VZCZCXRO9633
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPOD #0047/01 0541025
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231025Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1179
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 1267

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PODGORICA 000047 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV MW
SUBJECT: MONTENEGRO ELECTION PRIMER: RULES OF THE RACE 
 
REF: A) PODGORICA 023; B) PODGORICA 018 
 
PODGORICA 00000047  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Montenegro will hold pre-term parliamentary 
elections on March 29, concurrently with municipal assembly 
elections in Niksic and Budva and mayoral elections in Tivat and 
Herceg Novi.  According to the current Election Law, 
Montenegro's 81-seat Parliament is elected from candidate lists 
of registered parties and coalitions receiving three-percent or 
more of the vote.  Five seats are elected from designated 
Albanian-majority polling stations.  The State Election 
Commission (SEC) will publish the list of registered 
parties/coalitions in early March; the last opinion poll may be 
published no later than March 19, and there is a media blackout 
on electioneering 24 hours before election day.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
Pre-Term Elections for March 29 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) Following Parliament's January 26 vote to curtail its 
mandate, President Vujanovic called new elections for March 29 
(ref A).  The election campaign officially begins from the 
moment of the President's announcement.  Municipal elections in 
Niksic and Budva and mayoral elections in Tivat and Herceg Novi 
will also be held on March 29.  (Note:  Parliamentary elections 
were originally supposed to be held at the end of 2009.) 
 
 
 
Controversial Election Law 
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The elections will be held according to the 1998 Law on 
the Election of Councilors and Representatives (the Election 
Law), despite the fact that this law has not been harmonized 
with the October 2007 Constitution as mandated by the Law on the 
Implementation of the Constitution.  Opposition leaders have 
called for delay in the election, citing several inconsistencies 
with the Constitution (ref B): 
 
 
 
--The Constitution grants voting rights to "citizens" of 
Montenegro, while the Election Law refers to "residents;" 
 
--The Constitution refers to the "authentic representation of 
minorities," while the Election Law specifies set-aside seats 
only for Albanians; and 
 
--While both the Constitution and the Election Law mandate an 
81-member Parliament, the Election Law says that there should be 
one MP for every 6,000 voters, which would mean that the 
Parliament should have 82 seats. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) On January 26, the majority Democratic Party of 
Socialists (DPS) - Social Democratic Party (SDP) coalition in 
Parliament voted to extend the deadline for harmonizing the 
Election Law with the Constitution until October 2009 (two years 
after the passage of the Constitution).  Some opposition leaders 
have conceded that this weakened their case for delaying the 
election, and OSCE/ODIHR representatives told foreign diplomats 
in Podgorica on February 5 that they saw nothing in the existing 
Election Law that would now contradict the Constitution. 
 
 
 
Election Administration 
 
----------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The 11-member State Election Commission (SEC), which is 
funded from the state budget and includes at least two 
representatives of opposition parties, is appointed by 
Parliament.  Municipal Election Commissions are appointed by 
municipal assemblies and oversee municipal elections and polling 
stations.  They are staffed by a chairperson, four permanent 
members, and one representative of each party/coalition 
registered for the election.  There is a polling station for 
every 1,000 inhabitants; Montenegro will have approximately 
1,350 polling stations. 
 
 
 
PODGORICA 00000047  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
Who Can Run 
 
----------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Montenegro's 81-member unicameral parliament is elected 
from candidate lists submitted by registered political parties, 
who may run alone or in coalitions. (Note:  There are currently 
over 100 registered political parties, of which 16 are 
represented in the current Parliament, either on their own or as 
part of coalitions.)  Registered parties/coalitions, as well as 
groups of citizens, must collect signatures equal to one percent 
of eligible voters - currently, approximately 5,000 signatures - 
in order to participate in the election. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Parties/coalitions must get at least three-percent of 
the total vote in order to enter Parliament.  Seats are then 
allocated proportionally to parties passing this threshold. 
(Note:  The Election Law requires that only half of the seats 
won by a party or coalition be allocated according to the order 
of the candidates' names on an electoral list; the 
party/coalition may allocate the remaining seats to any other 
candidate appearing on its electoral list.) 
 
 
 
Set-Asides for Albanians 
 
------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Five of the 81 seats in Parliament are elected by votes 
cast in approximately 70 majority-Albanian polling stations 
which are designated by Parliament.  To win these mandates, 
parties must obtain at least three percent of votes cast in the 
designated polling stations.  Parties that have already won one 
or more of the 76 other parliamentary seats in the general 
election may use only the vote obtained in the specified polling 
stations to compete for the five Albanian mandates.  (Note:  In 
the September 2006 election, the DPS won two of the five seats; 
three small Albanian parties won a seat apiece.) 
 
 
 
Registration Deadlines 
 
---------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) The electoral lists of parties/coalitions must be 
submitted to the State Election Commission (SEC) (and Municipal 
Election Commissions, in the case of municipal elections) by 
March 5, 25 days prior to election day.  The competent electoral 
commission must verify the lists within 48 hours of receipt; the 
submitting party has another 48 hours to eliminate possible 
errors before the list is officially published.  The election 
commission must publish the order in which candidate lists will 
appear on the ballot (determined by drawing lots) by March 15. 
 
 
 
Who Can Vote 
 
------------ 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although the Constitution (and the 2008 Law on Voter 
Rolls) says that all "citizens" 18 or over may vote, the 
Election Law refers only to "residents" of Montenegro.  In 
practical terms, this means that all voters on the voting rolls 
as of September 2006, the date of the last election, may vote 
(this number includes several thousand individuals - the exact 
number is not known - who are not Montenegrin citizens).   As of 
January 2009, there were 494,289 eligible voters in Montenegro. 
 
 
 
Campaign Financing 
 
------------------ 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) The July 2008 Law on Financing of Political Parties 
specifies the amount that parties/coalitions registered for the 
 
PODGORICA 00000047  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
election may receive from the state budget, and caps donations 
from private and corporate sources.  (Note:  The Law allocates 
approximately one million Euros for the overall campaign, of 
which 20 percent will be divided among registered 
parties/coalitions for use during the campaign, and 80 percent 
will be allocated proportionally to those parties/coalitions 
which enter Parliament.  Funds from other sources may not exceed 
20 times the funds allocated to the party/coalition for its 
pre-election campaign.) 
 
 
 
Media Coverage 
 
-------------- 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) Once the SEC has confirmed electoral lists (by early 
March), state-owned Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) is 
required to provide free and equal airtime (at specially 
designated times) to each participating party/coalition.  The 
state-owned daily newspaper "Pobjeda" will also announce all 
campaign rallies free of charge.  Parliament also must establish 
a media code of conduct for all participating parties by 
February 26. 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Campaigning - rallies and media coverage of the 
campaign - is prohibited 24 hours prior to election day (i.e. at 
midnight, March 27).  Opinion polls also may not be published 
within ten days of election day (i.e. the last poll may be 
published on March 19). 
 
 
 
Voting Procedures 
 
----------------- 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) MECs must set up all polling stations no later than 
March 19, ten days prior to the election.  Each voter should 
receive by March 24 (five days before the election) a letter 
stating the date and time of voting, the address of their 
polling station, and their voter ID number.  Voting takes place 
from 8:00 AM until 9:00 PM on election day. 
 
 
 
Proclamation of Results 
 
----------------------- 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) The SEC must announce the preliminary results of 
voting within 24 hours of the close of polls.  Election 
participants must file complaints within 72 hours of close of 
polls.  If irregularities are established at a polling station, 
a repeat vote must be held within seven days of the date that 
the results at that polling station were annulled. 
KONTOS