Montenegrin voters go to the polls this Sunday for the second round of the presidential elections after no candidate managed to obtain more than 50% of the votes on March 19.
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Montenegro goes to the polls to elect its new president
More than 542,000 registered voters will determine who will be president for the next five-year term, after polls opened at 0700 local time (0500 GMT) and will remain open until 2000 (1800 GMT).
Incumbent President Milo Djukanovic of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro and economist Jakov Milatovic of the newly formed Europe Now group are facing off in the Western Balkan nation’s eighth presidential election since the country transitioned to a multiparty system in 1990.
Montenegro President Runoff. Runoff between Milo Đukanović and Jakov Milatović #ElectionDay 2023-04-02
— Elections Today (@electionsfeed)
April 2, 2023
A six-time prime minister and twice president, the 61-year-old Djukanovic is known for his pro-Western policies.
These elections will be followed by early parliamentary elections on June 11, so these elections will be a good exercise to measure forces between the two most voted parties. Participation in the first batch was 62.7%.
In the first round of the presidential elections in Montenegro, the outgoing president, the pro-European Milo Djukanovic, was the candidate with the most votes, with 35.3% of the vote, followed by the leader of the Europe Now Movement, Jakov Milatovic, with 28, 9%
Analysts consider Milatovic a favorite because they believe that this fervent European can capture the vote of many voters eager for change after decades of rule by Yukanovic, leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).