September 3 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's governing Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) is ready to go into opposition after being in power for almost 30 years, the country's president Milo Djukanovic said.
"By accepting the election outcome, we are ready to be the strongest opposition party, which will take into account the strategic national interests in the coming period, as it has done so far," Djukanovic said in an interview for Austrian public broadcaster ORF late on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, opposition coalition For the Future of Montenegro, the runner-up in last Sunday's general election, agreed to partner with pro-European coalition Peace is Our Nation and green political party United Reform Action (URA) in order to form the country's next government, if it gets tasked with the job, as the three formations hold among themselves 41 of 81 seats in parliament.
"We believe that the preliminary results will be officially confirmed and that the institution calculating the mandates will confirm the fact that 41 seats were won by a three-member coalition that has been the opposition so far, and that DPS, together with its coalition partners, will have 40 mandates, one less," Djukanovic said.
The three opposition formations in the election coalition received slightly more votes in the election than DPS, and the transition will be made in accordance with the constitution, Djukanovic said.
"We accept the democratic will of the citizens, and we believe that we must fight for our programme goals and for the development of a democratic society, both when we are in power and when we are in opposition," he noted.
Under Montenegro's constitution, the president should give a mandate for the formation of the next government to the election winner within 30 days after the inauguration of the new parliament. The country's election law stipulates that the confirmation of the mandates of the newly elected lawmakers is to be made within 30 days after the election.
Djukanovic's DPS narrowly won the August 30 election ahead of opposition coalition For the Future of Montenegro. Based on 100% of the ballots counted, DPS led with 143,548 votes, or 35.06% of the ballots cast - its lowest election result since 1990, yet large enough to secure the party's 11th straight victory in vote for parliament.
For the Future of Montenegro coalition, comprising right-wing populist alliance Democratic Front, conservative alliance Popular Movement, and the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro, came second, winning 32.55% of the votes. Peace is Our Nation won 12.53%, followed by United Reform Action (URA) with 5.53%, the Social Democrats of Montenegro with 4.10% and the Bosniak Party with 3.98%.
The election results give 30 seats to DPS in the new parliament, 27 to For the Future of Montenegro, 10 to Peace is Our Nation, and 4 to URA. The Social Democrats of Montenegro and the Bosniak Party will get 3 seats each. The Social Democratic Party of Montenegro will have 2 seats, while the ethnic Albanian List and Albanian Coalition will get one seat each.
DPS won 40.9% of the votes in the early general election held on October 16, 2016, securing 36 of 81 seats in parliament. The party subsequently formed a government coalition with the Social Democrats of Montenegro and the Bosniak, Albanian and Croatian minority parties. The outgoing DPS-led government is supported by 41 lawmakers.