The Economist Jakov Milatovic37, has won the presidential elections in Montenegro with the 60.1% of the votes, according to the first projections of the scrutiny. The future president was a candidate of the young movement ‘Europe Now!’ (ES) and defeated the current president in the second electoral round milo djukanovicwho got hold of 39.9% of the votes.
The calculations of the non-governmental organization CeMIbroadcast by public television RTCG, are based on about 90% of the vote count. More of 540,000 citizens with the right to vote were called today to elect a president in the small Balkan country, a member of the NATO since 2017 and candidate to enter the European Union (EU), for a term of five years.
With this defeat, djukanovic loses his last position of power in Montenegroa small former yugoslav republicwhose politics he has dominated for three decades, being six times prime minister and twice president.
?? The celebration of citizens in several cities of Montenegro has already started
Celebrations are underway in several cities of Montenegro due to the victory of Jakov Milatovic in the second round of the presidential elections. pic.twitter.com/WzoScaOhPp—Spriter (@Spriter99880) April 2, 2023
Milatovic, 37, was just seven years old when a very young Djukanovic first came to power. This generational difference explains why Milatovic referred to his opponent as a “man from the past” and even as “the last European dictator”in relation to Djukanovic’s decades in power, either as prime minister or as president.
The new president has been in politics since 2020, when he was appointed Minister of Economy in the first Government in three decades in which the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), by Djukanovic. He promotes a moderate discourse and wants to break the polarization between pro-Russians and Europeanists that divides the country.
In addition, he promises economic reforms that improve the standard of living of citizens and lead the country to the European Union and that put an end to the image of a “Pauperized Montenegro and with captive institutions” by Djukanovic.
After the Electoral Commission rejected the candidacy for the presidency of Milojko Spajic, his partner in the new party Europe Now! (ES), he himself had to take on the challenge of facing Djukanovic.
After finishing his studies in Economics at the University of Podgorica as the best student of his promotionHe did a master’s degree at the University of Oxford and specialized in different European and United States academies.
He has worked as an analyst and economist in institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He returned to Montenegro to be Minister of Economy, between December 2020 and April 2022, in an Executive supported by a heterogeneous coalition of Europeanists and pro-Russians and people close to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Along with Spajic, he promoted the increase in the minimum monthly salary from 250 to 450 euros and the average monthly salary from 500 to 700 euros, something that has made him very popular. In fact, the new president assures that it is possible to reach an average salary of 1,000 euros per month in a short time.
His adversaries accuse him of populism and of creating unfounded illusions about rapid economic improvements.
