Presidential elections were held in Montenegro on 15 April 2018.Montenegro Presidential Election Set for April 15 New York Times, 19 January 2018 Former Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, leader of the ruling DPS was elected as new President of Montenegro in the first round.

Electoral system The president is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off is held two weeks later.Montenegro: Presidential Elections European Elections Database In order to submit their candidacy to the State Electoral Commission, potential candidates needed to collect 7,993 signatures.Miličković ozvaničio kandidaturu RTCG, 6 December 2017 President is elected every five years, and is eligible for two terms.

Campaign The incumbent president, Filip Vujanović, was ineligible for re-election, having already served three terms as president.

President of the ruling DPS, Milo Đukanović, who was touted by the media as the election favourite, initially rejected the possibility of running for president.Đukanović ne želi na predsjedničke izbore: DPS ima više dobrih kandidata Vijesti, 20 October 2017

In March 2018, Đukanović confirmed that he would run for president,Milo Đukanović kandidat na predsedničkim izborima, RTS supported by DPS' coalition partner, the Liberal Party, as well as other subjects in the government; Social Democrats, Croatian Civic Initiative, the New Democratic Power, Democratic Union of Albanians and the Bosniak Party.

After a series of unsuccessful attempts by the entire opposition to nominate a common candidate, it was clear that the opposition would have more candidates. On 9 March 2018, the presidency of right-wing Democratic Front alliance decides to support the candidacy of independent candidate Mladen Bojanić, which was previously proposed by the centrist Democratic Montenegro and the centre-left United Reform Action. Presidency of the newly-formed centre-right United Montenegro has decided to support the previously announced candidacy of the party leader Goran Danilović, later Presidency of centre-left Social Democratic Party has consistently endorsed candidacy of MP Draginja Vuksanović, making her first ever female presidential candidate, with support of centre-right DEMOS party led by Miodrag Lekić, common opposition presidential candidate at the previous election.

From the rest of the opposition have unsuccessfully called upon the SDP and Danilović's United Montenegro party to withdraw their candidacies and support independent Bojanić as an opposition common candidate, which they have refused. From SDP replied that Bojanić was not a completely independent candidate, alluding to his alleged support for the Democratic Front list for the 2016 parliamentary election. On 21 March Danilović ultimately withdrew his candidacy and supported Bojanić's candidature.

Candidates Montenegrin State Electoral Commission (DIK) confirmed seven candidates. Candidate numbers were decided using a random draw on 28 March.Ovo je redosljed kandidata na listiću, RTCG

# CandidatePartyDetails Marko Milačić PCG Journalist, president of the extra-parliamentary party True MontenegroMilačić predao potpise , Vijesti Mladen Bojanić Ind. Independent, former MP. Supported by DF, DCG, SNP, URA and UCGBojanić predao potpise za kandidaturu , Vijesti Hazbija Kalač SPP President of the extra-parliamentary Justice and Reconciliation PartyKalač predao kandidaturu za predsjednika Crne Gore, Cdm Vasilije Miličković n-p Businessman, independent, supported by the extra-parliamentary PUPIMiličković predao kandidaturu, RTCG Dobrilo Dedeić SL President of the extra-parliamentary Serb List, leader of Serb Coalition.Potvrđena kandidatura Dobrila Dedeića , Vijesti SDP Professor of law, MP of the Social Democratic Party, supported by DEMOSVuksanović poručila da neće odustati od kandidature , Vijesti Milo Đukanović DPS

Opinion polls Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two candidates with the highest figures.

Date Pollingsource Đukanović Bojanić Vuksanović Others Lead 29 March 2018 CeDemCEDEM: Za Đukanovića bi glasalo 50,6 odsto , Vijesti 50.6 35.5 7.9 5.9 15.1

Electoral debates +DateTimeBroadcasterCandidatesMilačićBojanićKalačMiličkovićDedeićVuksanovićĐukanović13 April20:00TVCG112 April20:00Vijesti30 March20:00TVCG1

Results Milo Đukanović, candidate of the DPS-led coalition, won the election in the first round, winning 53.9% of the vote. Independent opposition candidate Mladen Bojanić came in second with 33.4% of the popular vote, while Draginja Vuksanović (SDP) was third with 8.2%.Izbori za Predsjednika Crne Gore DIK

By municipality MunicipalityĐukanovićBojanićVuksanovićMilačićKalačMiličkovićDedeićVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Andrijevica2,04866.6690129.33591.92 44 1.43 1 0.0 20.07 17 0.6Bar 11,370 53.93 5,580 26.47 3,137 14.88 688 3.26 119 0.56 97 0.46 91 0.43Berane 7,192 46.61 7,325 47.48 440 2.85 336 2.18 42 0.27 22 0.14 72 0.47Bijelo Polje 14,386 58.40 7,409 30.08 2,121 8.61 336 1.41 256 1.04 39 0.16 74 0.30Budva 4,178 43.29 3,942 40.85 1,021 10.58 361 3.74 8 0.08 95 0.98 46 0.48Cetinje 4,659 55.96 1,860 22.34 1,510 18.14 169 2.03 30 0.36 79 0.95 18 0.21Danilovgrad 4,773 52.94 3,339 37.04 581 6.44 230 2.55 13 0.14 31 0.34 48 0.53Gusinje 1,331 85.54 56 3.59 118 7.58 7 0.45 43 2.76 0 0 1 0.06Herceg Novi 5,983 41.17 6,182 42.54 1,049 7.22 999 6.87 39 0.27 118 0.81 162 1.11Kolašin 2,201 47.32 1,963 42.20 322 6.92 117 2.51 9 0.19 16 0.34 23 0.49Kotor 4,766 46.47 3,949 38.51 1,017 9.92 336 3.27 32 0.31 86 0.84 69 0.67Mojkovac 2,839 54.18 2,106 40.19 178 3.39 78 1.49 7 0.13 11 0.21 21 0.4Nikšić 22,791 55.77 13,849 33.89 2,773 6.78 1,116 2.73 71 0.17 135 0.33 129 0.31Petnjica 2,382 83.46 80 2.80 234 8.19 10 0.35 142 4.97 2 0.07 4 0.14Plav 2,829 66.45 707 16.61 486 11.41 72 1.69 146 3.43 7 0.16 10 0.23Plužine 542 29.44 1,183 64.25 53 2.88 41 2.22 2 0.1 9 0.49 11 0.59Pljevlja 9,477 51.89 7,721 42.28 576 3.15 294 1.61 83 0.45 26 0.14 84 0.46Podgorica 54,532 50.90 38,752 36.17 8,717 8.13 3,698 3.45 327 0.30 707 0.66 386 0.36Rožaje 8,454 76.56 343 3.1 986 8.93 22 0.2 1,219 11.39 6 0.05 12 0.1Šavnik 804 58.90 497 36.41 33 2.41 25 1.83 2 0.14 1 0.07 3 0.22Tivat 3,907 54.04 2,070 28.63 850 11.75 270 3.73 21 0.29 61 0.84 51 0.7Ulcinj 7,353 77.87 820 8.68 1,100 11.65 71 0.75 54 0.57 32 0.34 12 0.1Žabljak 1,161 47.58 950 38.93 55 2.25 51 2.1 5 0.2 7 0.3 11 0.45Totals180,27253.90111,71133.4027,4418.209,4052.812,6770.801,5930.481,3630.41Source: Vijesti

Aftermath In its June 2018 report, issued after the presidential election, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, called for election reforms in Montenegro, and for more integrity, impartiality and professionalism in election administration.

References