President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic speaks for final pre-election rally before the second round of Presidential elections at "Moraca" sports hall in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, on March 31, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
PODGORICA – Montenegrins were set to vote in a run-off presidential election on Sunday, pitting long-time incumbent Milo Djukanovic against a Western-educated economist pledging to lift the nation out of a crisis marked by no-confidence votes in two governments.
Polling stations will open at 7 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 8 pm (1800 GMT). First unofficial results by pollsters, based on a sample of the electorate, are expected about two hours later.
Sunday's vote follows a year of political instability that saw two governments felled by no-confidence votes and a dispute between lawmakers and Djukanovic over his refusal to name a new prime minister
Djukanovic, 61, has dominated Montenegro as president or prime minister for 33 years, since the start of the collapse of the now-defunct federal Yugoslavia.
Opponents have long accused the former communist and his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of corruption, ties with organized crime and running the small Adriatic republic, which mainly relies on revenues from tourism along its scenic coast, as their fiefdom, allegations they deny.
His rival is Jakov Milatovic, 37, a former economy minister and the deputy head of the Europe Now movement who pledged to curb graft, improve living standards and bolster ties with both the European Union and fellow ex-Yugoslav republic Serbia.
Djukanovic wound up with 35.37 percent of the vote in the first round of the election on March 19, with Milatovic on 28.92 percent, necessitating a run-off as neither garnered a 50 percent majority, and analysts have predicted a tight race in the run-off.
ALSO READ: Montenegro to elect president in tight race after deadlock
Sunday's vote follows a year of political instability that saw two governments felled by no-confidence votes and a dispute between lawmakers and Djukanovic over his refusal to name a new prime minister.
On March 16 Djukanovic dissolved parliament and scheduled snap elections for June 11. Although the presidential post in Montenegro is largely ceremonial, a victory in the election would bolster the chances of the winner's party in June.
Montenegro has a legacy of bitter divisions between those who identify as Montenegrins and those who see themselves as Serbs and are opposed to the country's independence.
READ MORE: Montenegro president headed for run-off election
The country joined NATO after a 2016 coup attempt that the Djukanovic government blamed on Russian agents and Serbian nationalists. Moscow dismissed such claims as absurd.
