Montenegrin parliamentary election, 2006

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The first elections in the newly independent Republic of Montenegro took place on September 10, 2006, with Prime Minister Milo Đukanović claiming absolute victory for his centre left, pro-European Union party the next day. Đukanović's Coalition for European Montenegro, based around the Democratic Party of Socialists, won 41 seats in the 81 seat parliament with the vote near fully counted. The opposition blocs together received 34 seats (11 for the Socialist People's Party and the Movement for Changes each and 12 for the Serbian List).

As rival groups conceded defeat, the re-elected Prime Minister stated that, "These elections showed that Montenegro is stable and firm on its road to Europe." ^[1]

The new Movement for Changes, standing on a pro-EU, anti-corruption and economic improvement platform, took 11 seats. Other seats were won by parties representing ethnic minorities, mainly Albanian.

The parliamentary elections in Montenegro were held largely in line with OSCE commitments and Council of Europe standards for democratic elections. However a number of reappearing challenges remain to be addressed, concluded the International Election Observation Mission. Some 200 observers from 41 countries monitored the vote and the count.

"The people of the world's newest country can be proud that their first elections since gaining independence meet international electoral standards. We look forward to working with our Montenegrin parliamentary colleagues and overcoming remaining challenges", said João Soares, Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Delegation and Special Co-ordinator for the short-term observers, appointed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

[edit] Results

Out of 484,430 legitimate Montenegrin voters, 70.3% voted at the Parliamentary elections:

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 10 September 2006 Parliament of Montenegro election results**
Party	Votes	%	Seats
Coalition for European Montenegro - Milo Đukanović - DPS-SDP	153,377	49.59	39
Serbian List - Andrija Mandić	47,438	15.34	12
Coalition SNP-NS-DSS	45,745	14.79	11
Movement for Changes - Nebojša Medojević	42,998	13.9	11
"Liberals and the Bosniak Party - correct in the past, right for the future" - Miodrag-Miko Živković	11,812	3.82	3
Civic List	2,739	0.89	0
Alliance of Communists of Yugoslavia - Communists of Montenegro	2,129	0.69	0
"Coalition Democratic Alliance in Montenegro-Party of Democratic Prosperity, Mehmet Bardhi"	1,050	0.34	0
Democratic Party of Montenegro - The missing piece	907	0.29	0
Democratic Union of Albanians - Ferhat Dinoša	596	0.19	0
Albanian Alternative	328	0.11	0
New Democratic Power - FORCA	158	0.05	0
Total (turnout 71.3% out of 484,430)			76
Source: Vijesti

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 10 September 2006 Parliament of Montenegro election results for Albanian minority representation**
Party	Votes	%	Seats
Coalition for European Montenegro - Milo Đukanović - DPS-SDP	4,682	29.37	1
Democratic Union of Albanians - Ferhat Dinoša	2,782	17.45	1
"Coalition Democratic Alliance in Montenegro-Party of Democratic Prosperity, Mehmet Bardhi"	2,602	16.32	1
New Democratic Power - FORCA	1,964	12.32	1
Albanian Alternative	1,877	11.77	1
Coalition SNP-NS-DSS	582	3.65	0
Movement for Changes - Nebojša Medojević	439	2.75	0
Serbian List - Andrija Mandić	420	2.63	0
"Liberals and the Bosniak Party - correct in the past, right for the future" - Miodrag-Miko Živković	269	1.69	0
Democratic Party of Montenegro - The missing piece	170	1.07	0
Alliance of Communists of Yugoslavia - Communists of Montenegro	85	0.53	0
Civic List	68	0.43	0
Total			5
Source: Vijesti

[edit] Pre-election opinion polls

One opinion poll leading up to the elections suggested Đukanović's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) could win as much as 30%-45% of the vote, but that would still leave him needing a coalition partner. According to the same poll, the three pro-Serb opposition alliances could each win between 10% and 20% of the vote - potentially enough to unseat the prime minister if they succeed in uniting against him. All three say their main priority is to replace Mr Đukanović. However, the prime minister himself did not rule out joining forces with the main opposition bloc, led by the Socialist People's Party^[2] All polls said that this election will be final DPS's and Milo Djukanovic's defeat.

Poll from the status of the parties just before the election:

Coalition for European Montenegro - Milo Djukanovic (DPS-SDP) - 31,8%
Coalition of the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP-NS-DSS) - 20,1%
Movement for Changes - Nebojsa Medojevic - 19.5%
Serbian List - Andrija Mandic - 9.9%
Liberals and Bosniak Party - Miodrag Miko Zivkovic - 4.1%
Civic List - 2%
Albanian Alternative - 1.9%
Coalition Democratic Alliance in Montenegro-Party of Democratic Prosperity - Mehmet Bardhi - 1%
Forca - 0.9%
DUA - Ferhat Dinosa - 0.7%
others - 0.8%
undecided - 7.3%