Montenegrin elections: Ethnic minority parties hold key

Montenegrin elections: Ethnic minority parties hold key

The Montenegrin parliament has 81 seats and to form a government, a party or a coalition must have at least 41 seats.

The key is in the hands of parties representing ethnic minorities and the now opposition Social Democrats (SDP), who have been Djukanovic's traditional partners in the past. The latter have won five percent, which translates to four parliamentary seats.

CEMI has announced that based on the 100 percent of the processed sample, the Democratic Front (DF) won 20.4 percent (18 seats), the Grand Coalition Kljuc (Key) received 10.7 percent - 9 seats), followed by Aleksa Becic's Democrats (10.5 percent - 9 seats), the Bosniak Party (3.3 percent - two seats), Ivan Brajovic's Social Democrats (3.1 percent - two seats), and the Croatian Civil Coalition (HGI) and the Albanian Coalition with one seat each.

Djukanovic has declared election victory, announcing that his party "and its traditional partners have 42 mandates (in parliament)."

He also said that the DPS has "defended Montenegro and its path toward European integration" and that a new government will be formed soon.

Even united, the four biggest opposition parties, who said publicly they would not join the DPS in any post-election coalition, cannot form a government unless they are supported by the parties representing Bosniaks, Albanians, and Croats.

But Democratic Front (DF) official Andrija Mandic, who headed that pre-election coalition's list, said that based on 90 percent of the votes, the opposition had a total of 41 seats, and invited minority parties to support the idea of forming a transitional government that would organize "fair and free elections."

Earlier, other opposition leaders also asked minority parties to consider well before deciding whom to join, with Democratic Front leader Miodrag Lekic saying in his post-election address that the DPS has been "defeated" while the opposition did "much better (than expected)" - which, he said, opened up the possibility of "talks and negotiations" with minority parties who have emerged as kingmakers.

Lekic also said that his coalition was not satisfied with the election result as they expected to receive more votes, but would continue their work as "a civil and reform force."

He said there had been "traditional, minor and major electoral irregularities," and that "the news" that a coup had been attempted in Montenegro caused particular confusion - something that his party will ask the authorities to "explain."

"The DPS has been defeated, and we'll see whether they will manage to, through their alchemy, arrive at a victorious result," Lekic said.

Deputy leader of the New Serb Party, a member of the DF, Emilo Labudovic, initially declared the victory of the opposition, and then urged minority parties to consider well whom to support in forming a government.