Montenegro 2023 presidential  and early parliamentary elections: ODIHR election observation missions final reports

Following the 2023 presidential and early parliamentary elections in Montenegro, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published final reports with recommendations to assist the country in bringing the electoral process closer in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards.

The 19 March presidential election was competitive, with fundamental freedoms respected in the campaign, but the legal framework has numerous gaps and ambiguities that undermine its effectiveness, ODIHR said in its report. The election administration worked transparently, but extreme politicisation and the lack of an inclusive candidate registration process reduced public trust. The second round of the election was competitive, and candidates enjoyed equal opportunities to reach out to the voters. While there is no explicit regulation on almost all aspects of the second round, the election administration developed provisional solutions that proved effective.

The 11 June early parliamentary elections were well-run, despite the fact they took place during a protracted institutional and constitutional crisis, ODIHR said. The public broadcaster provided balanced coverage, but the media environment was polarized, with private media reporting along party lines. The inclusion of women in political life remains low, and is undermined by insufficient state and political-party efforts.

Key recommendations from both reports include:

• Conducting an inclusive, transparent and comprehensive review of the legal framework to eliminate gaps and inconsistencies before the next elections;
• Amending the law to regulate all aspects of the second round of presidential elections;
• Reviewing the mechanism for nominating and appointing election commissions;
• Reviewing procedures and deadlines for candidate registration to ensure its integrity;
• Undertaking effective measures to identify and overcome gender-related barriers for women candidates and reviewing the impact of gender quotas at all levels;
• Reviewing the funding system of local public broadcasters to guarantee their independence and editorial freedom;
• Introducing regulations for requesting recounts in case of discrepancies in results protocols and allowing for results to be invalidated only in case of significant irregularities;
• Requiring the State Election Commission to publish results disaggregated by polling stations in a consistent format as soon as the results are available.

ODIHR deployed an Election Observation Mission on 8 February 2023 to observe the presidential election, and a mission of the same format was deployed on 5 May 2023 to follow the conduct of the early parliamentary elections. All 57 participating States across the OSCE region have formally committed to following up promptly on ODIHR’s election assessments and recommendations.