2023 Montenegrin parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 11 June 2023. Parliament had been dissolved by President Milo Đukanović just three days before the 2023 presidential elections were held, in which he lost to Europe Now! candidate Jakov Milatović.

2023 Montenegrin parliamentary election

← 2020 11 June 2023 Next →
All 81 seats in Parliament 41 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	56.28% (20.36pp)
Party Leader % Seats +/– PES!^[a] Milojko Spajić 25.53 24 +22 DPS^[b] Danijel Živković 23.22 21 −12 ZBCG Milan Knežević 14.74 13 −2 Count Bravely! Aleksa Bečić 12.48 11 −1 BS Ervin Ibrahimović 7.08 6 +3 SNP–Demos Vladimir Joković 3.13 2 −4 FSh^[c] Nik Gjeloshaj 1.91 2 +2 ASH^[d] Genci Nimanbegu 1.50 1 −1 HGI Adrijan Vuksanović 0.74 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Most voted-for party by municipality   PES!   DPS   ZBCG   BS   SNP–DEMOS   FSH   ASH Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Dritan Abazović URA Milojko Spajić Europe Now!

Europe Now! emerged as the largest party in Parliament, winning 24 of the 81 seats. The Together! alliance led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) finished second with 21 seats, the first time the DPS failed to win most seats since the introduction of multi-party politics in 1990. Voter turnout was 56%, the lowest turnout since 1990.

Background

42nd government

Following the 2020 elections three opposition lists, For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG), Peace is Our Nation (MNN) and the United Reform Action (URA), agreed to form a technocratic cabinet led by university professor Zdravko Krivokapić, ending 29 years of DPS rule. According to the final agreement between the parties, the new government's mandate would be limited to one year, and its primary goals would be fighting organized crime and corruption and depoliticizing governmental and judicial institutions. A reform of electoral laws was also planned, after which "fair" elections were planned.^[1][2][3] Right-wing Democratic Front announced limited support for the Krivokapić Cabinet, hoping for new parliamentary elections in late 2021. Đukanović announced future activities within the "sovereigntist bloc", together with its long-standing minor coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SD) and Liberal Party (LP), as well with some newly formed nationalist parties and initiatives, invoking his role in restoring Montenegrin independence in 2006, as well accusing the new cabinet of threatening Montenegro's national interests, sovereignty and independence due to open Serbian nationalist talking points from certain ministers.^[4] Most notably, Minister of Justice Vladimir Leposavić openly denied the Srebrenica genocide, for which he was voted out of the cabinet. On 4 February 2022, after talks of replacing the government with a minority cabinet supported by either of the two dominant political forces (DPS or DF) and headed by Dritan Abazović, the government collapsed following a no-confidence vote.

43rd government

The DPS agreed to support a minority government, which was formed on 28 April 2022 by URA, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Civis and some ethnic minority parties. However, Abazović became closer to Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and prioritized "regional cooperation" over European integration, saying Vučić-backed initiatives such as Open Balkan would bring Montenegro closer to European living standards.^[5][6][7] Minister of European Affairs Jovana Marović resigned from the government and the URA for reasons including Abazović refusing to consider the risks of Open Balkan.^[8] After an agreement between Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church on 3 August 2022, the DPS withdrew its support, announcing a no-confidence vote. On 19 August 2022, just before midnight and after a day of complex debate in Parliament, the no-confidence vote passed.^[9] After several unsuccessful attempts at forming a new government over several months, Đukanović dissolved the Parliament on 16 March 2023, three days before presidential elections — and scheduled parliamentary elections for 11 June 2023.^[10] Đukanović lost the presidential elections to Jakov Milatović of Europe Now!

