Holding all local elections in the fall of 2025 is the most favorable option for Montenegrin voters, as it would mean that no citizen would be denied the right to vote through the extension of the mandate of local authorities, according to the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT).
This NGO warns that holding parliamentary elections with local ones would be a serious mistake, as it would further suppress local issues and jeopardize the balance of political representation.
The draft law on local elections, which, among other things, envisages holding all local elections on one day, was prepared by the Ministry of Public Administration. Minister of Public Administration Marash Dukaj announced at the end of April that the proposal had been sent to the Electoral Reform Committee. The ruling majority told Vijesti last month that a proposal to hold local and parliamentary elections in Montenegro on one day could be adopted by the Parliament by the end of July and that “the intention is for all elections to be held on one day in 2027, both parliamentary and local.” This means postponing all local elections, which should have been held in the meantime, or extending the mandates of local authorities.
By the end of the year, regular elections should be held in Mojkovac, Petnjica and Cetinje, and next year in Tivat, Plužine, Žabljak, Bijelo Polje, Šavnik, Bar, Danilovgrad, Kolašin, Pljevlja, Zeta, Plav and Rožaje, and regular state elections in 2027.
In an analysis submitted to Vijesti, CDT points out that holding general local elections (elections in one day) represents a very important social reform that is necessary for Montenegro.
"CDT has been advocating this reform for the past ten years, because it should bring about a rationalization of the electoral process at the local level, to enable local issues to finally gain importance in relation to national issues (primarily nationalist and identity-related issues), and to lead to stability and predictability of electoral processes. That is why this reform is a very important part of the electoral legislation reform," the executive director of this NGO told Vijesti. Dragan Koprivica.
He said that in order to achieve elections in one day, it is crucial to determine the date of local elections that causes the least harm to electoral and democratic rights.
Local elections in 2027 the worst option - damage to around 234.000 citizens
The CDT analyzed the options for holding all local elections in the fall of this year, then in the spring and fall of 2026 and 2027.
In the analysis, they estimated that the option of holding general elections in the fall of 2025 would cause the least damage.
"It is almost 'perfect' from a proportionality standpoint. In reality, it would mean that there would be no denial of voting rights through extension and that only reductions would achieve harmonisation and hold elections on one day," the CDT stated.
The option of holding general local elections in the spring of 2026 would, they say, mean denying the right to vote to around 26.000 citizens (Cetinje, Petnjica and Mojkovac, according to data on the number of registered voters for the 2023 parliamentary elections).
"One election would be held approximately on time (Ulcinj), a shorter reduction in mandates would occur in 14 municipalities, while a reduction of more than a year would occur in seven of them," explained the CDT.
According to the CDT analysis, if the general local elections were held in the fall of 2026, the situation from the point of view of causing "damage" would be: the right to vote through the extension of the mandate would be denied to around 47.000 citizens (Cetinje, Petnjica and Mojkovac, Ulcinj), in 12 municipalities the elections would be held at approximately the regular time (Bar, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Kolašin, Plav, Pljevlja, Plužine, Rožaje, Tivat, Zeta, Šavnik and Žabljak), the period would be shortened to one year in two municipalities (Tuzi and Andrijevica), and longer in seven (Gusinje, Podgorica, Kotor. Budva, Berane, Nikšić and Herceg Novi).
The option of holding general elections in the spring of 2027 would result in the deprivation of voting rights for more than a year for around 47.000 voters (Cetinje, Petnjica and Mojkovac, Ulcinj), for less than a year for an additional 187.000 (Bar, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Kolašin, Plav, Pljevlja, Plužine, Rožaje, Tivat, Zeta, Šavnik and Žabljak), elections in Tuzi would be held approximately on the regular schedule, while the reduction would be in the remaining eight municipalities, according to the CDT.
"Here you can best see what proportionality means in practice, i.e. the least damage to democracy - in the first option it would not exist, while in the fourth option this damage would be caused to around 234.000 citizens with the right to vote," said the CDT.
As they add, the option of holding the elections on one day in the fall of 2027 would be approximate (the shortening of the mandate would be less), but it would avoid the additional problem that would arise if the elections were held in the spring of 2027, i.e. they would likely be combined with the regular parliamentary elections.
They explain that in Montenegro, local elections are treated as "second-class", so campaigns often ignore local problems, while the dominance of national actors and topics suppresses the interests of citizens at the municipal level.
"Small parties, independent lists and local initiatives find it difficult to come to the fore in such an environment. Merging local and parliamentary elections would further weaken local democracy," the CDT warns.
They recall that the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) have provided opinions on a recent concrete example of the organization of local and parliamentary elections in Serbia.
The Council of Europe believes that this represents “a significant challenge for the election administration, contributing to an excessive focus of the campaign on national political issues”, and the European Parliament suggests that holding “local and parliamentary elections on the same day is not a good or established practice, since many observers see these early partial local elections as a means of consolidating the power of the current government and abusing the voting rights of local communities”.
"These views are also shared by the ODIHR, which says that 'the diverse media landscape was strongly polarized and provided selective reporting, prioritizing the national agenda over local issues, thereby limiting voters' access to key information about the local elections," the CDT said.
Get opinions from international election authorities
Explaining the solutions advocated by the CDT, Koprivica says that it is first necessary to obtain opinions from international electoral authorities for the prepared legal solutions, so that this important and necessary part of electoral reform is legitimate and in clear public, not party, interest.
"Secondly, considering that the depoliticization of the electoral administration was announced as part of the preparation of the electoral reform, we believe that the optimal date would be autumn 2026. This is because time would be needed to select and acclimate new members of the State Election Commission (SEC) and municipal election commissions (MECs). If this depoliticization does not occur by, as announced, July 31 of this year, then general local elections would have to be held no later than spring 2026," said Koprivica.
It is important that international standards are respected.
The CDT says that carrying out this type of synchronization (local elections on one day) most often implies denying the right to vote to a certain number of citizens, and therefore it is crucial that international standards are respected as much as possible.
They also say that the proposal of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform should receive the opinion of relevant international institutions before being adopted by parliament.
"In order to achieve elections in one day, it is crucial to determine the date of local elections that causes the least harm to electoral and democratic rights... The extension of the mandate is problematic here, and therefore the Committee must address the issue of the date of general local elections with special care and sensitivity," the CDT said.
As they state, the Venice Commission believes that an extension of the mandate is possible in cases of war, state of emergency, natural disasters or institutional blockades.
"On a couple of occasions, this has happened in similar (not identical) situations (Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia, North Macedonia, Albania), when reforms were taking place in the public interest. In each of them, three conditions had to be met: that the reform was legally based, that it was necessary and legitimate, and that it was proportional," the CDT states.
In one of the opinions, the VK says that the extension of the mandate, or the denial of voting rights, must be reasonable and clearly demonstrated as to why that option is better than other options that exist. They suggest that, if necessary, the extension must be for the shortest possible period of time and that there are no less invasive solutions at that moment, according to the CDT.
"In other words, the chosen solution must cause the least damage to crucial democratic principles, namely the denial of voting rights through the extension of municipal mandates," they said.
Bonus video:
