Montenegro, local elections are held for the municipality of Tuzi

In the municipality of Tuzi in Montenegro, cattle drives are held for the local government. 30 polling stations have been opened and more than 12,000 voters have the right to vote.

The polling stations opened at seven in the morning and according to representatives of the Municipal Electoral Commission, they are taking place quietly.

The chairman of the polling station in Tuzi school, Gjeto Vulaj, said that the election process is taking place without problems.

“Until now, 37% of voters have voted in this polling station. We started on time and everything so far is fine,” said Mr. Vulaj.

Even the representative of the Electoral Council, Ivan Lakočevič, said that the electoral process is being developed in a democratic manner.

“Voting starts at seven o’clock and the technical material was in order and in accordance with the electoral law”, said Mr. Lakočevič.

Residents regard these elections as very important, since the municipality of Tuzi until 2018 was part of the municipality of the capital, Podgorica.

Gjokë Gojçaj, who has been living in the USA for years, emphasized the importance of the vote of immigrants for the municipality of Tuzi.

“It is up to us to identify and find those figures, subjects and forces, which best match what we want, our desire and spirit of living. Therefore, the elections are also important from the fact that our arrival from the USA is not a miracle. We have started this process for years and we have not finished the work”, said Mr. Gojçaj.

In the local elections, 4 coalitions and three independent political forces compete.

The “Albanian Forum” coalition led by the Albanian Alternative of the current mayor of Tuzi, Nik Gjeloshaj, also includes the Democratic League of Albanians, the Albanian National Union and the Democratic League in Montenegro.

On the other side is the broad coalition consisting of the Democratic Socialist Party of the current president Milo Djukanović, the Social Democrats, the Bosnian Party and the Democratic Union of Albanians.

These two lists are regarded as the main competitors in winning the local elections in Tuz.

Decades ago, Tuzi was an administrative part of Podgorica, and then one of the municipalities of the capital. The residents of Tuzi waited almost two decades to be separated into an independent municipality, which was the main political demand of the Albanian political spectrum in Montenegro.

In the first elections, after the separation from the capital municipality, the Democratic Party of Socialists of President Djukanović lost power in Tuz, where until then it had a strong electoral base and held power in this municipality.