Montenegro: Clashes as demonstrators demand resignation of veteran PM Djukanovic

Several thousand protesters charged at the parliament building in the capital Podgorica, shouting “Milo Thief” and throwing objects including fire-bombs at riot police guarding the site. On Saturday, as the protesters gathered at a central square in the capital, opposition leader Nebojsa Medojevic shouted “the dictator must fall”.

The government rejects the charge and says protests were staged to prevent Montenegro from joining North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

The arrest was confirmed in a statement later, with Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic saying: “Protesters attacked the police by using rocks and Molotov cocktails, at the same time breaking through the protective fence, thus creating conditions for the police to undertake appropriate measures prescribed by the law”.

Milan Knezevic, a top-ranking official of the opposition Democratic Front, which is at the forefront of the protests, said the country was at a historic turning point.

The Alliance accuses the government of widespread corruption, undemocratic practices and election fraud.

Predrag Bulatovic, a lawmaker and member of the opposition Democratic Front coalition, told demonstrators at the October 24 rally that their gathering was “not against Montenegro”. “This is a peaceful and non-violent but, still, a mass protest”. We are not nationalists.

The pro-Serbia elements of the opposition also oppose Montenegrin recognition of Kosovo, a majority ethnic-Albanian country which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

He has been at the centre of power since 1990, and was president of Montenegro between 1998 and 2002.

When he first emerged on the political scene, he was a close ally of the Yugoslav and Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Police used tear gas twice last week against stone-throwing government opponents, who are also calling for early elections and a referendum on whether Montenegro should join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Elections are scheduled for early 2016.