The state government parties will most likely remain at the helm of Nikšić, despite disputes among some of them about whether the leader of the list of the coalition "For the Future of Nikšić" (ZBNK) Marko Kovacevic should still be the first man in that municipality.
This is the epilogue of yesterday's elections in the town under Trebjes, in which, according to the preliminary results of the Democrats (with 98,67 percent of votes processed), the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) won 14.196 votes (16 seats, 35,45 percent), ZBNK 13.986 (15 seats, 34,92 percent), Europe Now Movement (PES) 5.109 (five seats, 12,76 percent), Democrats 2.962 (three seats, 7,40 percent), and the European Union 2.075 (two seats, 5,18 percent).
The Civic Movement (GP) URA, which received 764 votes (1,91 percent), the list "Probudimo Nikšić" which "earned" 504 votes (1,26 percent), "Work for my city" which was elected by 429 citizens (1,07 percent), the Party of European Progress (SEP) which had 378 votes (0,94 percent), and the list "For a Free Nikšić" which received 101 votes (0,25 percent) did not win parliamentary status.
Since the Nikšić parliament has 41 council seats, at least 21 “hands” are needed to form a government. If ZBNK, PES and Democrats agree, they would have a majority of 23 council seats.
The current government consists of ZBNK, Democrats and GP URA.
Remaining mandates for DF and DPS
The ZBNK coalition, led by the parties of the former Democratic Front (DF), will have four more councilors in the new convocation of the Nikšić Municipal Assembly (MA) - so far they had 11. Compared to the previous Nikšić elections, held in March 2021, they won around 1.600 more votes (they had 12.348), while compared to the national elections in June 2023, they are around 7.700 more votes in the town under Trebjes (6.200).
In both the last and these local elections, the ZBNK coalition included, in addition to the DF, eight other constituents, while the alliance "For the Future of Montenegro" in the parliamentary elections included the DF and the Workers' Party.
PES did not participate in the 2021 elections, and in the national elections two years later, with smaller coalition partners, it had about 4.500 more votes than yesterday (it had 9.617 votes).
As for the Democrats, that party received over eight thousand fewer votes yesterday than in the previous local elections (they had 11.150), or over 1.300 fewer than in the parliamentary elections (4.291). The numbers are even more devastating when you compare the number of mandates - in 2021 they had seven (another three went to their then allies), and in the future they will have three.
Before the campaign began, there were reportedly tensions between the Nikšić committee, whose informal leader is the party's vice president. Momo Koprivica, and the party headquarters, which almost did not participate in the campaign, allegedly at his request
In 2021, in addition to Plenum 083, with which they were on the list yesterday, the Democrats ran with the "We Will Not Give Up Nikšić" movement, Demos, and the Party of Pensioners, Disabled and Restoration, and in 2023 with GP URA.
Yesterday, DPS "earned" about five thousand votes less than it had in the previous local elections (they had 19.294). However, then they were in a coalition with the Social Democrats (SD), the Liberal Party (LP) and the Patriotic-Committee Alliance (PKS). Compared to the parliamentary elections (10.855), yesterday they had about 3.300 more votes. In those elections too, they were in a coalition - with the SD, the LP and the Democratic Union of Albanians.
When comparing mandates, DPS won 2021 in 14 (their allies had four), and now they will have two more.
When talking about DPS, when analyzing their results, it should be borne in mind that in these elections, part of their votes "went" to the SEP of their former second-in-command and former Prime Minister. Duško Marković.
The European Alliance, consisting of SD, LP and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), appeared in this format for the first time in Nikšić. Their constituent, SDP, had 1.259 votes four years ago, and 872 two years later.
As for GP URA, which was part of the Nikšić government but stopped supporting Kovačević this summer, they lost over 2021 voters compared to 2.140, when they received the mandate (1.300 votes).
Other lists that did not pass the threshold, including Marković's SEP, appeared at the polls for the first time.
Some in PES wouldn't go with Kovačević
PES card holder Zoran Mrkic, said that it is natural for that party to form a government in Nikšić with coalition partners from the state level, but that he is not sure that PES will support Marko Kovačević remaining at the head of that municipality.
"... Appreciating certain activities of the coalition led by Kovačević and perhaps some of his actions, allow us all to still think and talk," he said, adding that participation in government is not a priority for them.
Mrkić stated that he was not satisfied with the PES result, but that, if viewed "narrowly politically", they should still be in that party because, as he said, no government can be formed without them. He added that he was not happy about it because he was not guided by the idea of being part of the government.
"Let's achieve a high level of understanding in resolving all the problems that, obviously, not everyone recognizes yet. In the coming days, we will decide on our further course of action and discussions in this process in party bodies," he announced at a press conference.
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Unlike Mrkić, the PES MP Darko Dragović He was more specific about possible cooperation with Kovačević, saying on the Public Service Broadcasting that the strongest ruling party should not support him.
"There is no doubt whether or not we should go with ZBNK or the Democrats in Nikšić. However, there is certainly disagreement within PES about supporting Kovačević for mayor. On my behalf, I say that PES neither should nor may, as a civic movement, support Kovačević at this moment," he underlined.
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Asked to comment on Dragović's views, the president of PES and the government Milojko Spajic He responded from Herceg Novi vaguely, saying that he would stop by Nikšić, hold a press conference there, and that "all meetings will be held" in that municipality today.
Head of the state parliament and New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Andrija Mandic, said that the greatest credit for the result of the ZBNK coalition belongs to the leader of the list, Kovačević, and that he should remain at the head of Nikšić.
