Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic is to resign Tuesday, ending a nearly uninterrupted, two- decades-long rule over the tiny republic, local media said Monday, dpa reported.
Djukanovic, 48, is due to announce his decision to the public at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, sources from his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) confirmed.
The DPS leadership is expected to nominate the current deputy premier and finance minister, Igor Luksic, to head the new cabinet.
As Luksic is a close ally of Djukanovic, the changes in the cabinet are not expected to be major and should be approved by the parliament before the end of the year.
Djukanovic had been in power in Montenegro as prime minister or president since 1991, except for a period between October 2006 and February 2008, when he stepped down to run a private business. He returned to put an end to internal squabbling that had weakened the party.
Luksic, an economic expert, is expected to help the country implement reforms necessary for Montenegro to open accession talks with the European Union.
The smallest former Yugoslav republic with just 620,000 people, Montenegro received the formal status of a membership candidate from EU last week.
...