Electoral system

The 81 seats of the Parliament of Montenegro are elected in a single nationwide constituency using closed list proportional representation. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method with a 3% electoral threshold. However, minority groups that account for no more than 15% of the population in a district are given an exemption that lowers the electoral threshold to 0.7%. The parties of the same minority are summed up when calculating the seats to a maximum of three seats.^[11] A separate exemption is given to ethnic Croats whereby if no list representing the population passes the 0.7% threshold, the list with the most votes will win one seat if it receives more than 0.35% of the vote.^[12]

Electoral lists

Electoral list		Leader	Note
	It is Clear! — Bosniak Party — MSc Ervin Ibrahimović	Ervin Ibrahimović	M
	HGI — On the right side of the world	Adrijan Vuksanović	M
	Justice for All — Dr. Vladimir Leposavić	Vladimir Leposavić
	SNP – DEMOS – For You.	Vladimir Joković
	People's Coalition – Unanimously (DHP–PCG-SCG-DSS-PZPV)	Dejan Vukšić
	Albanian Alliance (FORCA–PD-LSMZ)	Genci Nimanbegu	M
	Turnaround for a Safe Montenegro – Srđan Perić	Srđan Perić
	Movement for Changes–First Montenegro–Reforms to Save the Country	Nebojša Medojević
	Yes, We Can! – For Civic Montenegro	Dragica Perović Ivanović
	Together! For the Future that Belongs to You (DPS-SD-LP-UDSh)	Danijel Živković
	Europe Now!	Milojko Spajić
	SDP – For Our Home	Nikola Đurašković
	Aleksa and Dritan – Count Bravely! (Democrats-URA)	Aleksa Bečić
	For the Future of Montenegro (NSD–DNP-RP)	Milan Knežević
	Albanian Forum "Besa for European Development" (ASh-LDSh-UNSh)	Nik Gjeloshaj	M

Opinion polls

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. When a specific poll does not show a data figure for a party, the party's cell corresponding to that poll is shown empty. The threshold for a party to elect members is 3%.

 

LOESS curve of the polling for the 2023 Montenegrin Parliamentary Election.

Date	Polling firm/source	Together!			ZBCG		PzP	People's coalition		UCG	For You!		Count Bravely!		BS	SDP	ASh	Forca	PES!	Others	Lead
		DPS LP	SD	UDSh	NSD	DNP		Prava	DHP		SNP	Demos	DCG	URA
Results		23.23			14.75		0.66	1.2		with PES	3.13		12.48		7.08	2.98	1.88	1.5	25.53	5.58	2.3
May 2023	NSPM	22.1			15.3		<1	2.2		<1	2.4		12.9		4.3	<1	<1	<1	32.5	8.3^[e]	10.4
May 2023	CeDem	24.1^[f]	1.9	<1	13.2			<1	<1	<1	2.1	<1	11.1	4.4	5.1	2.2	1.9		29.1	5.2^[g]	5
Apr 2023	Redfield & Wilton	20^[f]	1	<1	17			<1	<1	<1	1	<1	6	6	1	1	<1	<1	44	3^[h]	24
Feb 2023	MB/CeDem^[i]	34.4			21.8						17.4			1.1	4.6	w.DPS	3.6		18.2	n/a	11.5
Feb 2023	MB/CeDem	29^[j]	2.9	0.4	17.5			0.6	0.9	0.6	1.4	0.4	13.3	4.5	4	3.9	2.4	–	17.4	2^[k]	11.5
Dec 2022	CeDem	28.1^[l]	2.9	1.7	14.2			1.1	2.2	0.9	3.2	0.4	13.1	4.9	4.1	3.3	1.3	0.8	15.2	2.6^[m]	12.9
Sep 2022	Datapraxis/Ipsos	33.1^[n]	2	–	12.3			0.9	–	2.1	2.3	1.6	9.4	10.2^[o]	3.2	6.2	0.7	–	13.6	2.4	19.5
June 2022	CeDem	28.2^[f]	2.6	1.8	14			1.6	–	1	3.8	<1	14.9	4.8	3.3	3.4	2.3	<1	10.9	6.1^[h]	13.3
May 2022	RMA^[i]	23.5^[f]	2.8	<1	17.9			2.3	–	2	8.5	1.5	12.4	9.2	6.4	5.8	<1	<1	3.7^[i]	4^[h]	5.6
Jan 2022	NSPM^[i]	26.4	2.2	<1	15			2.5	11^[i]	<1	2.8	1.2	17.1	7.8	3.7	5.6	2.1		–	2.6^[h]	9.3
Dec 2021	CeDem 29 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine	30.5^[f]	2.4	<1	20.4			1.8	–	2	2.9	19.3		6.2	6.1	4.3	2.4	<1	–	1.7^[h]	8.1
June 2021	CeDem	31^[f]	3.4	1.2	18.7			1.9	4.9^[i]	1.3	3.5	1.6	18.4	6.4	4.4	3	1.8	1.1	–	2.3^[h]	11
Oct 2020	Damar	32.5	3.4	0.8^[p]	28.8						15.8			11^[o]	3.5	2.5	1.6		–	0.1	3.7
Sep 2020	NSPM^[i]	20.8	2.6	–	4.7	3.6	1	4.4	24.5	0.3	3.1	0.8	13.8	11.3^[o]	3.4	2.3	2.1		–	1.6	3.4
Sep 2020	CeDem^[i]	29.2	4.8	0.9^[p]	34.8						14.1			8.3^[o]	3.8	2	1.9		–	2.1	5.6
Sep 2020	CeDem	30.5	5.1	0.7	20.8			1.8	–	0.3	6.6	2.1	14.5	9.2^[o]	3.8	2.3	1.7	0.5	–	2.3	9.7
Aug 2020	Election results	35.1	4.1	1.1^[p]	32.5						12.5			5.5^[o]	3.9	3.1	1.6		–	0.4	2.5

