Elections begin in Montenegro to choose next president
Montenegrin voters started casting their ballots on Sunday to elect the country's next president, Anadolu agency reports.
Seven candidates, including one woman, are competing for the next five-year term in the top office as the polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (0600GMT), set to remain so until 8 p.m. According to data from the State Election Commission, over 542,000 registered voters are eligible to cast a ballot in the Western Balkan nation's eighth presidential election since transitioning to a multi-party system in 1990. The current president, Milo Djukanovic, of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, is one of the favorites, along with right-wing Andrija Mandic of the Democratic Front. Also vying for the presidency are Draginja Vuksanovic-Stankovic of the Social Democratic Party, Aleksa Becic of Democratic Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic of Europe Now, Goran Danilovic of United Montenegro, and independent candidate Jovan Jodzir Radulovic. Having served six times as prime minister and twice as president, Djukanovic, 61, is known for his pro-Western policy. While the 58-year-old Mandic is strong among the country's Serb community, Djukanovic is expected to receive support from minority parties representing Bosniaks, Albanians, Croats, and Roma. In the previous 2018 elections, Draginja Vuksanovic-Stankovic of the Social Democratic Party made history as the first woman to run for president in Montenegro.
