‌It was champagne all round for the leadership of Europe Now on Sunday night. Montenegro's Center for Monitoring and Research, which provides the country's first election results, declared the party the winner with 25.6 percent of the vote.

Europe Now's prime ministerial candidate, Milojko Spajic, told CGTN he was very happy with the result.

"We used to be a party that was out of parliament just until yesterday. And we are very young... just less than a year old," he said. "So becoming the biggest party in Montenegro – it's an unbelievable result, not only for Montenegro but, I think, for the whole of Europe."

‌Forming a government, however, is not going to be easy. Spajic has ruled out working with the Democratic Party of Socialists. And following a campaign filled with questions over his links to a cryptocurrency mogul wanted in the U.S. and South Korea, a union with the United Reform Action party – headed by current Prime Minister Driptan Abazovic – looks like a non-starter. 

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That could mean that while Europe Now won in the polls, it still might not be able to form Montenegro's next government. But Spajic hasn't ruled out a stint as an active opposition party if that's the case. 

"We've mentioned several times who we feel uneasy talking with, so I think it's all well-known," he said. "It's much more important that we focus on who is going to support our program. We don't mind being in opposition – being in opposition is also okay, so let's see."

‌But on the other side of the Montenegrin capital at the election HQ of the Democratic Party of Socialists, a very different take on the results was being announced. 

Acting leader Daniel Zivkovic said that according to their vote count, the Socialists and allies in the Together coalition formed the biggest bloc in Montenegro's new parliament.

‌"Without coalition 'Together', there's no stable, European government," he said.

What happens next?

‌The electoral commission will release the official results in a couple of days, and the country will then know exactly how things stand. 

But with no party taking a large enough chunk of the vote for a majority, and more coalition options being ruled out than contemplated, where does this leave Montenegro?

‌Podgorica-based political analyst and university professor Predrag Zenovic told CGTN the country now has a very jaded electorate.

‌"There was a very low turnout for this these elections. It's a sign from the electorate that they're quite fed up with the high politics, too many electoral cycles in a very short time," he said.

"I think the message that the Montenegrin citizens have sent to the political parties is that they have had enough."

This was the first parliamentary vote in Montenegro since Milo Dukanovic's nearly 30-year reign as either president or prime minister ended three months ago. It's fair to say the polls did not strike a chord with voters like the last presidential race did. 

Turnout was down around 12 percent on the March ballot, and down 20 percent on the last parliamentary election in 2020. 

And if no coalition is agreed, they may have to do it all over again.

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