"I hear some tones, but it is at a level that is not yet worthy of observation and analysis. We have our leader in Nikšić. We have our mayor. We have a sure victory and our coalition will not give up on that. Marko Kovačević, happy new term and may you revive Nikšić," Mandić said.
Kovačević said that the ZBNK result shows that Nikšić knows who has done well in the past four years, and that he knows why he (Kovačević) “was attacked so much.” He added that they now have four more years ahead of them, stating that he dedicates his “election victory” to his recently deceased colleague from the NSD. Janko Milatović.
The leader of the Democrats list, Nemanja Vuković, stated that he was satisfied that Nikšić was "defended from the DPS offensive, from the offensive of organized crime and from the offensive (of the honorary president of that party)." Milo Đukanović which he launched at him".
"I want to thank every citizen of Nikšić who voted and gave their trust to the 'We are all Nikšić' list, every member, every activist, all the people who have carried the campaign of this coalition over the past month," he said.
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Vuković stated that it was important to them that the parties with a majority at the state level "achieved a convincing victory."
"However, to be honest - in terms of our result, we expected more. I believed that the people who have been solving citizens' problems for the past four years... would achieve greater support," he said.
He stated that they said during the campaign that they would not form a government with DPS, nor would they cooperate in any way, and that they would stick to that.
"You saw that the involvement of Mr. Djukanovic and organized crime polarized Niksic, and hence probably the results of these elections," Vukovic added.
Muratović: The story about Kovačević is a political squabble
DPS list holder Boris Muratovic, assessed that the election results showed that his party is still the strongest. He stated that PES is “on a downward trajectory”, and that the Democrats have shown “that they are political puppets of Marko Kovačević”.
"Despite the pressure and the official campaign, we have proven that DPS is indestructible. In June 2023, DF, PES and Democrats won 60 percent of the vote, and now they have less than 50," he said.
Muratović announced that they had heard that PES believed that Kovačević would not be a good mayor, stating that these were just political squabbles.
"We said that a vote for PES and the Democrats is a vote for Kovačević, and we leave these political squabbles to them. Kovačević is not worthy of leading this city," he emphasized.
For the European Union list holder Ivan Radojicic, the election result showed that "urban Nikšić lives in the center, on the street and in the European Union."
He stated that everything that results from such an outcome is "a matter of agreement and negotiation."
"I want to mention one more thing that first caught our eye when we followed the results. PES, which in the 2023 republican elections had a higher percentage of votes than the Democrats and the coalition For the Future of Yugoslavia (ZBNK), fell to about 12 percent. That is an unambiguous result...", he assessed.
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Radojicic said that this was the result of a coalition with Mandic and Kovacevic.
"I hope that this is a lesson that everyone in Montenegro must understand, it is a lesson that the championship must understand, PES, and I hope that together we can build a better, more modern and urban Nikšić," he said.
Without any irregularities, Ahmetović claims he experienced an unpleasant experience
The Nikšić election commission did not record any irregularities during yesterday's elections, but it did have one report regarding the behavior of a polling station committee member, filed by the director of the non-governmental organization Center for the Affirmation of the Roma-Egyptian Population (CAREP), Nardi Ahmetović.
He wrote on his Facebook account that at polling station 24, in Kličevo, while signing to vote, after he signed, a member of the election commission said to him: “Wow, a modern signature.” Ahmetović says he responded with the words: “Please, no comments.”
"The chairman of the commission reacted to this and said that there was no comment, although he himself, to my previous question: 'Can you please check if I am on the voter list?', replied: 'Yes, yours are here too'. I am not sure who he was referring to - members of my family or community - but such remarks are neither professional nor appropriate," Ahmetović said.
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He also said that after posting his status on that social network, several people from his community contacted him and "shared similar experiences - allegedly from the same person."
Ahmetović asked the election commission to comment on the inconvenience he said he experienced, as well as to consider whether and what measures would be taken to ensure that members of polling stations acted seriously, professionally, and without personal comments towards any citizen.
Turnout over 70 percent
According to preliminary data from the Democrats, turnout in yesterday's elections was 71,04 percent.
In the previous elections, it was 81,8 percent, and in the parliamentary elections, it was 56,4 percent.
There were 57.589 voters on the voter list for Nikšić, there were slightly fewer in the parliamentary elections - 57.466, while there were by far the highest number in the previous local elections - 58.833.
Police: Elections passed without security problems
Local elections in Nikšić and Herceg Novi took place without any security problems, the Police Directorate announced last night, stating that this is an indicator of the democratic maturity of citizens.
They stated that their officers, in accordance with the law and their jurisdiction, have adequately deployed their services in order to effectively respond to security challenges.
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As they said, they were therefore acting preventively in order to maintain stable public order and traffic safety.
"From a security perspective, in relation to the state of crime and public order, election day in Nikšić and Herceg Novi passed in the best possible order," the statement said.
The police thanked citizens for the demonstrated security culture and respect for the law before, during and after the local elections in Nikšić and Herceg Novi.
"Girls only like Chetniks"
During the celebration at the headquarters of the ZBNK coalition, their supporters sang "Let it be heard to the heavens, there is no more DPS", shouted "Milo, thieves", and also mentioned the Chetniks: "The street gives birth to Chetniks, I am one of them, girls only love Chetniks, are you like that too?"
They also sang songs about Kosovo, and their supporters carried Serbian tricolors and flags in the streets during the celebrations.
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