Podgorica : Montenegro's veteran premier Milo Djukanovic's party was leading in Sunday's tinderbox electionduring which authorities arrested 20 Serbs and accused them of planning attacks and hijacking the polls.
Tensions were already high over Djukanovic's plans to forge closer ties with the EU and NATO and further heightened after the arrest of 20 Serbs allegedly planning to seize the prime minister and parliament and proclaim victory for the opposition, according to authorities.
Partial results after 80 percent of the ballots had been counted showed that the premier's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) got a little more than 40 percent of the vote -- more than double than that of the main opposition Democratic Front.
Two other parties Kljuc (Key) and the Democrats of Montenegro -- which want a referendum on joining NATO -- got ten percent each, the results showed.
The pro-Russian opposition branded the arrest of the Serb paramilitaries as propaganda, while Serbia questioned its timing.
"We suspect that this criminal group was aiming to arrest the prime minister of Montenegro," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
"The plan was to attack citizens gathered outside parliament, as well as police, during the announcement of the results, and then take control of parliament and proclaim victory for the opposition," it said.
In neighbouring Serbia, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic questioned the timing of the disclosure of the alleged plot.
"I find it curious that this is happening today, and that's all I'll say," Vucic said, according to the Tanjug news agency. "As for the rest, it would be better for me to bite my tongue."
The alleged plot was revealed as the country's half a million strong electorate voted in a poll pitched by Djukanovic as a choice between closer ties with the West or with longtime ally Russia.
Polls closed at 1800 GMT with authorities putting turnout at 73.2 percent -- a high figure for the region.
Mobile messaging services including WhatsApp and Viber were briefly down late Sunday at the behest of the authorities.
Interior Minister Goran Danilovic, who belongs to an opposition party, meanwhile urged voters not to head into the streets to celebrate.
