Podgorica  - Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic retained "the throne" by shattering opposition in Sunday's snap poll and winning an absolute majority to govern over the next four years, local newspapers said Monday.

"Djukanovic on the throne again," a headline in the daily Vijesti said Monday. Pobijeda described the election result as a "triumph of (Djukanovic's) coalition."

According to final projections by the monitoring agency CDT, Djukanovic's bloc won 50.5 per cent of the votes cast, translating to 46 out of the 81 seats in parliament.

His Democratic Party of Socialists and junior partner, the Social Democratic Party, claimed five seats more than in polls 30 months ago.

Djukanovic, who at an age of 47 has governed Montenegro through dangerous times and more than half a dozen elections starting in 1991, late Sunday declared an "absolute victory ... a victory more convincing than any in the past.

"A large majority of voters had obviously cast their ballots for a secure life, for certain economic prosperity and a certain European future for Montenegro," he said, promising to put a cabinet in place and "face challenges ... very quickly."

The authorities called the election 18 months early, promising voters shelter from the storm of the financial crisis and reforms to bring the country closer to membership of the European Union.

The fragmented opposition suffered a catastrophic defeat in the poll, with the largest bloc among them, the Socialist People's Party, claiming only 16 seats, which was still four more than in 2006.

The pro-Belgrade Serbian party NOVA won eight seats and the Alliance for Change five seats, dropping four and six seats, respectively.

Four parties from stemming from the Albanian minority also entered the parliament, each with a single seat won in a special electoral unit set up in an area where ethnic Albanians make up the majority.

The turnout among the nearly 500,000 registered voters was around 67 per cent, CEMI said.

Opposition leaders, apparently resigned to defeat long before the vote itself, appeared unable to come up with a programme of their own, focusing instead on attacks aimed at Djukanovic or each others.

Among other things, they accused Djukanovic of calling elections early enough to secure a mandate for reforms and so avoid facing elections once the financial crisis hits the fragile local economy with full force.

The tiny nation's top earners are already in trouble - the aluminium combine KAP faces closure and is groaning under debts worth hundreds of millions of dollars and tourism is bracing for yet another weak season.

"Montenegrins once again gave the same captain the wheel to lead this ship toward the iceberg," the visibly shaken Alliance for Change leader Nebojsa Medojevic said. (dpa)