Bešić repeated that DPS showed that it is a well-organized party.
"After the loss of power, they preserved the organization and continued serious party work. Their campaign was reduced to field work, and it produced results. The only party that is satisfied with the election results is DPS. No one else can be satisfied...", he said. Bešić.
Milović said that as far as the formation of the government in Podgorica is concerned, there will be a lot of discussions on all sides, and that the DPS will behave responsibly.
"We will be the ones to form the government," Milović said
Radovanić said that he would not like a scenario where the formation of the government takes time.
"We are satisfied with the result, we hit the foundations of the political center. There are no hard political positions, but we will not allow populists, nationalists, or criminals to rule anymore. We have a clear program and we know what the vision of a better Podgorica is. We will respond to the call for dialogue as we are worked before2, said the representative of the Za bolja Podgorica list.
Mitar Šušić from the coalition Za dućnost Podgorica said that this coalition could not be more constructive than it is.
"But we call on other actors to be serious and normal. It's not a good blackmailing position like the representative of Za bolja Podgorica had. We have no barriers to being a constructive agent of the government. We don't want to deal with the analysis of how much someone has fallen...", said Šušić.
Bešić said that in the spirit of democracy, DPS first needs a chance to see if they can gather 30 mandates and form a government in Podgorica.
"They have a legitimate right to that as the party that won the most votes. As things stand from the narrative, they can hardly do that. If DPS fails to do so, then it is given to the second in order - that is PES-Democrats, so if they cannot do it then we move on," said Bešić.
He added that the results in Podgorica are a signal and indicator that DPS is stable and growing.
Bešić said that the coalition "For a better Podgorica" will first offer the position of ace in the balance to the coalitions PES-Democrats and For the Future of Montenegro to support Luka Rakčević for mayor.
"it also tells me that if it doesn't work, they will offer and ask to get that kind of support, so let it be DPS. It has been explicitly asked many times whether you will go to court with DPS or ask for support from Za bolju Podgorica, never no answer was received. I think they will offer it with the anti-DPS argument, but they will ask for the post of mayor for a better Podgorica," Bešić believes.
Official of the Democratic Montenegro Dragana Kažanegra Stanišić said that the holder of the PES-Democrat list Saša Mujović "gave his statement and that this is his personal position".
"As a serious party, we make decisions on the party bodies. This will be done especially by the Democrats and the PES, they will harmonize their views and come out with it," Kažanegra Stanišić said.
URA GP official Mileta Radovanić that as far as the "For a better Podgorica" coalition is concerned, she will always respond to the dialogue.
"The ball is in Mr. (Saš) Mujović's court here because he firmly said that he does not want to be with us and that he will stick to that position," said Radovanić.
Bešić said that the Za bolja Podgorica coalition will be the "tip on the scale" in Podgorica.
DPS official Nikola Milović said that the parties that participated in the elections in Podgorica "declared that they will not be with DPS".
"Finally, the mantra that you don't want to be with DPS will fall in Podgorica. The citizens of Podgorica have punished the very bad behavior of the ruling parties in the previous period," said Milović.
Bešić said that the coalition PES-Democrats and Za bolja Podgorica - Jakov Milatović were doing political damage to each other.
Bešić said that the Democratic Party of Socialists did not make a mistake when it appointed Nermin Abdić as the holder of the list in Podgorica.
"Abdić proved to be a good choice for the list holder"
Professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade and methodologist Miloš Bešić said that the turnout was lower, but not dramatically.
"I believe that the reduced turnout should be attributed to an unpleasant campaign, a campaign that was full of negative tones. When such messages are sent - you send messages and raise motivation among your own voters, but you achieve a negative effect among 'ordinary' citizens," said Bešić.
He added that research showed that the lists of the Movement Europe Now-Democrats and the Democratic Party of Socialists are "head to head".
"This reduced turnout, in theory, should go to DPS. The fact that we had a reduced turnout in the morning elections does not benefit DPS. The numbers said that the rating of 25 to 27 percent of DPS and PES-Democrats was very even. "We measured a very solid result between 18 and 20 percent for the future of Montenegro. We had the biggest variation with the list for a better Podgorica, which ranged from 10 to 14 percent," Bešić said.
Kovačević said that if the polling boards are operational and fast, as in 2022, the voting results could be known around 22 p.m., and that the final election results can be expected by 23 p.m. according to CDT data.
Kovačević assessed that the election administration did not prepare the process well enough, and that the polling committees were not well trained.
"We saw a lot of technical errors. There were minor electoral irregularities that we noticed," Kovačević said.
Milica Kovačević from the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) said that the turnout until 18 p.m. was bad and lower than in 2022, when it was 60,3 percent.
"The trend follows what we saw during the parliamentary elections, when it was already assessed that the citizens punished and showed a red card. Overall, it seems to me that the parties failed to animate the voters who once voted. There are many reasons why this is so. Although the elections were raised to the national level, although a lot of resources were invested in the campaign, both permitted and illegal, and there were official campaigns, this response is not a good result compared to the investment.
In this blog you can follow the most interesting statements and comments in the show "Election Night" on Television Vijesti.
Bonus video:
