1992 and 2006 Referendum in Montenegro and Their Consequences (benchmarking)

Abstract

Internationally, a referendum is one of the most popular ways to determine the readiness and willingness of people to make an important political decision by a state such as membership in an international organisation or declaration of independence. The article shows the comparative analysis of the referendums in Montenegro of 1992 and 2006, their features and consequences based on laws and regulations, statistics and mass media sources. The common feature of both referendums includes the consequences that they did not involve any military aggression in comparison with other countries of the former Yugoslavia. As in 1992 as in 2006, the influence of international organisations is observed. In 1992, the referendum was organised during a week so people were not able to make a reasonable decision to vote “for” or” against In contrast, to conduct the referendum in 2006, Montenegro had been preparing for more than 3 years with the support of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ODIHR/OSCE) that encouraged to organise the referendum democratically. Interestingly, comparing the referendum of 1992 and 2006, the second one has demonstrated more objectiveness and choice of the majority. Thus, 66 % of the population participated in the 1992 referendum, in 2006 there was 86 %. The figures demonstrate that uninterest of 34 % of Montenegrins in the election process is related to the boycott by the national minorities and opposition due to blind spot and antidemocratic nature of the referendum. In contrast, the 2006 referendum was conducted following the respect for human rights and democracy. On balance, in 1992, for the independence of Montenegro, there were 4 % of votes while in 2006 there were 55,5 % of votes. During 1992-2006, there were 2 referendums for independence which results were rather different under pressure of political, social and economic transformations. Among the former Yugoslav republics, gaining the independence status by Montenegro has a unique character. Firstly, the country managed to achieve a consensus with Serbia peacefully without any humanitarian losses.