Photo: Vesna Lalić/Nova/AP PhotoEquating the importance of the past presidential elections with the 2006 referendum, when more than 55 percent of citizens supported the independence of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović certainly did not expect that 60 percent of Montenegrins would show yesterday that they do not share the same vision of an independent state with the previous president. More precisely, that they do not accept to continue to be the subject of manipulations and a means of division. Throwing Jakov Milatović, who joined politics only two years ago, into the foreground, the citizens did not only punish Đukanović, but also all those who have been shaping the Montenegrin political environment for decades.
For "Vreme" from Podgorica
The results of the presidential elections in Montenegro can be expressed in one simple sentence - the defeat of Milo Đukanović. That is indeed what happened yesterday, far more than it would be to say - the victory of Jakov Milatović.
While trying to turn the elections into a referendum question for or against the survival of Montenegro, that political narrative came back to Đukanović like a boomerang in the form of a "referendum question" - for or against Milo. The response of the Montenegrin public was more than convincing. Those 60 percent of the ballots circled in front of the name of Jakov Milatović marked the end of the longest political career in Europe, if we exclude the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
The intention to present the vote for him as a vote for Montenegro, while presenting itself as the only guarantor of independence, makes this defeat of Đukanović even more dramatic. Equating the importance of the past presidential elections with the 2006 referendum, when more than 55 percent of citizens supported the independence of Montenegro, Đukanović certainly did not expect that 60 percent of Montenegrins would show yesterday that they do not share the same vision of an independent state with the current president. More precisely, that they do not accept to continue to be the subject of manipulations and a means of division.
Connection of crime, police and politics
What is the environment in which the end of Đukanović's dominance begins?
Dritan Abazović's government has been in technical mandate for longer than it did when it was voted no-confidence.
A day before he will enter the election race, Đukanović dissolved Parliament by decree and scheduled extraordinary elections for June 11.
The time between the two election rounds was marked by the arrest of high-ranking officials in the Montenegrin police and the issuing of warrants for those who escaped arrest, just like the affair on police torture carried out in 2020 by members of the SPBOK special police team.
Members of the judicial authorities, political directors, the president's intimates, members of criminal clans have been in prison for a long time, and all this convincingly shows how deeply crime has penetrated into almost every pore of society.
The definition of the mafia as a nexus of crime, police and politics proves to be accurate.
People from the background
Although Đukanović saw himself, above all, as a symbol of an independent and European Montenegro, the votes show that for the majority of citizens he is still a symbol of a captured, criminalized and corrupt state.
At the moment when he recognized the victory of Milatović, casting doubt on any contribution of his political opponents to the democratization of the country, Đukanović was surrounded by anonymous young people with Montenegrin flags. With him on the stage were the "new faces of the DPS", the spokesman Miloš Nikolić and the candidate for the successor at the head of the party, Ivan Vuković, who recently lost the elections in Podgorica. Duško Marković, Branimir Gvozdenović, Milan Roćen moved from the front rows to the background, almost hidden from the public eye. Many of the former first political team did not even appear. Maybe they were forbidden.
But the painting of the party, from its symbols to its people, apparently came late. It is precisely these people from the second plane who are seen by the majority of Montenegro as the inscrutable political elite and Montenegrin tycoons. Like Đukanović's elite that captured the state.
The loss of the meaning of the existence of the "anti-Milov" coalition
On the other side, however, the leaders of the current parliamentary majority celebrated their victory with Milatović, whatever that means in Montenegro. The new president of the state acknowledged them, repeating that this is a victory for everyone. It is quite expected and politically wise at such moments to give credit to those who rocked Djukanovic's regime and to hide the full scope and depth of the political changes that are taking place.
Behind the fact that the DPS lost its last position in government, there remains the fact that the "parliamentary majority" has lost its lowest common denominator - the mission to overthrow Milo Đukanović. After the votes are tallied, there is little that connects them. In other words, the bloc of Đukanović's opponents is not only deeply divided, but with his defeat last night, it lost its meaning of existence. Everyone who drank champagne with Milatović last night is aware of that fact this morning.
Finally, the attitude of the majority that elected it was crucial for the downfall of Zdravko Krivokapić's government, in which Jakov Milatović was one of the "apostolic" ministers, even though they left the role of executor to the DPS deputies. If that had not happened, however, the Europe Now Movement would not be dominating the political scene of Montenegro today and not everyone would be afraid of its political momentum, which does not seem to be weakening.
The dizzying success of the Europe Now Movement
The facts that Europe was founded only nine months ago, that its leaders have been in politics for less than two years, that its vice-president unexpectedly entered the presidential race and won ten percent more votes than the three lists that in 2020 were removed from authorities, the Democratic Party of Socialists, says a lot. The citizens did not only punish Đukanović, but also all those who have been shaping the Montenegrin political environment for decades.
And those who are treated by political elites only as an electorate or reservoir of votes have obviously understood the basic lesson. Punishments and rewards are the mechanisms of their participation in politics. Just to make it last.
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Milo Đukanović admitted defeat in today's presidential elections and congratulated Jakov Milatović on his victory. He announced that he is waiting for the parliamentary elections, because, he said, Montenegro does not have a government. Jakov Milatović marked his victory as historic, because Milo Đukanović's regime was defeated
The Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) has published projections of the results of the presidential elections in Montenegro. The results show a convincing victory for Jakov Milatović
