Montenegrin police use tear gas on anti-govt. protesters
Montenegrin police have fired tear gas to disperse several thousand demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has been in power for more than two decades.
The protesters gathered in front of the parliament building in Montenegro’s capital city of Podgorica on Saturday, throwing torches, fire bombs and firecrackers at police guarding the site.
According to police estimates, up to 6,000 people chanted “Milo thief!” and “He is finished!” while calling for free and fair elections organized by an interim government in place of Djukanovic. The clashes were reportedly the third such in a week.
According to Montenegrin Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic, 15 police officers were wounded in Saturday’s confrontations, while 24 protesters asked for medical treatment, mostly for tear gas inhalation.
Konjevic added that Andrija Mandic, a lawmaker and an opposition leader, who was among the organizers of the event, was arrested during the scuffles.
Djukanovic, has been at the center of power over the past two decades, after holding prominent posts in the mountainous Balkan country from the early 1990s when it was part of former Yugoslavia.
In 2012, Djukanovic won re-election as the premier, marking the third time he has held the position since Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006
“More than 25 years in power would be too much even if he was [the leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India] Mahatma Gandhi and not this thief,” said Raso, a 30-year old protester.
Meanwhile, Nebojsa Medojevic of the Democratic Front, Montenegro’s main opposition bloc, said that the country “has been destroyed by corruption, crime and the dictatorship of one person.”
Djukanovic, however, has repeatedly rejected demands to step down, offering to call early elections after a December meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), when the country is expected to be invited to join the Western military alliance.
He has also accused the opposition of trying to prevent the nation’s NATO membership as many Montenegrins have historic ties with Russia.
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