Đukanović to step down as head of DPS, opening doors for cooperation with Abazović

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - President of Montenegro and the Democratic Party of Socialists Milo Đukanović will most likely step down as head of the DPS in January, and will also forgo a new candidacy in the 2023 presidential elections.

According to Blic, the most likely successor to Đukanović at the helm of the party, which ruled Montenegro for 30 years, will be Ivan Vuković, the current mayor of Podgorica.

Milo Đukanović himself hinted at this, stating that the DPS will elect new leadership in 2022.

It is less likely to be one of the older DPS cadres – former Prime Minister Duško Marković or Brano Gvozdenović – because the "goal is to preserve the healthy tissue".

- This is a maneuver by which a rejuvenated and purified party, without Đukanović, could once again be a key partner in power. Such a DPS would have greater coalition potential because no one wants to cooperate with the current president Đukanović," said a source familiar with the situation in the DPS and Montenegro.

A change at the head of the DPS would also trigger changes in the reconstruction of Zdravko Krivokapić's government.

URA Movement leader Dritan Abazović has stated multiple times that "there is no cooperation with such a DPS". Although he did not specify with what kind there is, it is indicative that the new leadership could be more compatible with Abazović than the current one.

- The future coalition could consist of URA, Democrats, DPS, SNP, and perhaps SDP and minority parties. There is also a possibility, and it is the most likely one, that the DPS supports a minority government, led by the Socialist People's Party and the Civic Movement URA, says Blic's interlocutor.

If this happens, the President of the SNP, Vladimir Joković, would have the best chance of becoming the new Prime Minister of Montenegro, but other candidates are also in play.