[1/5] A child plays with a ball on a street, a day before the second round of presidential elections in Podgorica, Montenegro, April 1, 2023.
REUTERS/Marko DjuricaPODGORICA, April 2 (Reuters) - Montenegrins were set to vote in a run-off presidential election on Sunday, pitting long-time incumbent Milo Djukanovic against a Western-educated economist pledging to lift the nation out of a crisis marked by no-confidence votes in two governments.
Djukanovic, 61, has dominated Montenegro as president or prime minister for 33 years, since the start of the collapse of the now-defunct federal Yugoslavia.
Djukanovic wound up with 35.37% of the vote in the first round of the election on March 19, with Milatovic on 28.92%, necessitating a run-off as neither garnered a 50% majority, and analysts have predicted a tight race in the run-off.
Although the presidential post in Montenegro is largely ceremonial, a victory in the election would bolster the chances of the winner's party in June.