OSCE Mission to Montenegro regrets non-adoption of amendments to Election Law

PODGORICA, 1 August 2011 – The Acting Head of OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Waldemar Figaj, said today he regretted that the amendments to the Law on Election were again not adopted within the deadline of 31 July. 

“This was the seventh time that the political parties in the Parliament have failed to reach an agreement on amendments to harmonize the Law with the Constitution. This happened in spite of the fact that they have received generally positive opinions on the draft amendments from the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Venice Commission and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR).” 

Figaj also stressed that election legislation is a key area of legislation in regard to Montenegro’s chosen path towards EU integration.

“The OSCE Mission strongly encourages the political parties to reach a compromise and to adopt the amendments including the joint recommendations of the CoE Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR within the newly established time frame of 31 December,” he said.