Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 30 August 2020. They were the fifth parliamentary in Montenegro since gaining its independence in 2006. Eighty-one members of the Montenegrin parliament were elected. Elections were organized in special conditions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Montenegro. The parliamentary election was also held simultaneously with the local elections in five municipalities.
The period before the election was marked by the high polarization of the electorate. Several corruption scandals of the ruling party triggered 2019 anti-government protests, while a controversial religion law sparked another wave of protests. Election observers Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stated: "Abuse of state resources gave the ruling party an unfair advantage", and said that although the elections were competitive, the governing party also benefited from a lack of independent media.
The election resulted in a victory for the opposition parties and the fall from power of the ruling DPS, which had ruled the country since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990. On 31 August, the leaders of three opposition coalitions, For the Future of Montenegro, Peace is Our Nation and In Black and White, agreed to form an expert government, and to continue to work on the European Union accession process.
Background
Following the 2016 parliamentary elections, the entire opposition started a collective boycott of all parliamentary sittings. In January 2017, 39 of the 81 MPs were boycotting parliament, requesting early elections to be held no later than 2018, when the next presidential elections were scheduled.Novi izbori kao uslov opozicije za povratak u Parlament , Radio Slobodna Evropa, 30 November 2016Ponoviti izbore najkasnije do 2018. , Mondo.me, 7 February 2017
In 2016, then Vice President of the ruling DPS Svetozar Marović was arrested in connection to a long-running corruption case concerning his hometown of Budva; the Montenegrin prosecutor's office labeled him as "head of Budva criminal group," which he later admitted in court. He eventually fled to neighboring Serbia for alleged psychiatric treatment in Belgrade, where he currently resides. Montenegro has repeatedly requested his extradition from Serbia.Potpredsjednik Pažin insistirao u Beogradu da Svetozar Marović bude izručen Crnoj Gori , Vlada Crne Gore In August 2020, Marović spoke to the media for the first time, after fleeing to Belgrade, accusing the leadership of the party he founded of corruption, nepotism, partocracy and authoritarianism, also accusing President Đukanović of rigging the corruption process against him and members of his family.Marović: Đukanović bi da je Crna Gora država samo onih koji glasaju DPS, trenutak je za promjene , Vijesti
In its June 2018 report, issued after the April 2018 presidential election, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, called for election reforms in Montenegro, and for more integrity, impartiality, and professionalism in election administration.
Protests against corruption in the DPS-led government started in February 2019 after the revelation of footage and documents that appeared to implicate top officials in obtaining funds for the ruling party. On 30 March, all 39 opposition MPs signed an "Agreement for the Future", proposed by the protest organizers, in which they promised to boycott the 2020 elections if they were deemed irregular. In May 2020 the protest organizers called for a boycott of the 30 August elections, along with some opposition parties, claiming that the elections would not be held under fair conditions.Perović: Ne izlazite na izbore, najavite opšti bojkot , Dan online, 20 May 2020
The EU-backed board for electoral system reform, which both the government and the opposition participated in, failed in December 2019, after the opposition left the board sessions as a protest against the government passing a controversial law on religion, accusing the ruling party of inciting ethnic hatred and unrest.DEMOKRATE NAPUSTILE ODBOR: Povući iz procedure zakon koji izaziva međunacionalnu mržnju , volimpodgoricu.me/Vijesti, 19 December 2020 In late December 2019 another wave of protests started against the newly adopted law which de jure transfers the ownership of church buildings and estates from the Orthodox Church to the Montenegrin state.
In its political rights and civil liberties worldwide report in May 2020, Freedom House marked Montenegro as a hybrid regime rather than a democracy because of declining standards in governance, justice, elections, and media freedom. Freedom House stated that years of increasing state capture, abuse of power and strongman tactics had been employed by long-term Prime Minister and President Milo Đukanović, and for the first time since 2003, Montenegro was no longer categorised as a democracy. The report emphasised the unequal electoral process, cases of political arrests, negative developments related to judicial independence, media freedoms, as well as a series of unresolved cases of corruption within the DPS-led government. Despite repeated demands from the opposition, NGO sector, and the EU-backed institutions for the professionalization and neutralisation of institutions controlling the electoral process, they are still under the de facto control of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists-led coalition government.Kako se Crna Gora našla u "hibridnim režimima" , Vijesti/Radio Free EuropeCrna Gora država pokradenih izbora , Dan OnlineFreedom in the World—Montenegro Country Report , Freedom House (2020)
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% for a maximum of three seats.cf. Art. 94 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.Electoral system , Inter-parliamentary Union
Campaign On 1 May 2019, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), United Montenegro (UCG), Workers' Party (RP) and Independent group in the parliament agreed to form a new catch-all political alliance under the name For the Benefit of All.Potpisan sporazum "Da svako ima" , Vijesti, 1 May 2019New political alliance to be set up soon Cafe del Montenegro, 30 April 2019 The alliance eventually dissolved prior the election. In August 2020, all three parties decided to join a pre-election coalition with right-wing Democratic Front (DF) alliance, under the name For the Future of Montenegro,DF, SNP, Narodni pokret i Prava zajedno na izborima , Vijesti, 31 July 2020 as did some minor political parties, such as the True Montenegro (PCG), Democratic Party of Unity (DSJ), Democratic Serb Party (DSS) and Yugoslav Communist Party (JKP).SNP u Narodnom pokretu, Milačić na listi DF-a , CDM, 24 July 2020
On 11 July 2020, the Civic Movement URA decided to run independently, presenting its centre-left "In Black and White" election platform, led by independent candidates, including well known journalist and activist Milka Tadić, some university professors, journalists, civic and NGO activists, with the party leader Dritan Abazović as a ballot carrier.Šta piše i ko je potpisao platformu "Crno na bijelo": Smjena vlasti će izroditi drugačiju Crnu Goru , Vijesti URA electoral list also contains one representative of the Bosniak minority interests SPP party, as well of some minor localist parties and initiatives.SPP Hazbije Kalača podžala Platformu Crno na bijelo , Vijesti, 2 August 2020
Democratic Montenegro, DEMOS, the New Left, PUPI and the NGO Policy Research Society, agreed to form a pre-election coalition under the name Peace is Our Nation, with Democratic Montenegro leader Aleksa Bečić as a ballot carrier.Nova ponuda: Lekić, Rudović, Pavićević i Mijović na izbornoj listi Demokrata , Dnevne novine, 12 July 2020U Crnoj Gori formiran "Građanski blok" , RTS, 12 July 2020
On 12 July 2020, the opposition Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (SDP) announced that it would run independently,"SDP neće u neprincipijelne koalicije" , RTCG, 12 July 2020 as did the Social Democrats of Montenegro (SD), junior party in the previous government coalition, a few days earlier.ODLUKA PREDSJEDNIŠTVA: SD samostalno na parlamentarne izbore , RTCG, 7 July 2020
On 28 July 2020, the Albanian List, a minority politics coalition was formed by New Democratic Force (Forca), the Albanian Alternative (AA), Albanian Coalition Perspective (AKP) and the Democratic League of Albanians (DSA),Forca, AA i DSA zajedno na izborima , Dan, 28 July 2020 A few weeks earlier, Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) agreed to join the DP and DSCG's Albanian Coalition "Unanimously".Albanci u dvije kolone , Dan Online, 27 July 2020
Prior to August 2020, the centre-right minority politics Bosniak Party (BS) announced that it would run independently, as did the centre-right Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and the newly formed centrist Croatian Reform Party (HRS).Bošnjačka stranka predala listu za predstojeće izbore , Analitika, 3 August 2020
On 1 August 2020, the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) decided to run independently, with Andrija Popović as Liberal Party (LP) representative on their electoral list, with incumbent prime-minister Duško Marković as a ballot carrier.Marković nosilac izborne liste DPS , Vijesti, 1 August 2020
Electoral lists #Electoral list nameBallot carrierPolitical positionNote1Social Democrats – Ivan Brajović – We decide, consistentlyIvan BrajovićCentre-left, populism2Bosniak Party – Correctly – Rafet HusovićErvin IbrahimovićCentre-right to rightM3HGI – With all heart for Montenegro!Adrian VuksanovićCentre-rightM4Social Democratic Party – Strong Montenegro!Draginja VuksanovićCentre-left5Croatian Reform Party of Montenegro – HRSRadovan MarićCentre to centre-rightM6Dritan Abazović – In Black and White – Srđan PavićevićDritan AbazovićCentre-left7Albanian Coalition – Unanimously – DP, DUA, DSCGFatmir GjekaCentre-right to rightM8Decisively for Montenegro! DPS – Milo ĐukanovićDuško MarkovićBig tent, populism9For the Future of Montenegro – DF, SNP, Popular MovementZdravko KrivokapićCentre-right to right10Albanian List – Genci Nimanbegu, Nik ĐeljošajNik GjeloshajCentre-right to rightM11Aleksa Bečić – Miodrag Lekić – Peace is Our NationAleksa BečićBig tent, centrism• Source: National Electoral Commission (official website). • Note: "M" denotes the national minority electoral list.
Opinion polls Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date poll was published. 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. The threshold for a party to provide their deputies in parliament is 3%, except for minority parties and coalitions (E.g. BS, Forca and AA), for which that threshold does not apply.
denotes the poll was commissioned by an election participating political party. denotes the poll was commissioned by an embassy or a foreign institute.