Notes

1. Including Civis and UCG members integrated within the PES! party list
2. Including SD, LP and UDSh members integrated within the DPS-led list
3. Including LDSh and UNSh members integrated within the ASh-led list
4. Including LDMZ, FORCA, DP and Movement for Tuzi
5. NARODNA 4.2%, with 4.1% being below 1% of support
6. DPS only
7. SPP 1.1%, with 4.1% being below 1% of support
8. Below 1% of support
9. Hypothetical poll
10. DPS 28.9%, LP 0.1%
11. Including HGI 0.5%, S 0.4%
12. DPS 27.7%, LP 0.4%
13. PP 0.6%, HGI 0.5%, Civis 0.4%, S 0.3%
14. DPS 31.8%, LP 1.3%
15. CnB alliance
16. In coalition with PD

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Europe Now!	77,203	25.53	24	+22
	Together! (DPS–SD–LP–UDSh)	70,228	23.22	21	−12
	For the Future of Montenegro (NSD–DNP–RP)	44,565	14.74	13	−2
	Aleksa and Dritan – Count Bravely! (Democrats–URA)	37,730	12.48	11	−1
	Bosniak Party	21,423	7.08	6	+3
	SNP–DEMOS	9,472	3.13	2	−4
	Social Democratic Party of Montenegro	9,010	2.98	0	−2
	Justice for All	8,380	2.77	0	New
	Albanian Forum (ASh–LDSh–UNSh)	5,767	1.91	2	+2
	Turnaround for a Safe Montenegro	4,833	1.60	0	New
	Albanian Alliance (FORCA–PD–LSMZ)	4,512	1.49	1	–1
	People's Coalition (DHP–PCG–SCG–DSS–PZPV)	3,630	1.20	0	−1
	Croatian Civic Initiative	2,226	0.74	1	+1
	Movement for Changes	1,993	0.66	0	−5
	Yes, We Can!	1,444	0.48	0	New
Total		302,416	100.00	81	0
Valid votes		302,416	99.05
Invalid/blank votes		2,890	0.95
Total votes		305,306	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		542,468	56.28
Source: RTC

