Djukanovic’s DPS falls from power in local elections

It said that the DPS lost in several of the municipalities where it has been dominant to date, including the capital Podgorica where about a third of the Montenegrin electorate lives. Vijesti said that the Europe Now (Evropa sad) movement came out on top with plans to take over in the capital and at least three other cities.

The daily said that there were no serious incident except in the town of Savnik where the vote was not held at the biggest polling station and was stopped at two others because polling commission members refused to allow people recently entered into the electoral rolls from other municipalities to vote. Charges were filed against those polling commission members.

According to preliminary results released by the Center for Democratic Transition, the DPS-led coalition won 38.1 percent of the vote in Podgorica and will remain in power in just two places – Bar on the coast and Bijelo Polje in the north of the country. The DPS was followed by Europe Now (headed by former minister Jakov Milatovic) with 21.7 percent of the vote.

The Center for Democratic Transition said that the turnout was just under 70 percent in Podgorica compared to 2018 when 64.4 percent voted and the 2020 parliamentary elections when 81.1 percent voted.