The prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, announced his resignation from the government on December 21st, nominating his long-standing protégé, the finance minister, Igor Luksic, as his successor. Mr Djukanovic's resignation followed months of intense speculation that he was planning to step down from his post in the near future. The speculation was fuelled further by remarks made by Mr Djukanovic to journalists in early November, in which he confirmed that he would resign from the government at some unspecified point.

Among the reasons that Mr Djukanovic, the longest-serving leader in Europe, gave for his departure was that it would help to strengthen Montenegro's democratic development. Having served as either prime minister or president since 1991, with only an 18-month break in 2006-08, Mr Djukanovic had previously said that he wanted to leave public office in order to concentrate on his business interests, as he was able to do briefly before he was recalled to take charge of the government because of the illness of his successor, Zeljko Sturanovic, in 2008. Mr Djukanovic strenuously denied claims by the opposition that his retirement from government had come in response to either international or domestic pressure. Mr Djukanovic's opponents argued that his departure was required by Montenegro's EU partners, who-the opposition claimed-had indicated that Montenegro could not expect to make further progress in its EU integration unless it was led by someone who was more willing than Mr Djukanovic to tackle corruption and organised crime.