Insight view

THE COUNTRY: SERVICE TO CITIZENS
The observation mission of the OSCE / ODIHR, OSCE PA, and PACE assessed that the elections met almost
all the requirements of OSCE and Council of Europe, although even this electoral process emphasized the
need for further democratic development. The main challenge remained the public trust. Frequent allegations
of election fraud and mixing state and party structures created a negative atmosphere among many voters.
CDT assessed that the elections were generally conducted in compliance with the law and fundamental
freedoms, but with insufficient incorporation of the recommendations of the international
community given in order to increase the democratic potential of electoral legislation. CDT urged the
new parliament to begin serious work on the reform of electoral legislation.
In September 2011, after four years of negotiations, the Montenegrin Parliament adopted amendments
to the Law on Election of Local Parliament Members and Members of the Parliament. The harmonization
of electoral legislation with the Constitution of Montenegro was one of the key requirements of the EU to
open the accession negotiations with Montenegro. The amendments incorporated some recommendations
of the OSCE / ODIHR and the Venetian Commission, but not all of them. The adoption of the law required
two-thirds majority. Albanian national parties did not provide support to the law, expressing their
concern that the new provisions would have a negative impact on the representation of ethnic Albanians
in the Parliament. During 2011 and 2012, it was decided to amend the Law on Financing of Political Parties,
since the NGOs pointed to campaign financing as one of the key issues of the electoral process.
Parliamentary elections 2012
Thirteen electoral lists participated in the parliamentary elections held on October 14, 2012, eight of
which won MP mandates. A total of 362,714 voters voted.
Electoral list
Number
of votes
Number of
mandates
EUROPEAN MONTENEGRO COALITION – MILO ĐUKANOVIĆ 165.380 39
DEMOCRATIC FRONT – MIODRAG LEKIĆ 82.773 20
SNP – SOCIALISTS PEOPLE’S PARTY – WORDS AND ACTS 40.131 9
“POSITIVE MONTENEGRO” – DARKO PAJOVIĆ 29.881 7
BOSNIAK PARTY – RAFET HUSOVIĆ 15.124 3
FORCA FOR UNITY – FORCA PËR BASHKIM – GENCI NIMANBEGU – VASEL 5.244 1
SINISHTAJ – ZANA SARVAN
ALBANIAN COALITION: DEMOCRATIC UNION IN MONTENEGRO, DEMOCRATIC 3.824 1
PARTY AND ALBANIAN ALTERNATIVE COALITION SHQIPTAR: LIDHJA DEMOKRATIKE
NË MAL TË ZI, PARTIA DEMOKRATIKE DHE ALTERNATIVA SHQIPTARE
CROATIAN CIVIC INITIATIVE (HGI) – DECISIVELY 1.470 1
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