At Stake in this Election: 

• The Presidency of Montenegro *  

* The first round was held on 2 April 2023.

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Milo ĐUKANOVIĆ (since 20 May 2018) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Dritan ABAZOVIĆ (since 28 April 2022) 

• Assembly: unicameral assembly (Skupština) with 81 seats 

Electoral System:  

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two rounds.  The President may serve up to two 5-year terms. 

• The Prime Minister is nominated by the president and confirmed by the assembly. 

• The Skupstina is composed of 81 members who are directly elected by proportional representation vote in a single nationwide constituency.  Members serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In the first round of the 2023 election, no candidate received a majority of the vote, triggering a runoff. Milo ĐUKANOVIĆ (DPS) and Jakov MILATOVIĆ (Europe Now!) advanced to the runoff.  Đukanović received 35.37% of the first round vote, while Milatović received 28.92%. Voter turnout was 62%.

New/Unique in this Election:  

This election follows a year of political upheaval in which the Skupstina passed two votes of no-confidence against the executive cabinet. 

Key Deadlines:  

• Candidate filing deadline: 26 February 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: 8 March 2023 

Main Candidates in this Election:  

• Milo ĐUKANOVIĆ 
  • Democratic Socialist Party / Demokratska partija socijalista (DPS) 
• Jakov MILATOVIĆ 
  • Party: Europe Now! / Pokret Evropa sad! (PES!) 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 604,966 (2022 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 543,275 (2023) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 307,089 (2022 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by succession) 23 Oct 2006 

• Gender Quota:  for legislative elections, 30% of candidates on each party list must be of the less represented gender (currently women), and at least one candidate of the less represented gender must appear in each group of four on the list 

• Female Candidates in this election: No

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 22 out of 81 seats in the Assembly 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.832, Very high, Rank 49 (2021 est.) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A (2019 est.)  

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 27 Sep 2007, Ratified 2 Nov 2009 

• Projected population with a disability: 67,151 (2022 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Montenegro: Yes, programming 

• Election FAQs: Yes 

• ElectionBase Link: Yes 

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 6 resources & 0 judgements