Montenegrin president bids for new five-year term
By Petar Komnenic
PODGORICA | Sun Apr 7, 2013 8:06am EDT
(Reuters) - Montenegro voted in a presidential election on Sunday expected to return incumbent Filip Vujanovic for a third term as the tiny Adriatic republic seeking entry to the EU tries to shed a reputation for crime and corruption.
Vujanovic, 58, has held the largely ceremonial post since 2003. The country of 680,000 people became independent in 2006 when it narrowly voted to end an 88-year union with Serbia.
His main challenger is Miodrag Lekic, a former diplomat backed by an opposition bloc that accuses the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), of which Vujanovic is a member, of monopolizing power in the interests of a corrupt elite.
The former Yugoslav republic, an emerging tourist hotspot, has for years been dogged by a reputation for corruption and rampant organized crime.
The DPS, led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, has been in power since the collapse of federal Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. It was re-elected in a parliamentary election in October, despite an economic slump triggered by falling foreign investment.
"We need change," said 35-year-old Ivan Bulatovic, a salesman who voted early in the capital, Podgorica.
"We need someone to challenge these guys who have been in power for the last 25 years. We need someone new who's going to rise up against corruption, to speak out against authorities that brought us only hunger."
Vujanovic is ahead in opinion polls, with Lekic struggling to shake off accusations from the DPS that he is weak on the issue of Montenegrin statehood. Lekic, 65, is backed by a number of small parties that campaigned against ending the union with Serbia.
"Vujanovic is an honest man," said Miljan Nestorovic, a 44-year-old economist. "He was part of the crew that brought back our independence. He's a guarantee of political stability and I trust him."
Montenegro began talks on joining the European Union in July, putting it next in line for membership behind fellow former Yugoslav republic Croatia, which joins in July. Serbia is a candidate for membership but has yet to begin talks.
Preliminary election results are expected soon after polls close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).
(Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Peter Graff)