Aftermath

Milojko Spajić, the leader of Europe Now!, ruled out a coalition with the DPS and URA.^[13] Leader of the Democratic Montenegro, Aleksa Bečić stated that his coalition with the URA, Aleksa and Dritan – Count Bravely!, would be a kingmaker in coalition talks.^[14]

On 19 October, after months of negotiations, a coalition agreement was reached between Europe Now!, For the Future of Montenegro, Democratic Montenegro (excluding URA), the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (as DEMOS was unable to get seats in Parliament), Civis, the Albanian Forum, and the Albanian Alliance. The session to officially install the government was set for the following week. Under the agreement, Spajić will serve as Prime Minister, and Andrija Mandić will become President of Parliament, with For the Future of Montenegro providing a support role until the end of 2024. Europe Now! will have ten ministries aside from the Prime Ministership, Democratic Montenegro will receive the Deputy Prime Minister position and four ministries, the Socialist People's Party two portfolios, the Albanian Forum one vice-presidential post and one ministry, the Albanian Alliance one portfolio, and Civis one vice-presidential post. Beginning in 2025, the government will be reshuffled, and the two parties of For the Future of Montenegro which gained seats in the legislature will be granted one vice-presidential seat each as well as four ministries.^[15][16] The proposed composition of the new government was presented to Parliament on 26 October,^{[17][18][19][20]} and was approved on 31 October.^[21]

References

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2023 Montenegrin parliamentary election.

1. "Stručnjaci u vladi oročeni na godinu". Antena M (in Montenegrin). 31 October 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
2. "Ovo je konačan spisak kandidata za Krivokapićevu vladu". CDM.
3. "Ovo su biografije kandidata za nove ministre". Vijesti (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
4. Pavićević, Vladimir (30 December 2020). "Kakve promene očekuju crnogorsku političku scenu u novoj godini?". Talas. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
5. "'Open Balkan' could worsen political problems in region". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
6. "Abazović: Sve regionalne inicijative imaju za cilj da približe Crnu Goru članstvu u EU". Vijesti (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
7. "Abazović: Regionalnom saradnjom možemo da kreiramo bolju budućnost građana na ZB". Government of Montenegro. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
8. Durović, Aneta (25 November 2022). "Ostavka Abazovićeve potpredsjednice zbog Otvorenog Balkana?". Radio Slobodna Evropa.
9. Tomovic, Dusica (19 August 2022). "Montenegro Government Toppled by No-Confidence Vote". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
10. "Đukanović raspustio Skupštinu". RTCG. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
11. (PDF). Legislation Online. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
12. "Electoral system". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
13. Matijašević, Biljana (11 June 2023). "Spajić: Nećemo sa DPS-om i Urom, očekujemo da se Vlada što prije formira". Vijesti (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
14. Vasovic, Aleksandar; Filipovic, Branko; Vasovic, Aleksandar (11 June 2023). "Montenegro's pro-EU Europe Now Movement claims victory in snap vote". Reuters. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
15. "Lideri partija potpisali koalicioni sporazum o formiranju vlasti". Vijesti (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 19 October 2023.
16. "Ivanovic: The goal is for the parliament to elect a new leadership on October 26, and then the government". Vijesti. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
17. "Spajić dostavio Skupštini ekspoze". MINA. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
18. "Spajić dostavio Skupštini ekspoze: Naša vizija je Crna Gora kao Švajcarska Balkana i Singapur Evrope". Vijesti (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 26 October 2023.
19. "CRNA GORA KAO ŠVAJCARSKA BALKANA I SINGAPUR EVROPE: Milojko Spajić dostavio Skupštini ekspoze za sastav svog kabineta". kurir.rs (in Serbian). 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
20. "Pročitajte: Spajić dostavio Skupštini Program i plan rada 44. Vlade Crne Gore". CDM (in Montenegrin). 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
21. "Montenegro appoints predominantly pro-EU new government". Reuters. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.