Montenegro Ruling Party Replaces Controversial Mayor

After months of speculation about who will succeed Mugosa as mayor of the capital, the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, on Thursday named the Minister of Education, Slavoljub Stijepovic, as head of the list in the Podgorica local elections scheduled for May.

Mugosa was Podgorica's mayor for more than 14 years but became notorious for confrontations with journalists. In 2011, he was convicted of having caused serious injuries to the editor of Vijesti newspaper, Mihailo Jovovic.

Analysts say the spring elections in Podgorica are a key test for the ruling DPS-led coalition at national level, as well as for the opposition, which has taken control of two municipalities in Montenegro this year.

Mugosa is held responsible for the break-up of a coalition between Djukanovic's DPS and the Social Democratic Party, SDP, the smaller ruling party, at city level.

The SDP quit the local government in Podgorica in 2010 and has said it will not re-establish cooperation with DPS while Mugosa is the mayor.

"The SDP is open for talks and prospective post-election cooperation with DPS if the bearer of the party list in the spring elections in Podgorica is not Miomir Mugosa," the party said.

A senior official of the ruling DPS, Tarzan Milosevic, denied that the decision to replace Mugosa was a "signal" to the SDP to form a post-election coalition with the DPS.

“If we had wanted to meet the desire of the SDP for Mugosa not be mayor, we would have done it four years ago,” Milosevic said on Thursday.