PROFILE: Djukanovic steps out of the limelight again

By Boris Babic Dec 23, 2010, 10:44 GMT

   Podgorica, Montenegro - Montenegrin leader Milo Djukanovic resigned Tuesday after two nearly uninterrupted decades in power, during which he steered his country through many dramatic turns.    

'After 20 years here. ... it is time to make way for some new people,' Djukanovic told a news conference in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.    

He will be replaced by his close ally, Finance Minister and Deputy Premier Igor Luksic. Their Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was to formally propose Luksic to head the next cabinet later in the day.

   Djukanovic said that he will remain politically active and continue working in the DPS.

   The change in Podgorica comes a week after the European Union formally promoted Montenegro to a membership candidate. Djukanovic indicated that the process is now 'irreversible' and that he felt confident in handing over leadership to Luksic.

   Some observers believe Djukanovic is stepping down now because of corruption probes, pushed by the EU, that are likely to target his inner circle.

   He dismissed those claims, saying that he has grown tired and his 'decision is not a product of any sort of pressure.'

   Djukanovic, 48, became Europe's youngest premier in 1991 on his 29th birthday. He worked closely the with Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and led Montenegro into war in Croatia.

  He eventually distanced himself from Milosevic. After a power struggle within the DPS, he set Montenegro on an independent course.

   His reorientation turned him into a favourite of the West, which embraced Montenegro as a foothold against Milosevic in Belgrade's backyard.

   Charismatic and eloquent, Djukanovic has always managed to make his changes in course seem natural and acceptable to his voters. At 2 metres tall, he towers above his rivals, both literally and figuratively. Under his leadership the DPS won five parliamentary elections.

With the exception of a short breather between October 2006 and February 2008, he has been in office continuously since 1991. During his time out, he went into private business, but retained a grip on power by maintaining his position as chief of the DPS.    

However, his leadership has had its difficult moments.

The country was hit with a trade embargo after Montenegro participated in the bombing of the medieval Croatian city Dubrovnik. Around this time, Djukanovic allegedly became involved in the illicit smuggling of cigarettes.

   His turn away from Belgrade in the mid-1990s, enraging many ethnic Serbs, who constitute about half of Montenegro's 620,000 inhabitants.

   The opposition accused him of using the secret services for his own purposes, creating a massive business empire shielded from the law. Some observers suspect that he is stepping down now to avoid drawing the attention of an EU-backed campaign against crime and corruption, one that is is likely to target people close to him.

   That role, according to speculation, he leaves to Luksic, 34, a faithful follower who, nevertheless, enjoys the image of a reformer with clean hands.