Parliamentary Elections, 10 September 2006

Following an invitation from Montenegro's Foreign Ministry, ODIHR deployed an election observation mission on 9 August to observe the parliamentary elections on 10 September.

Headed by Mr. Jørgen Grunnet of Denmark, the mission consisted of 27 experts and long-term observers from 16 OSCE participating States who were based in Podgorica and six other regional centers, covering all 21 municipalities in the country.

For observation on election day, the mission joined efforts with observer delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Together, they deployed some 200 short-term observers from 41 OSCE participating States.

According to the mission's final report: "The 10 September 2006 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Montenegro were the first since the 21 May referendum on state-status and the subsequent proclamation of independence. The electoral process was largely in line with OSCE Commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, although a number of reappearing challenges remain to be addressed."