Vujanovic said he won 51.3 percent of the votes, with Lekic holding 48.7 percent. The Democratic Front gave the race to Lekic, however.

Still, the incumbent sounded confident: "I want to declare victory that we have achieved," Vujanovic told his supporters in the capital, Podgorica.

Though a final number on voter participation is not yet in, according to the country's DIK election commission, nearly half of Montenegro's 512,000 eligible voters had cast their ballots three hours before polls closed at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday. This is slightly higher than was predicted before the vote, but lower than in previous polls.

mkg/jr (AFP, Reuters)