Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the
newly-independent Republic of Montenegro
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
on 10 September 2006. Prime Minister
Milo Đukanović
Milo Đukanović ( cnr, Мило Ђукановић, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician serving as the President of Montenegro since 2018, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2003. He also served as the Prime Minister ...
's
Coalition for a European Montenegro
The European Montenegro ( cnr, Европскa Црна Горa, script=Cyrl, cnr, Evropska Crna Gora, label=none, script=Latn; abbr. ECG) was the ruling political alliance in Montenegro headed by Milo Đukanović's Democratic Party of Socialist ...
(based around the
Democratic Party of Socialists
The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro ( cnr, Демократска партија социјалиста Црне Горе, Demokratska partija socijalista Crne Gore, DPS) is a populist political party in Montenegro. A former long-tim ...
) won a majority in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, winning 41 of the 81 seats. The opposition blocs together won 34 seats; 12 for the
Serb List (SL) and 11 each for the
Socialist People's Party (SNP)-led list and the
Movement for Changes
Movement for Changes (, PZP) is a right-wing populist, sovereignist and conservative political party in Montenegro. Its current leader is Nebojša Medojević, the party's founder.
History
Party was founded by a group of economists and academic ...
(PzP). Other seats were won by parties representing national minorities. As the opposition conceded defeat, DPS leader Đukanović stated "These elections showed that Montenegro is stable and firm on
its European path."
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.
[ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1370 ] The
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
was set at 3% and seats allocated using the
d'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...
.
[ Closed lists were used with a single list for both constituencies, although parties only had to award half their seats according to the order of the list, with the remaining half free for them to allocate.][
]
Campaign
The main campaign issues were the economy, unemployment, the environment and European integration.[Nohlen & Stöver, p1367] The government campaigned on the recent successful independence referendum and international recognition of the country.[ 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.][ 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.][
]
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.Q&A: Montenegro votes
BBC News, 11 September 2006
Results
References
{{Montenegrin elections
Elections in Montenegro
Montenegro
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, capital = Podgorica
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, largest_city = capital
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Parliamentary election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...