BELGRADE, August 31. /TASS/. Montenegro’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists led by President Milo Djukanovic has lost the parliamentary vote to the opposition coalition after decades of domination. With 92.99% of the votes calculated by the State Electoral Commission of Montenegro, the ruling party has only won 30 seats in the 81-seat parliament, whereas the opposition coalition has 41 seats required for cabinet formation.
According to the figures provided by the State Electoral Commission, Djukanovic’s block is leading in the vote with 35.20%. Meanwhile, the biggest opposition coalition ‘For the Future of Montenegro’ has won 32.51% (27 seats in the parliament), the ‘Peace is Our Nation’ coalition - 12.34% (10 seats), the ‘Black on White’ coalition - 5.33% (4 seats), the Social Democrats of Ivan Brajovic - 4.17% (3 seats). The Bosniak Party and the Social Democratic Party ‘Strong Montenegro’ have gained another three and two seats, respectively, and two Albanian National Parties have won one seat each.
Opposition coalition
‘For the Future of Montenegro’ leader Zdravko Krivokapic told TASS that Montenegro’s opposition electoral blocs ‘For the Future of Montenegro’, ‘Peace is Our Nation’ and ‘Black on White’ intend to form a coalition government of experts that will dismiss Milo Djukanovic.
"The regime has definitely collapsed, you will see that as the votes are calculated the gap between the opposition and the ruling party and its satellites will only rise," he said. "Currently we think that an expert government will become the best solution for Montenegro, that is the best solution for the nation," Krivokapic added.
Asked about primary plans, he said that the first decision taken by the opposition government will be to revoke the law on freedom of faith, which infringes on interests of the Orthodox Church, as well pass the lustration law and the law on the property origin.
Meanwhile, Krivokapic noted that he does not plan to cooperate with the sitting President Milo Djukanovic, whose presidential mandate expires in 2023. "Hopefully the reaction of people will be such that Mister Djukanovic will probably resign after certain events that are very clear and unambiguous and that concern Djukanovic and his network," he said.
Krivokapic urged opponents to cooperate, mentioning "a partnership hand" extended by the opposition.
Djukanovic waiting for results
Despite the opposition’s proposal, President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic has not yet acknowledged the defeat of the bloc he has created. It is necessary "to wait until the official results of the vote appear," he noted.
"We remain the strongest party in the country. It is too early to speak about final results yet, the issue is who will get the decisive 41st mandate. We have established a democratic European society and will acknowledge the winner once we know the final results," President said.
Parliament’s authorities
The parliamentary vote has become the 11th after the country embraced a multi-party system. Montenegro is a parliamentary republic with the 81-seat unicameral parliament (Skupstina) being its legislative body. The parliament is particularly mandated to adopt the constitution, approve and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet members, as well as Supreme and Constitutional Courts chairmen, and the prosecutor general. It also adopts the country’s budget.