broad spectrum of political stances, inevitably raising questions about its stability and effectiveness. Just two months after it was voted in, a serious rift appeared between Krivokapic and the Democratic Front, one of the larger groupings within the coalition, over proposed changes to the criminal code. This led to the Democratic Front refusing to back Krivokapic’s budget and threatening to withdraw its support for his government. 

Despite this, when voters in Montenegro’s second city went back to the polls to appoint the local council, according to CEMI’s head, Zlatko Vujovic, the results showed that all the main political blocs retained roughly the same level of support they had in the 2020 parliamentary elections.

While the DPS’ European Team for Niksic took the largest share of the vote, two members of the ruling coalition were in second and third place, meaning the DPS would be unable to find partners to control the city council. 

Vujovic also said, as quoted by public broadcaster RTCG, that the biggest winner of the election is Krivokapic, who has managed to secure increased support for his coalition, Peace is Our Nation. It got 9% more votes compared to the August 30 result when it gained around 13% of the vote. 

However, Djukanovic — who grew up in Niksic before moving to Podgorica (then Titograd) to study at university — said the vote showed that the DPS is still the strongest party and expressed confidence that it would return to power soon. 

"If we look [at the result] from the state angle, then it should be noted that, in a way, it is logical that only a few months after the victory of today's ruling coalition, the victory they have been waiting for 30 years, the winners' euphoria is still president," said Djukanovic to broadcaster N1.

Democratic Front leader Andrija Mandic called the result a “great victory that surpasses all expectations”, and said the party would form a coalition in Niksic with the lists of Krivokapic and parliament speaker Aleksa Becic.

Supporters of the Democratic Front and other victorious parties gathered in the streets of Niksic to celebrate, in violation of the curfew that comes into effect at 9pm in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus. According to N1 there were several minor skirmishes between demonstrators and police, and one activist for the DPS’s European Team for Niksic was attacked.

 

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