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Who will run for the elections in the capital and in what composition?

Who will run for the elections in the capital and in what composition?

The list of the recent Minister of Justice Andrej Milović, the movement that will soon be presented to the public by his predecessor in the ministerial post Marko Kovač, the Party of European Progress (SEP) of former Prime Minister Duško Marković and the movement “Revolution” – should appear independently of each other in the upcoming elections in Podgorica, while other political actors have yet to decide in what composition.

Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatović will today call elections in the capital for September 29, after the Podgorica parliament was dissolved on Wednesday by the votes of members of the opposition, the Movement for Podgorica close to Milatović, the Civic Movement (GP) URA and a member of the Movement for Change (PzP). The government in Podgorica consisted of the Europe Now Movement (PES), a coalition gathered around the former Democratic Front (DF), Demokrata and GP URA.

It is the first time that the lists of Milović, Kovač and Marković will appear at the ballot box. Preokret participated in the previous elections in Podgorica and several other municipalities, which were held in the autumn of 2022.

Blacksmithphoto: Luka Zeković

Milović is preparing to appear independently on a list that will include “well-known citizens of Podgorica, who are not politically engaged anywhere,” a source familiar with his plans told “Vijesta.” The former minister and member of the PES presidency scheduled a press conference for Monday. In the background of the poster that the press announced on the X network, you can see the Millennium Bridge and the panorama of Podgorica.

The movement that Kovač announced will certainly appear independently in Podgorica, as the former minister announced to “Vijesta” a month ago. “Vijesti” of that political entity, which should be presented to the public in ten days, unofficially learned that their list will be headed by the director of the Health Insurance Fund, Vuk Kadić. According to unofficial information, the list should include some sympathizers of the Socialist People’s Party (SNP), of which Kovač was a functionary, but there should be mainly people who have not been involved in the party so far.

Without coalition partners, the SEP of former Prime Minister and senior Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) official Duško Marković will participate in the elections.

Markovicphoto: Luka Zeković

“Vijesti” was unofficially told by the newly formed party that the vote in the capital is a chance to see if they have potential. Sagorovnik said that they have not yet discussed who should lead the list.

Srđan Perić, one of the founders of the Preokret movement, announced that this political entity will also go to the polls independently.

Perikphoto: Movement of Revolution

“Citizens are aware that there is a policy on the scene that treats them as a means to corrupt the party staff of the same people who count on their votes in the elections. The political class thus makes even the elections themselves meaningless. In response to such a destructive policy, we will offer a clear and concrete program and present a list composed of capable and credible people,” Perić told “Vijesta”, adding that the decision on who will lead the list will be taken by the movement’s competent committee and the public will be informed about it soon.

The 2022 election upheaval did not yield parliamentary status.

Other political actors told “Vijesti” that they will soon have to decide whether to go to the elections alone or in alliances. Some of them say they are already thinking about potential holders of the list.

A PES source said that the party has not discussed how it will go to the polls and who will lead the party in Podgorica. There is speculation that PES could form a coalition with the Democrats and the parties of the former DF, as claimed by DPS, which claims that the list could include all voters of the government, which was recently supported by almost two-thirds of the state parliament.

“Vijesti” has unofficially learned that the most serious candidate for the PES list is the chairman of the party’s Podgorica committee and Minister of Energy Saša Mujović.

Mujovicphoto: Boris Pejović

PES won 13 seats in the last elections in Podgorica and thus “earned” the position of leader of Podgorica, which is now held by Olivera Injac.

The Democrats say unofficially that there has been no cooperation with PES, and that “nobody has mentioned it.” The interlocutor states that the Democrats are waiting for the results of the public opinion poll, and that they will then start discussions on the exit model.

In the last elections in the capital they won six seats.

Former DF – New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and Democratic People’s Party (DNP) claim that there were no discussions about the way of action. The interlocutor of NSD said that the exit model should be discussed in the coming days, and a source from DNP said that their bodies should meet soon and make a decision.

The coalition of the former DF has 11 seats in the Podgorica parliament.

As for the GP URA, “Vijesti” announced on Thursday that the party and the Movement for Podgorica held informal talks about a joint appearance, possibly with the PzP. The options are that the list is led by a non-party figure, which is advocated by the councilors close to Milatović, or that the list is led by the deputy mayor Luka Rakčević, who is an official of the GP URA. During the session of the Podgorica parliament on Wednesday, he said that the GP URA should go to the polls independently.

Rakcevicphoto: Boris Pejović

When asked how they plan to organize the elections and who, if they go alone, could take the lead, a GP URA source replied that Rakčević is “the list leader” and that “for now that is all they can decide”.

GP URA won four seats in the last elections.

As for the DPS, that party, as the “Vijesti” source said, should define the models for going to the polls in Podgorica, Kotor and Gusinje in early August. The interlocutor announced that their representative in the State Parliament and chairman of the party committee from Podgorica, Nermin Abdić, is “one of the main favorites” to become the leader of the list, but that there are several other options in play.

In the 2022 elections, the DPS predicted the “All for our city” alliance, which included the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Social Democrats (SD), the Liberal Party (LP) and the Bosnian Party (BS), which won 24 seats. In those elections, the DPS lost power after almost a quarter of a century.

The recently formed European Union, a coalition of SDP, SD and LP, will also participate in the elections in Podgorica, but it is not known whether they will do so independently. “Vijesti” was unofficially told that the idea of ​​such an alliance is to act alone, with the support of independent associations, individuals and intellectuals, but that everything depends on the development of political circumstances. Several names are in the running for their list holder, and one of them is MP and SD functionary Boris Mugoša.

Mugoshaphoto: Savo Prelevic

BS, which like the European Union was part of the DPS two years ago, told “Vijesta” that their presidency, executive council and Podgorica city council will meet in the coming days and based on those meetings they will decide on the format of the elections in the autumn.

“Vijesti” was unofficially informed that after BS joins the state government it is certain that this party will not form an alliance with DPS and that it is possible to act independently or in a coalition with one of the partners at the state level.

As for the SNP, which failed to reach the electoral threshold in the last elections, the party’s leader Vladimir Joković told “Vijesta” that they will discuss the performance model with government allies at the state level.

Jokovicphoto: Boris Pejović

“We will definitely make the best decision for the SNP and the citizens of Podgorica. We will either go independently or in a coalition with one of our partners,” he said.

Perić: Politics is tearing the community apart

Srđan Perić told “Vijesta” that “Preokret” will have solutions for every district in Podgorica, but also for “sustainable and innovative development of the capital”. The “turnaround”, he says, will be the possibility for the citizen to vote for a specific promise, following the deadline for its fulfillment, while insisting on responsibility towards the citizens. That, he says, is the change that the political entity is fighting for.

“The politics that are tearing our community apart are costing us too much. We see the results at every step, starting with traffic chaos and civic disarray, all the way to urban disarray and slow governance — and all of it is coupled with ignorance and the absence of a realistic and sustainable vision of what this city should look like in, say, ten years, let alone longer than that. As I said — we need a turnaround,” he declared.