At stake in this election:

• 81 seats in the Assembly (Skupstina)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Filip VUJANOVIC
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Igor LUKSIC
• Assembly: Montenegro has a unicameral Assembly (Skupstina) with 81 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is nominated by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the Assembly (Skupstina) 81 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Montenegro has one nationwide constituency of 81 seats. Previously, five seats were reserved for a ‘special constituency’ in areas inhabited predominantly by the Albanian minority. These seats were abolished in an amendment to the election law in September, 2011. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method. There is a three percent threshold to gain representation. If none of the lists of a specific minority group achieve a threshold of 3 percent, a lower threshold of 0.7 percent is used (for Croatians, this becomes 0.4 percent).

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Coalition: Coalition for a European Montenegro / Koalicija za Evropsku Crnu Goru/ Коалиција за Европску Црну Гору*
  • Leader: Milo ÐJUKANOVIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 39
  • Seats won in last election: 48
• Coalition: Democratic Front (DF) / Demokratski Front/ Демократски фронт**
  • Leader: Miodrag LEKIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 20
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Socialist People’s Party of Montenegro (SNP) / Socijalistička Narodna Partija Crne Gore, Социјалистичка народна партија Црне Горе
  • Leader: Srđan MILIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 9
  • Seats won in last election: 16
• Alliance: Positive Montenegro / Pozitivna Crna Gora, Позитивна Црна Гора (PCG)
  • Leader: Darko PAJOVIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 7
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Bosniak Party (BS) / Bošnjačka Stranka, Бошњачка странка
  • Leader: Rafet HUSOVIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 3
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Party: Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI/ ХГИ) / Hrvatska građanska inicijativa, Хрватска грађанска иницијатива
  • Leader: Marija VUČINOVIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 1
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Alliance: Serbian National Alliance / (SNS CG)*******
  • Leader: Ranko KADIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Alliance: Serbian Unity********
  • Leader: Predrag POPOVIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Alliance: Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA/UDSH) / Demokratska Unija Albanaca, or Unioni Demokratik i Shqiptarëve
  • Leader: Mehmet ZENKA
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Coalition: Together / Koalicija Zajedno**********
  • Leader: Miloje ŠESTOVIĆ
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Coalition: For Unity***********
  • Leader: Genci NIMANBEGU
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Coalition: Albanian Coalition************
  • Leader: Fatmir DEKA (DP)
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

* The coalition comprises of DJUKANOVIC's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Liberal Party (LPCG) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In 2009 the SDP ran in a coalition with the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Bosniak Party (BS) and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI). Of the seats won in the last elections, the DPS and SDP won 48.
** The Democratic Front was formed in 2012 by Montenegro’s former foreign minister Miodrag LEKIC. It includes the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) party and the Movement for Change (PzP). Of the seats won in the last elections, the NSD won 8 and the PzP won 5. The DF recently rejected a proposal to merge with the largest opposition party, the SNP.
******* The alliance consists of the Party of Serb Radicals (SSR), the Democratic Serbian Party (DSS) and the Serbian National Council (SNV). In the March 2009 elections, the DSS ran on a joint ticket with the Serb People’s Party (SNS) but it failed to gain parliamentary status.
******** The coalition consists of the Serbian People’s Party (NS), Serbian List (SL), the Serbian Homeland Party (OSS), the Serbian Radical Party, and the Democratic Centre of Boka (DCB)
********** The coalition includes the Party of Pensioners, Disabled and Social Justice and the Yugoslav Communist Party of Montenegro.
*********** The coalition includes the New Democratic Force (FORCA), the Albanian coalition 'Perspective,' and the Citizens Initiative. In the previous elections, FORCA and Perspective each gained 1 seat.
************ The coalition includes the Democratic League in Montenegro (DSCG), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Alternative Albanians (AA). In the last election, the DSCG and the AA ran on a joint ticket and won 1 seat each in parliament.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 620,601 (2012)
• Registered Voters: 514,055 (2012)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 314,151 (2012)

·         Is Montenegro a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Montenegro ratified CEDAW: Yes, succession (23 October 2006)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 12 (following the 2012 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 49 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Montenegro a signatory to CRPD: Yes (27 September 2007)

·         Has Montenegro ratified CRPD: Yes (2 November 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 93,090 (est.)