Montenegrin parliamentary election, 2006

Montenegrin parliamentary election, 2006
Montenegro
December 10, 2006

81 seats to the Skupština Republike Crne Gore
  First party Second party
 
Leader Milo Đukanović Andrija Mandić
Party DPS CG SNS
Last election 31 (39) seats
(coalition together with SDP CG)
6 seats
(within the SNP CG-led coalition)
Seats won 32 (41)
(coalition together with SDP CG)
9 (12)
(SNS-led political alliance)
Seat change +1 (+2) +3 (+6)
Popular vote 164,737 49,730
Percentage 48.62% 14.68%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Predrag Bulatović Nebojša Medojević
Party SNP CG PzP
Last election 19 (30)
(an SNP CG-led political alliance)
/
Seats won 8 (11)
(a coalition built around SNP CG)
11
Seat change -11 (-13) +11
Popular vote 47,683 44,483
Percentage 14.07% 13.13%

PM before election

Milo Đukanović
DPS CG

Elected PM

Željko Šturanović
DPS CG

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Montenegro
Constitution

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Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the newly independent Republic of Montenegro on 10 September 2006. Prime Minister Milo Đukanović's Coalition for a European Montenegro, at whose core was the Democratic Party of Socialists, won 39 seats (+1 Albanian) 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). There were 484,430 eligible voters.

As rival groups conceded defeat, the Đukanović 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 Albanians.

Electoral system

Of the 81 seats in Parliament, 76 were elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency and five were elected in a special constituency for the Albanian minority.[2] The electoral threshold was set at 3% and seats allocated using the d'Hondt method.[2] Closed lists were used with a single list for both constituencies, although parties only had to awawrd half their seats according to the order of the list, with the remaining half free for them to allocate.[2]

Campaign

The main campaign issues were the economy, unemployment, the environment and European integration.[3] The government campaigned on the recent successful independence referendum and international recognition of the country.[3] Opposition parties criticised the performance of state institutions, as well as criticising their politicisation, but suffered from internal divisions and the formation of new parties.[3]

Although the Đukanović government made a decision not to pay for parties' election campaigns using state funds, it eventually relented and funding was distributed equally between all parties.[3] However, the opposition claimed the amount distributed was too low.

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 claimed their main priority was to replace Đukanović. However, the Prime Minister himself did not rule out joining forces with the main opposition bloc, led by the Socialist People's Party.[4]

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Main Albanian Total
Coalition for a European Montenegro (DPSSDP)164,73748.6239241+2
Serb List49,73014.6812012
SNP-NS-DSS47,68314.0711011
Movement for Changes44,48313.1311011New
Liberals and Bosniak Party12,7483.76303
Coalition Democratic Alliance in Montenegro–Party of Democratic Prosperity4,3731.29011
Democratic Union of Albanians3,6931.09011
Civic List2,9060.86000
Albanian Alternative2,6560.78011
League of Communists of Yugoslavia – Communists of Montenegro2,3430.69000
New Democratic Force - FORCA2,1970.65000
Democratic Party of Montenegro1,2860.38000
Invalid/blank votes6,922
Total345,75710076581+6
Registered voters/turnout484,43071.4
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

  1. Djukanovic's coalition claims absolute victory Podgorica Makfax, 11 September 2006
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1370 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Nohlen & Stöver, p1367
  4. Q&A: Montenegro votes BBC News, 11 September 2006