Presidential elections were held in Montenegro on 19 March 2023. Long-ruling incumbent president Milo Đukanović was eligible for re-election. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round vote was held on 2 April. In the first round, Đukanović, leader of the populist DPS, received 35%, coming first. Jakov Milatović, candidate of the newly formed centrist Europe Now! movement, running on an anti-corruption platform, outperformed the polls, gaining 29% of the votes and faced Đukanović in the second round. Andrija Mandić, one of the leaders of the right-wing populist DF secured 19% of the votes, finishing third in the first round. The second round runoff resulted in Milatović defeating Milo Đukanović in a landslide, becoming the first elected president not being a member of the Đukanović's DPS since introduction of the multi-party system in 1990, winning roughly 60% of the popular vote. It was the first time a runoff vote was held since the 1997 election, making it first presidential runoff since Montenegro gained independence in 2006, also the first election since 1997 where an incumbent president actively seeking reelection was denied a second term.
The presidential election was followed by the 2023 Montenegrin parliamentary election, held on 11 June 2023. The Europe Now! movement won a plurality of seats while the DPS led Together! coalition came in second after losing seats.
Background.
Milo Đukanović, the leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), ruled Montenegro for more than three decades either as prime minister or as president. Although seen as pro-Western, during his lengthy time in power he has been involved in numerous corruption scandals and affairs, and many wanted to see him out of politics. The previous presidential election held in 2018 was won by Đukanović, with 53.9% of the vote in the first round. The incumbent president, Đukanović was eligible for re-election in 2023, since his first presidential term (1998–2003) was served before the successful 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum.
The 2023 Presidential election was held amid the deepest political crisis Montenegro has faced since its independence from Serbia in 2006. The desire to oust long-ruling Đukanović and DPS brought together three ideologically diverse opposition alliances, varying from conservative and pro-Russian to pro-Western and civic, who tightly won the 2020 parliamentary election to form the first ruling coalition that excluded DPS. However, their coalition was marred with instability, and the government led by Zdravko Krivokapić fell in February 2022, to be replaced by a short-lived minority government of Dritan Abazović which lasted until August 2022. Parliamentary crisis resulted in vacancy or caretaker status of several major state institutions, including the caretaker status of government cabinet and state prosecution and, most notably, vacancy in the Constitutional Court. As the anti-DPS parliamentary majority fractured, Đukanović and his party were widely expected to return to the power.
Several candidates ran in opposition to Đukanović: Jakov Milatović was an independent member of the technocratic cabinet, while Andrija Mandić's right-wing populist Democratic Front was among the parties that backed it in the parliament. Apart from the strong desire to remove the DPS and its leader from power, the members of the coalition had little in common and were unable to carry out reforms. Local elections held in several municipalities during 2021 and 2022 showed that DPS was losing popular support. The loss of the DPS' majority in the capital city Podgorica was seen as a punishment for Đukanovićs rather counter-productive role in the ongoing political crisis in the country. Elections were held as the country is gripped by a year-long political deadlock marked by no-confidence votes in two separate governments and a row between parliamentary majority and Đukanović over appointing a new prime minister-designate. According to media outlets, Đukanović, Milatović, and Mandić were seen as the strongest of the seven candidates, and the only ones with a real chance of getting to the second round runoff. While the office of president is largely ceremonial in Montenegro, the 2023 presidential election was seen by many as barometer for the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, which Đukanović scheduled for June 2023, dissolving the parliament few days before the first round of presidential elections in which he ran for his third term as head of state.
Electoral system.
The president of Montenegro is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff is held two weeks later. A new president is elected every five years, and only is eligible for two terms. In order to submit their candidacy to the State Electoral Commission, potential candidates need to collect 8,101 signatures.
Campaign.
First round.
The incumbent president Milo Đukanović, who is also leader of the largest parliamentary party DPS, was eligible for re-election. Neither Đukanović nor his party announced to the public whether he planned to run in the elections, while Đukanović ultimately did not announce his candidacy until 24 February, two days before the deadline for submission of candidacies. Previously, the potential candidacy of the outgoing mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, and former prime minister Duško Marković was also advocated within the Đukanović's party. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to nominate a common candidate with DPS and the other parties within the self-labelled sovereignist bloc, on 9 February the Social Democratic Party (SDP) decided to nominate its candidate, MP Draginja Vuksanović, who was already the party's candidate in the previous elections when she unexpectedly won over 8% of voter support. The SDP initially advocated joint support for the candidacy of Milica Pejanović-Đurišić, the ambassador of Montenegro to the United Nations, or some other non-compromised independent candidate, while the minor LP and SD parties were ready to unconditionally support the candidate selected by the DPS. The presidential elections were preceded by the 2022 Montenegrin local elections, which resulted in poor results for Đukanović's party, losing power in 11 of the 14 municipalities where the elections were held, including in the capital Podgorica, for the first time since the 1990s. Đukanović's DPS also lost the mayoral posts in the vast majority of municipalities in the local elections of 2020, 2021, and 2022 for the first time since its foundation, which was accompanied by a drop in the party's popular support; this is why many of the upcoming elections were called the "most uncertain since Montenegrin independence".
