The working version of the draft amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives envisages that all local elections will be held in 2027, and the precise date for their holding could be agreed upon early next week, "Vijesti" has learned unofficially.
A draft of the document, which the newspaper has seen, states that “general local elections” will be held in 2027, on the first Sunday in April or May “which does not coincide with a state, other or religious holiday.” In the event that there is a coincidence, then, as stated, the elections should be held after the first week of one of those months.
This means that it is necessary to "postpone" all local elections that should be held before 2027, or to extend the mandates of the authorities in those local governments.
By the end of the year, people should go to the polls in Cetinje, Mojkovac and Petnjica, and next year in Tivat, Plužine, Žabljak, Bijelo Polje, Šavnik, Bar, Danilovgrad, Kolašin, Pljevlja, Zeta, Plav and Rožaje.
"For municipal assembly (MA) councilors whose mandate in accordance with the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives expires before 2027, the duration of their mandate is extended until the day the mandate of the councilors elected at the first general local elections is confirmed. For municipal assembly councilors whose mandate in accordance with the Law would continue after 2027, the mandate expires on the day the mandate of the councilors elected at the first general local elections is confirmed," the document states.
Regular state elections are scheduled to be held in 2027, but although there has been repeated speculation that they could be organized with local ones, there is no mention of this in the working version of the draft amendments.
A source for "Vijesti" from one of the ruling parties said that there is a possibility that both local and national elections will be held on the same day, but that this will be agreed upon later. On the other hand, an opposition source claims that the parliamentary elections "remain in the same regime as before" and that they will not be held simultaneously with the local elections.
Both sources said that the parliamentary Electoral Reform Committee will consider the proposed amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives on Monday. After that, they added, a roundtable will be held on Wednesday so that all interested parties can provide comments and suggestions on the text, which will then be sent to the Parliament for adoption.
A government source said the plan is to have the law passed by the end of the month.
This was also announced to "Vijesti" by the co-chairman of the Electoral Reform Committee. Nikola Rakočević (Democratic Party of Socialists), saying that it would be a “great step forward in reform.” He stated that the party leaders should agree on the precise date of the local elections.
The working version of the draft proposed that "general local elections" be called by the State Election Commission (SEC), not the head of state, who currently does so.
"General local elections are called by decision of the State Election Commission. The State Election Commission calls general local elections 90 days before the day of the general local elections," the document states.
It also states that early local elections cannot be called within a period shorter than nine months from the date of the general local elections. If the Municipal Assembly is dissolved or the parliamentary mandate is shortened during that period, the Government will, as stated, appoint a board of trustees whose mandate will last until the constitution of a new assembly.
As it is added, the mandate of councilors elected in regular elections will last from the day of confirmation of the mandate at the first session of the Municipal Assembly, until the day of confirmation of the mandate of the councilors of the new convocation.
"In the event that in certain municipalities the mandates of the councilors of the new convocation are not confirmed within 30 days from the date of the announcement of the final results of the general local elections, the mandate of the councilors of the previous convocation of the assemblies of those municipalities shall cease, and the function of the assembly shall be performed by a board of trustees appointed by the Government of Montenegro until the constitution of the new municipal assembly," it is written in the working version of the document that "Vijesti" had access to.
The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) said last week that 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.
Their analysis also states that holding state elections with local ones would be a "serious mistake", because, they claim, it would "further suppress local issues and jeopardize the balance of political representation".
CDT, which is an associate member of the Electoral Reform Committee, analyzed the options for holding all local elections, except in the fall of this year, and in the spring and fall of 2026 and 2027. They believe that the option of holding general elections in the spring of 2027 would result in the denial of voting rights for more than a year for about 47.000 voters (Cetinje, Petnjica, Mojkovac and Ulcinj), and for less than a year for an additional 187.000 voters (Bar, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Kolašin, Plav, Pljevlja, Plužine, Rožaje, Tivat, Zeta, Šavnik and Žabljak).
A proposal to allocate more money to political parties is also expected to be adopted.
A source for "Vijesti" from the government said that the Committee will submit to the Parliament, along with the proposal for amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, a proposal for amendments to the regulations on party financing, so that the two acts can be adopted as a package.
The proposed amendments to that law propose an increase in budget allocations for the regular work of parliamentary parties - 0,8 percent, instead of the previous 0,5 percent of the current budget.
It was also proposed that a natural person may pay a maximum of 10.000 euros, and a legal maximum of 40.000 euros annually, for the regular work and financing of election campaigns of a political entity. According to the current law, a natural person may pay a maximum of 5.000 euros, and a legal maximum of 20.000 euros.
Among other things, a ban on the use of premises of state and local government bodies, public institutions and enterprises owned by the state or municipality for the purpose of election campaigns has been proposed.
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