Montenegro holds parliamentary vote to secure reforms, EU path

Polls opened in Montenegro on Sunday for a snap election many hope will bring in a new government to implement economic reforms, improve infrastructure and take the NATO member state closer to European Union membership.

The vote is the first in the former Yugoslav republic since Milo Djukanovic, former leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), lost the presidential election in April and stepped down after 30 years in power.

Polling stations for the 540,000-strong electorate open at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). The first preliminary and unofficial results are expected about two hours later on the basis of a projection of results from a representative sample of polling stations.

The state election commission will then announce the final election results in the coming days.

The commission said 15 parties and alliances will compete for 81 parliamentary seats in the country of just over 620,000 people.

Montenegro remains sharply divided between those who identify as Montenegrins, and those who see themselves as Serbs and who remain opposed to the country's 2006 split from a state union with neighboring and much larger Serbia.

A poll by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) last month put the pro-European Movement Europe Now (PES) party - which also favors closer ties with Serbia - in the lead with 29.1 percent of the vote. The PES's Jakov Milatovic won the April presidential vote.

(Reuters)