“Albanian Forum” winner of the elections in the municipality of Tuzi in Montenegro

The preliminary results of the elections in Tuz in the Highlands indicate a complete victory of the “Albanian Forum” coalition led by the Albanian Alternative of the current mayor of the municipality of Tuz, Nik Gjeloshaj with the Democratic League of Albanians, the Albanian National Union and the Democratic League in the Mountain Black.

With over 51 percent of the votes won, this coalition of Albanian political forces secured 18 mandates in the Tuzi Municipality Assembly, which has 32 seats.

Twelve mandates were won by the “Rguga e Drejte” coalition consisting of the Democratic Party of Socialists and the current president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, the Bosnian Party, the Social Democrats and the Democratic Union of Albanians.

Two small parties of the Montenegrin political spectrum received one mandate.

The number of mandates won provides the “Albanian Forum” with the opportunity to establish the local government itself

Over 66 percent of the electorate participated in Sunday’s elections, which includes over 12,000 voters.

The status of an independent municipality was restored to Tuzi in September 2018, separating it from the capital city of Podgorica. Decades ago, Tuzi was an administrative part of Podgorica, and then one of the urban municipalities of the capital.

For almost two decades, the main demand of the Albanian political forces, but also of the diaspora, was the complete independence of the municipality of Tuzi.

In the first elections of 2019, President Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists lost power in Tuz, which until then had a strong electoral base and held power in this urban municipality.