That there are eternal elections

Known for the bay, the narrow streets of the old town, and the surrounding places where criminal clans originate, Kotor has been in the center of political attention in recent months because it still has no local government.

Local elections in one of the most famous tourist places in Montenegro were held at the end of September 2024, but four and a half months later there is still no new local government, due to the lack of agreement between the parties that received the most votes and the request to repeat the elections at two polling stations.

The situation is similar in Šavnik, a place with several thousand inhabitants in the central part of that country, except that the election process takes much longer.

And that for two and a half years, and voting failed nine times at two polling stations.

In both cities, it is necessary to repeat the elections in several polling places in order to complete the electoral process, but this is being delayed, so it is not possible to declare the final election results, which is the first condition for the formation of the government.

The situation was similar in Podgorica and Budva, but the parties in those two municipalities managed to reach an agreement. It happened in Podgorica at the end of December 2024, and in Budva at the beginning of February 2025.

Where is the creak in Kotor?

In the local elections in Kotor, held in September 2024, ten seats were won by the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the ruling Democrats - PES. None of them have the majority to form a local government, so they have to form a coalition.

The Democrats, who until now ruled Kotor and are in power at the state level, have ten councilors, as many as the opposition DPS. Which of these parties will form the government depends on the results of possibly repeated elections and on the political will of six other parties and local lists that won three or fewer mandates each.

There is currently no agreement on repeating the elections, and the Montenegrin philosopher and columnist Stefan Đokić tells "Vreme" that the re-voting in Kotor could contribute to some kind of electoral engineering, "that the parties mutually agree on who needs one mandate, that each other they push in order to make coalitions afterwards".

"There is a kind of stalemate, as everyone is fighting for an election result that is close." If the results remain as they are, the Democrats could once again form the government, if there were to be repeated elections, some broader coalitions could be formed or the opposition would succeed in taking over the government", says Stefan Đokić.

After the September elections, ten mandates went to DPS and the Democrats - PES, three mandates each went to the lists for the future of Kotor, Democratic Alternative and Grbaljska lista, two mandates went to the European Union, and one each to the Croatian Civic Initiative and the Kotor Movement.

The assessment of the ruling parties is that in both Šavnik and Kotor, if there was a repeat vote at two polling stations each, the ruling coalition would lose, that is, the parties around the Democratic Party of Socialists would win, explains Zlatko Vujović from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Podgorica for "Vreme".

"In the case of Kotor, after three mandates of the Democrats - PES and the ruling coalition at the national level, estimates are that the opposition would win, although this is not a precise calculation, because it would not be easy to form a coalition. All the same, the democrats believe that the DPS would take over power in Kotor", explains Vujović.

The Šavnica scenario and the "import" of voters

In Šavnik, the poorest Montenegrin municipality, the elections have been going on since October 2022, because the members of the electoral committees from the opposition coalition "For the Future of Šavnik", which consists of the Socialist People's Party (SNP), the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and the Democratic People's Party (DNP), did not allow part of the newly registered voters to vote because, they claim, they got residence only to support the DPS.

At two polling stations, in the Municipality building and the village of Kruševica, where 541 voters have the right to vote, voting was held on nine occasions, the last time in December 2023, when the elections were interrupted again, after which the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) there could not agree on repeating them. So far, dozens of people have been prosecuted before the judicial authorities for events related to the elections in Šavnik.

The ruling parties, the Democratic Front and the Democrats - PES, are blocking the election commission from organizing the election process in that place, political scientist Vujević explains for "Vreme".

"It could not be finished because supporters of the Democratic Front broke in and damaged it, the police reacted, criminal charges were filed." Obviously, now, when there is no room for violent action, an attempt is being made to block the decision-making of the Municipal Election Commission. There is no limit to how long it will last, but it is sending a message to Brussels that Montenegro does not have the capacity to complete the electoral processes in extremely small municipalities", explains political scientist Zlatko Vujović.

According to Stefan Đokić, the migration of voters is the main reason for blocking the electoral process in that place.

"This was probably done by several political groups and you are allowed to register your residence without any proof and if you changed your residence six months before the election, you can vote." It is a well-known practice that destroys the electoral process in Montenegro because local elections do not take place at the same time and then there are those who voted safely in Podgorica, Nikšić, Savnik and who knows where else. There is no doubt that this happened in Šavnik. After those elections ended, Šavnik was left without 700-800 people at once. On account of that, the locals, under the influence of political parties, interrupted the election process and created problems, when they identified someone who was not from there, but came to vote", explains Đokić to "Vreme".

The way out of this political crisis has two scenarios - either the government at the national level will make a decision to hold voting in those election places or the election law will be changed, so that the State Election Commission will be empowered to have full jurisdiction over the election process at the local level, explains Zlatko Vujević from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Podgorica.

"This is a purely political decision by the government not to allow the election process to end, because they are counting on losing power," says Vujović.

Stefan Đokić, on the other hand, believes that there is no centralized authority in Montenegro that could push for the issue to be resolved.

"No one even cares to solve it, because if they want to win the elections, they have to bring in voters." The formal election process is still ongoing. "It is not in anyone's interest to finish it or not to finish it," Đokić concludes

The Budva case: Colorful

The municipality of Budva managed to elect the president of the local parliament on February 3, 2025, two and a half months after the elections in November.

Petar Odžić from the European Union was elected by the votes of supporters of the party of the Vice President of the Municipality, Nikola Jovanović, the European Union and the URA Movement, with the support of the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).

This is the first time after eight years that DPS is part of the parliamentary majority in Budva. That party, which ruled Budva for decades, has been in opposition in that municipality since 2016. As of August 2020, the opposition is also at the state level after three decades of rule.

This is the first time since 2020 that a party from the bloc of pro-Serbian parties has made a coalition arrangement with pro-Montenegro parties, explains Vujević.

"If we look a little deeper, it is the first time since 2001 that the DPS formed a coalition with a significant pro-Serbian party. These are significant moments that change the dynamics on the political scene of Montenegro, because above all the Democratic Front and the Democrats-PES tried to keep the opposition out of the arrangement with parts of the ruling structures, and that is the best and most effective way for the Democrats and the Democratic Front to stay in power for a long time," says Vujović.

Before the vote, members of the Coalition for the Future of Budva, close to the President of the Parliament of Montenegro Andrija Mandić, left the session.

The multi-hour session was accompanied by tensions, plainclothes police and communal police units were around the municipal building, and only councilors and journalists were allowed to enter the session.

The previous session at which the local government was supposed to be constituted in January was interrupted, as the supporters of the coalitions For the Future of Budva and Demokrata-PES entered the hall and said that they would not allow the session to be held.

The current conflict in Budva is led by two currents of the once unified pro-Serbian Democratic Front (DF).

One current is led by the vice-president of the Municipality, Nikola Jovanović, loyal to Milo Božović, the detained president of the Municipality of Budva, suspected of drug smuggling. Comrade Mladen Mikijelj, who is loyal to the leader of the DF and the president of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić.

They are supported by the Democrats of the Deputy Prime Minister, Alekse Bečić, and the Europe Now Movement - the party of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.

In the elections 17. November, the lists of the recent DF led by Jovanović and Mikijelj received nine mandates each, DPS seven, the Democrats-PES coalition three, the European Union and the Movement for the City two each, and the URA one mandate.

"The coalition is quite broad and colorful. The interesting thing about it is that those who said the worst about each other are now cooperating, which should be a lesson to citizens to take what politicians say about each other with a grain of salt, and that they should be a little more careful, because the next day they will have to cooperate with those they said the worst about," concludes Đokić.