Dritan Abazović, is one of the three leaders of the Montenegrin opposition parties, who joined their votes in order to topple the pro-Western Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of President Milo Djukanovic which has remained in power for 30 years.
The 34-year-old from an Albanian family descent is the leader of the United Reform Action which received over 22,000 votes and 4 seats in the parliament, votes that were crucial for the formation of the new government.
He supported the Serbian nationalists’ coalition Black on White Party (Crno na bijelo) of Zdravko Krivokapic and Aleksa Bečić from the Party “For the Future of Montenegro” (27 MPs) and “Peace is Our Nation” with 10 MPs.
Together they were able to receive 41 seats in parliament, sufficient to form a new government. Their main aim is EU integration and reviewing all laws that encourage discrimination, including the law on the religious freedoms that sparked massive protests from the Serbian community in Montenegro.
Abazović’s party has invited to be involved in the new government both Bosnian minority parties (3 MPs) and Albanian parties (5 MPs).
But who is Dritan Abazović? Born on December 14,1985 in Ulcinj to a family of Albanian descent from which he inherited the mother language and culture. He studied political sciences in Sarajevo and went on to specialize in Norway and the United States.
After concluding his studies, he worked as a teacher in a high school in Ulcinj and then earned a leading post on the local Teuta Television.
After this experience, he entered politics and co-founded the Positive Montenegro Party (Pozitivna Crna Gora).
This party became quickly on the opposition of Djukanovic’s DPS and earned broad popularity. In the 2021 elections, the Positive Montenegro Party won nearly 30,000 votes and received 7 seats in parliament, one of them Abazović himself.
However, two years after the elections a rift occurred among top party officials and Abazović left, eventually founding his current party, the United Reform Action (URA).
Abazović sparked a debate in the Albanian community due to an interview where he said that the Albanian National hero George Kastriota Scanderbeg was of a Serbian descent.
By the end of 2019, Abazović received a Doctor of Sciences degree at the University of Sarajevo. He personally visited Albania following the November earthquake and contributed to help the country by gathering aid.
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