BELGRADE, April 22 (Hina) - Citizens of Montenegro on Sunday went to the polls to elect 77 deputies to the parliament of this minor republic in the current Yugoslav federation. Since 1990 this has been the 11th ballot in Montenegro,
and a turnout so far has never been lower than 65 percent. Around 450.000 people are eligible to vote in 1,093 polling stations, opened from 08.00 am to 09.00 pm Sunday, and a high turnout is expected this time as well. Sunday's ballot is regarded to be "a referendum before a referendum" at which Montenegrins will be called to express their opinion whether they are in favour of remaining in Yugoslavia or to have an independent Montenegro. Seven hundred and forty candidates (740) of 12 political parties and four coalitions stood for today's election. The coalition called "Victory Belongs to Montenegro", led by the incumbent Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, is likely to win about 47 p
BELGRADE, April 22 (Hina) - Citizens of Montenegro on Sunday went to
the polls to elect 77 deputies to the parliament of this minor
republic in the current Yugoslav federation.
Since 1990 this has been the 11th ballot in Montenegro, and a
turnout so far has never been lower than 65 percent. Around 450.000
people are eligible to vote in 1,093 polling stations, opened from
08.00 am to 09.00 pm Sunday, and a high turnout is expected this time
as well.
Sunday's ballot is regarded to be "a referendum before a
referendum" at which Montenegrins will be called to express their
opinion whether they are in favour of remaining in Yugoslavia or to
have an independent Montenegro.
Seven hundred and forty candidates (740) of 12 political parties
and four coalitions stood for today's election. The coalition
called "Victory Belongs to Montenegro", led by the incumbent
Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, is likely to win about 47
percent of the vote. Another coalition, led by pro-Yugoslav
politician Predrag Bulatovic, is expected to muster some 35
percent.
Djukanovic envisages that his coalition consisting of the
Democratic Party of Socialists and Social Democratic Party will
gain 39 parliamentary seats.
The threshold for gaining a seat is three percent of the number of
the voters who went to the polls. This threshold is lowered for five
municipalities where a large community of ethnic Albanians lives.
Thus, the Albanian minority is enabled to have its representatives
in the parliament.
The election was observed by some 3,000 observers. The OSCE
(Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) sent its 178
monitors, while agencies for the monitoring of elections in
Belgrade and Podgorica sent their 1,200 observers. These
organisations have announced first preliminary results at about
10.00 pm today. Some observer came from individual countries.
Upon casting their ballots, voters were marked by special spray so
that they could not vote several times.
Over 400 Montenegrin and 200 foreign reporters covered the ballot.
Montenegro has earmarked two million German marks for the conduct
of the election, but it seems that additional 900,000 will be needed
to cover all the costs.
(hina) ms