Podgorica - A reformist coalition led by President Milo Djukanovic took an early lead over socialist hardliners in elections in Montenegro yesterday, unofficial sources said.
Mr Djukanovic's "Coalition for a Better Life" was ahead in towns and rural areas previously loyal to the reformers' main rival, the former president Mr Momir Bulatovic, the Montenegro proxy of federal Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
The early trend indicated that the western-backed Mr Djukanovic could do better than pre-election polls that predicted 34 seats for his coalition in the 78-member republican parliament compared with 30 for Mr Bulatovic's Socialist People's Party (SNP).