A projection by the Centre for Election Monitoring (CEMI) on Sunday evening gave Djukanovic 53.9 per cent of the votes and his main challenger, Mladen Bojanic, 33.4 per cent.

The ballot count by the state election commission confirmed the trend, giving Djukanovic, 56, an even greater lead. None of the remaining six candidates reached double digits.

"After this overwhelming and superior result you should reconsider your political position," he said in a direct message to opposition leaders.

The win marks Djukanovic's return to the office he already held from 1998 until 2002.

Apart from taking three breaks, he has been either president or prime minister since 1991. The DPS has been in power throughout that time and Djukanovic has been the party leader since 1997.

He said that he had decided to make a comeback in order to shore up Montenegro's pro-Western course amid regional tensions and global turmoil between NATO and Russia. The smallest of the former Yugoslav republics joined NATO in 2017 and is negotiating EU membership.

Djukanovic has steered Montenegro sharply away from a traditional close alliance with Russia in recent years.

He accused Moscow of involvement in an alleged coup attempt on the day of the last parliamentary elections in October 2016, and Podgorica has joined all Western sanctions against Moscow.

Djukanovic is a sharply polarising figure not only in Montenegro. Rivals accuse him of nepotism, cronyism and massive corruption, as well as of dictatorial practices.

A number of his family members hold top political, judicial and business positions.

Corruption allegations have also been made abroad: An Italian prosecutor requested his arrest in 2002 for his alleged role in cigarette smuggling in the 1990s.

Australian Associated Press