Thursday, March 20, 2008

Candidates announced for Montenegro's presidential elections


20 March 2008 Podgorica -- Four candidates will stand for election in Montenegro’s April 6 Presidential poll, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.

The incumbent President, Filip Vujanovic of the governing Democratic Party of Socialists, is seen as the frontrunner in the vote.

The opposition failed to unite for the poll and have nominated three candidates.

They are Nebojsa Medojevic from the Movement for Change, Andreja Mladenovic with the Serbian List and Srdjan Milic from the Socialistic People's Party.

The Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union and other organisations have been invited to observe the election.

It will be Montenegro's first presidential contest since the country regained its independence in 2006.

Among the key issues in the poll are Montenegro’s into bodies such as the EU and NATO, tackling corruption and organised crime, as well as the country's relations with its neighbours in light of Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Montenegro which was in union with Serbia until 2006 has a significant ethnic Serb minority as well as an Albanian minority.

Vujanovic won the last presidential election in May 2003 with nearly two-thirds of the votes cast.

No comments: