PODGORICA, Dec 20 (Hina) - Presidential elections are to be held in Montenegro on Sunday after Milan Djukanovic withdrew from office and was commissioned to convene a new government in Montenegro. Eleven candidates in all have
registered to stand the presidential ballot.
PODGORICA, Dec 20 (Hina) - Presidential elections are to be held in
Montenegro on Sunday after Milan Djukanovic withdrew from office
and was commissioned to convene a new government in Montenegro.
Eleven candidates in all have registered to stand the presidential
ballot. #L#
Only three were proposed by parties while eight are independent
candidates, or so-called citizens' delegates.
The coming elections have lost their usual attraction because the
vice president of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS)
and parliamentary president Filip Vujanovic is so far ahead of the
other candidates that his victory is not being questioned at all.
Nevertheless, opposition parties that are also considered pro-
Yugoslav, did not propose their candidate and called on their
followers not to vote at the elections. It is doubtful whether the
elections will succeed at all because at least 50 per cent of the
electorate is required to cast ballots for the elections to be
valid.
The Council of Europe, the OSCE and numerous non-government
organisations called on Montenegrin voters to attend to their
citizen's duty on Sunday because a repeat of the elections would
just be too expensive for the country.
The elections could cost up to one and a half million euros which
could finance at least 655 new jobs.
The pre-election media blackout begins at midnight Friday. The vote
will be monitored by more than 2000 observers from the OSCE, Council
of Europe and foreign or non-government organisation delegations.
(hina) sp