A member of the ruling coalition, the SNP initially proposed the leader of the DEMOS and the candidate in the 2013 Montenegrin presidential election, Miodrag Lekić, as the joint candidate of the parties of the parliamentary majority, which the other parties eventually refused. At the end of January, the right-wing populist Democratic Front (DF) announced that it would nominate its informal leader Andrija Mandić, who was a candidate back in the 2008 Montenegrin presidential election. In February, the SNP decided to support the candidacy of Mandić, abandoning the proposal to run with their own candidate, while Democratic Montenegro (DCG) initially called for common candidate of self-labeled centrist bloc along with United Reform Action (URA) and the newly founded Europe Now! movement, finally deciding to highlight the candidacy of their leader Aleksa Bečić. Prime minister Dritan Abazović's URA party announced that it would not have its own candidate, eventually deciding to support a Bečić candidacy.
Initially, the Europe Now! movement decided to nominate its co-founder Milojko Spajić, former finance minister as its candidate. He was disqualified due to suspicions of him having Serbian citizenship; Montenegrin law does not allow people with dual citizenship to run for presidency. Spajić's disqualification by the national election body (DIK), composed mostly by DPS and DF delegates, was quick and did not wait for the completion of a probe launched by the Ministry of the Interior. Spajić said that at the time of submitting his candidacy he possessed Montenegrin citizenship only, submitting all legally required documents issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro and a proof that he had officially renounced his Serbian citizenship earlier in February 2023. This further fueled speculation that DIK's decision was influenced by the DPS, as Spajić was seen as a serious threat to Đukanović. DIK members representing DF also voted to disqualify Spajić. Many NGO activists and lawyers criticized the rejection of the candidacy by the state commission, stating that it exceeded its authority, the absence of a legal basis for the rejection of the candidacy, and foreign interference (citing interference of the Serbian government) in the electoral process of Montenegro. Spajić's movement and some NGOs called DIK's decision a political disqualification and abuse of that body by representatives of the two largest political parties in the parliament: DPS and DF. The selectivity of the commission's decision is also problematic, given that DIK did not check the status of other candidates who were previously confirmed, including pro-Serbian DF's candidate Andrija Mandić, who has been repeatedly publicly announcing he holds Serbian citizenship as well, whose candidacy was confirmed at the beginning of February without checking those claims. In early February, Radio Free Europe and CEDEM analysts noted that candidate of newly founded centrist Europe Now! movement became subject of spin and negative campaign launched by media close to both the largest Montenegrin and Serbian nationalist parties, DPS and DF, which the movement later accused of coordinated activity against their candidate's campaign.
Shortly after that, Europe Now nominated Jakov Milatović, former Minister of Economy. His campaign did not go smoothly; in Cetinje, Montenegro's former capital, a group of about 30 people attacked Milatović on his way to a pre-election gathering, one day after the first electoral debate aired on 9 March on the national broadcaster chanel. This was followed by the publication of fake news, misinformation and a negative campaign against Milatović and members of his movement as well as some NGOs and Western foreign representatives who criticized the attack, which were pushed online mainly by media and organizations and activists supporting the incumbent president Đukanović, while some individuals close to Đukanović's party supported or relativized the attack, calling it a "peaceful protest of citizens". Europe Now said the group was organised by the DPS. Another group of people, also accused of being supporters of the DPS, attempted to prevent Milatović's meeting with supporters in the town of Nikšić over the last campaign weekend.
With both Đukanović and Milatović aiming to occupy the pro-EU centre ground, the debate came down to a question of political experience versus expertise gained outside politics. Đukanović said that the election would determine whether Montenegro would "develop as a modern European state, or if it will accept a position humbly serving other countries' interests". He compared the 19 March vote with that in 1997 when he was elected president for the first time, highlighting his status as one of Europe's longest-ruling leaders. On the other hand, political newcomer Milatović said it was time for Montenegrins to vote for people who have knowledge and expertise. As a departure from the identity issues that have long dominated the country politics, he emphasizes the country's economic development in his program, consistently setting himself apart from Đukanović and his DPS with strong anti-corruption messages. Pro-Serbian right-wing candidate Mandić disputed Milatović's claim that Montenegro needs experts, saying that Đukanović could only be ousted from power by someone as experienced in politics as he is; like Đukanović, Mandić has been involved in politics since the 1990s. Former speaker of the parliament Aleksa Bečić, the fourth out of the seven presidential candidates, running on centrist platform, said that "Montenegro's interests should come first and the interests of parties and candidates must be set aside". Social Democratic Party candidate Draginja Vuksanović was the only woman competing for the post. During the campaign, Đukanović presented himself in a statesmanlike manner while at the same time giving the impression that the "country would plunge into chaos and ruin if he were defeated". Controversial because Montenegro became increasingly corrupt during Đukanović's three decades of rule, the authoritarian nature of his leadership raised eyebrows among EU representatives. Mandić was "the eternal opposition" in Montenegrin politics. Mandić has long been known not only as a supporter of a joint state with Serbia but also as a hard-line Serb nationalist and opponent of Montenegro's Euro-Atlantic integration. During the campaign, Mandić parted with his radically pro-Serbian views in slices and sought a path to the political center, declaratively accepting Montenegro's NATO membership and supporting Montenegrin EU membership. At the end of the