The 6 April 2008 presidential election will be the first occasion that voters will elect their President since Montenegro voted for independence in a referendum on 21 April 2006.

A total of five candidates have begun gathering signatures for nomination for the presidential race. Incumbent President Filip Vujanović (DPS) will seek re-election, contesting against a field of candidates that includes SNP leader Srdjan Milić, SNS leader Andrija Mandić (running on behalf of the Serb List), PzP leader Nebojša Medojević and Blagota Mitrić, who is gathering signatures as an independent candidate.

The presidential election of Montenegro will be conducted by a three-tiered election administration — the State Election Commission (SEC), 21 Municipal Election Commissions (MEC) and around 1,130 Polling Boards (PB). The voter register comprises approximately 485,000 voters. All interlocutors met by the NAM expressed general support for, and confidence in, the work of the SEC.

The presidential election will be regulated by a legislative framework comprising, inter alia, the law on the election of the president (December 2007), the law on election of councillors and representatives (last amended in July 2006), and the law on registers of electors (2000).

By law, candidates are required to gather signatures in the premises of the Municipal Election Commissions and in front of at least two members of the Commission. While not new, the constitutionality of this clause in the election law has been challenged by one of the candidates, stating that the secrecy of a voter’s political preference is infringed upon. Although the constitution grants voting rights only to citizens of Montenegro, the authorities decided not to disenfranchise any voters who were voting in previous elections and referenda in Montenegro. Thus, the voter list for the forthcoming presidential election will contain some 25,000 Serbs residing in Montenegro.

Montenegro has a quite substantial media market with some 18 TV channels, over 40 radio stations, and more than one hundred print media outlets. The media environment in Montenegro is liberal with little restriction on the distribution of broadcast media licenses. The primary outlets were viewed by those met during the NAM as well developed, providing a high standard of journalism and relatively balanced coverage. Issues relating to the nomination of members of the Council for public radio and TV have delayed the passage of regulations for its coverage of the forthcoming elections. The opposition has complained that this could result in public media bias during the campaign.

During the NAM many opposition parties raised concerns regarding the overall campaign environment for the 6 April elections, but appeared less concerned with possible challenges in the voting process and the count on election day. Issues that were raised during the course of the NAM that were of concern to some interlocutors included the purported blurring of the line between the state and the governing political parties, unfair access to media, as well as allegations of criminal offenses such as vote buying and intimidation by police.

For some opposition parties, however, discussion remained focused on allegations regarding wrongdoing during the vote for independence in 2006. In general, these parties expressed a low level of confidence in any aspect of the electoral process. A “white book” has been compiled with 1,300 pages of documentation regarding alleged fraud during the 21 May 2006 referendum.

Broad interest was expressed in an OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, including the presence of observers as a confidence enhancing factor ; also considering the introduction of new election legislation, the OSCE/ODIHR recommends the deployment of an election observation mission. The election observation mission should be deployed during the last week of February. In addition to a core team of experts, the mission should comprise of 14 long-term observers to be deployed throughout Montenegro in early March. Some one hundred short-term observers should be requested for observation of election-day proceedings.

OSCE/ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission Report on pre-election environment in Montenegro

The NAM held meetings in Podgorica with representatives of Parliament, government authorities, political parties, civil society and the media :

Parliament
H.E. Mr Ranko Krivokapic, Speaker of Parliament

Government
H.E. Mr Milorad Scepanovic, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs

Election Commission
Mr. Branislav Radulovic, President of the Election Commission

Political Parties
Mr. Caslav Vesovic, Member of the Executive Board, DPS
Mr. Arsenije Boljevic, President of DPS Youth
Mr. Vasilije Lalosevic, Vice-President SNP
Mr. Neven Gosovic, Vice-President SNP
Mr. Aleksandar Damjanovic, MP SNP
Mr. Gojko Raicevic, Deputy President of the Executive Board SNS
Mr. Nebojša Medojevic, President of the Party PzP
Ms. Enisa Harovic, Spokesperson of LPCG
Mr. Ferhat Dinosa, President of DUA
Mr. Dragan Soc, MP NS
Mr. Vaselj Sinistaj, President AA
Mr. Ranko Kadic, President DSS

Civil Society
Mr. Zlatko Vujovic, CEMI President
Mr. Nenad Koprivica, Executive Director CEDEM

Media
Ms. Rajka Raicevic, Editor of the political section, DAN
Ms. Nina Vujacic, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, VIJESTI
Mr. Rajko Sebek, Editor of Informative Programmes, IN TV
Mr. Ranko Vujovic, UNEM
Mr. Branko Vojicic, RTCG Director

International Community
Meeting Chaired by OSCE HoM, Ambasador Paraschiva Badescu
Ambassador Bernard Garancher, Embassy of the Republic of France
Ambassador Zoltan Janos Somogyi, Embassy of the Republic of Hungary
Ambassador Gabriele Meucci, Embassy of the Republic of Italy
Ambassador Mihail Florovic, Embassy of the Republic of Romania
Ambassador Jernej Videtic, Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia
Ambassador Kevin Douglas Lyne, Embassy of the United Kingdom
Ambassador Vladimir Philipov, Council of Europe
Mr. Dagmar Schmidt, Deputy Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Germany
Mr. Clive Rumbold, Chargé d’Affaires, European Commission
Mr. Nikolaos Kaymenakis, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Greece
Mr. Jaroslaw Lindenberg, Chargé d’ Affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Poland
Mr. Momcilo Raicevski, Political Officer, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ms. Alexandra Bonura, Political and Economic Officer, Embassy of the United States
Mr. Vladimir Gurko, Third Secretary, Embassy of the Russian Federation
Mr. Valentin Gusiv, Third Secretary, Embassy of the Russian Federation