Europeans to Observe Montenegrin Election

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, is to send an observers’ mission to Montenegro – thus being the second international body to announce that it is monitoring the elections along with the OSCE.A team of 11 PACE parliamentarians are to observe the general elections in Montenegro, scheduled for October 14, Nathalie Bargellini, the assembly spokesperson, told the Podgorica-based newspaper Dan on Tuesday.PACE’s mission will arrive in the republic three days before the elections and its findings will be discussed at the Assembly’s session in January.

Next week, it will be known who will head the mission, Bargellini added.

OSCE has also announced that it will monitor the October polls.

Its Office for Democratic Instiutions and Human Rights, OSCE/ODIHR, visited the country from August 14 to 16.

It recommended the deployment of a limited observer’s mission, comprising a core team of experts and 16 long-term observers seconded by OSCE participating states.

This means that the mission will visit only a limited number of pollings stations on election day, and there will be no systematic observation of voting and counting of results.

The polls will be the third parliamentary elections since the restoration of Montenegro’s independence in 2006.

The deadline to submit electoral lists expires on September 19.

Positive Montenegro, a recently formed party, was the first to sumbit its list to the State Electoral Commission on Tuesday.