Montenegro holds first presidential election since splitting from Serbia

PODGORICA, Montenegro: Montenegrins voted Sunday in the tiny Balkan state's first presidential election since it split from Serbia two years ago.The ballot will help determine whether the Adriatic Sea nation of 620,000 cements its independence or slides back under Serbia's influence.Ethnic Serbs, about 30 percent of the population, are still unhappy about the country's separation from Serbia in a May 2006 referendum.They are seeking closer political and economic ties with Belgrade, which have been chilly since the breakup.Incumbent Filip Vujanovic of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists is regarded as the likely winner of the four-man race. His party has ruled virtually unchallenged for the past 20 years."Those presidential candidates who were against Montenegro's independence two years ago have no moral right to lead the country in the future," Vujanovic said in an interview. "We won independence, now we have to start our fight for Montenegro in the European Union."Nebojsa Medojevic of the liberal Movement for Changes, and pro-Serbian challengers Andrija Mandic and Srdjan Milic were likely to split the rest of the votes, according to pre-election surveys. "Whatever anyone says, Montenegro remains a Serbian state," Mandic said, adding that his victory would mean that the pro-independence support in the country has changed.Vujanovic, a 53-year-old lawyer, said he is confident of winning more than 50 percent of the votes on Sunday, which would avert a runoff in two weeks. His party fears that the pro-Serbian and liberal groups could unite behind one candidate in a runoff.Montenegro was an independent kingdom before World War I, then part of Yugoslavia until that nation disintegrated in violence in 1991. Montenegro remained joined with Serbia until it seceded peacefully.Since the split, its economy has boomed. Annual economic growth is about eight percent and foreign direct investment since 2006 was about $1 billion, propelling Montenegro to the top of Europe's per capita foreign investment list.But it has had trouble getting rid of its image as a smuggling society rife with corruption.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/06/news/Montenegro-Elections.php

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