Poll by CEDEM and Damar Agency

55.6 Percent of Citizens of Montenegro Would Vote for Independence

Podgorica, April 5 -- If a referendum about the state-status of Montenegro were held now and the question were "Should Montenegro be an independent and sovereign state?", if the responses of undecided voters [currently about 10 percent] were not taken into account, 55.6 percent of citizens of Montenegro would vote for and 44.4 percent against.

These are the results of the most recent public opinion poll conducted by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), in cooperation with the agency "Damar". The poll was conducted between March 27, 2001 and April 3, 2001 on the sample of 1,076 residents of Podgorica, Niksic, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja, Bar, Herceg Novi, Cetinje, Mojkovac, Kolasin and Ulcinj.

If those who responded by "I do not know" or "I would not vote" are ignored, the coalition "Victory for Montnegro - Democratic coalition Milo Djukanovic" [DPS and SDP] enjoys the support of 45.7percent of citizens, the Coalition "Together for Yugoslavia" [SNP, NS and SNS] of 36.9 percent, the Liberal Alliance [LSCG] of 11.7 percent, the People's Socialist Party [NSS] of 3.2 percent, the DUA of 0.6 percent and the Democratic Alliance in Montenegro of 0.9 percent, while one percent of citizens would opt for one of other political parties. [Based on these results, the democratic Coalition Milo Djukanovic would win 34 seats in the Parliament, the Liberal Alliance 8, the Coalition for Yugoslavia 28, and the People's Socialist Party, under informal leadership of Momir Bulatovic 2, while 5 seats are reserved for representatives of ethnic Albanians].

If the coalitions were not formed, the DPS would enjoy support of 30.1 percent of citizens, the SNP of 17.4 percent, the LSCG of 11.2 percent, the NS of 7.8 percent, the SDP of 5.5 percent, the NSS of 3.7 percent, the Democratic Alliance in Montenegro of 0.7 percent and the DUA of 0.4 percent.

Replying to the question regarding the best mode for the organization of relations between Montenegro and Serbia, 38.1 percent of citizens opted for an independent and internationally recognized Montenegro, 19.9 percent for Montenegro as a part of the existing federation, FR Yugoslavia, on the basis of a new Constitution, 16.4 for a confederation (alliance) of equal states of Montenegro and Serbia with one seat in the UN, 14.5 for an alliance of independent states Montenegro and Serbia with two seats in the UN, while 4.7 percent of citizens believe that both the Federation and states should be abolished and in their place a single centralized state established.

The poll indicated that there is almost unanimous belief that Montenegro, either as an independent state or within Yugoslavia should in the future be a member of the European Union. As many as 80.7 percent of citizens support that idea, 7 percent are against, while 12.3 are not sure.

On the other hand, 37.5 percent of citizens believe that Montenegro should not join NATO, 31.8 believe that Montenegro should join the Alliance, while 30.7 percent are not sure.

A majority of citizens in Montenegro, 50.5 percent, are for full cooperation of Montenegro and Serbia with the Hague Tribunal and extradition of all indicted individuals, 34.9 percent are against, while 14.6 do not have a definite opinion on this issue.

To the question whether the future statehood-legal status of Montenegro should depend on the solution of the status of Kosovo and events in Macedonia, 65.8 percent of citizens assessed that it should not, 14.1 that it should, and 20.1 percent did not have a definite opinion. According to the opinion of 39.8 percent of citizens the German Mark should be the currency of Montenegro, 24.4 percent opted for the new Yugoslav Dinar, 11.8 percent for the Euro, and 6.2 percent for the Perper [former Montenegrin currency].

[Srdjan Darmanovic, the director of CEDEM stressed that this poll showed slight changes with respect to the previous poll. However, as he emphasized, more than 90 percent of the poll was conducted before the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic, so that at the moment it cannot be concluded whether that event has influenced the public opinion in Montenegro.]

Djukanovic Gets Highest Marks

Grade the following politicians using grades between 1and 5:

Milo Djukanovic - 3.26
Momir Bulatovic - 1.69
Zarko Rakcevic - 2.51
Dragan Soc - 2.37
Mehmed Bardhi - 1.57
Ferhat Dinosha - 1.69
Vojislav Kostunica - 2.53
Slobodan Milosevic - 1.97
Svetozar Marovic - 3.07
Filip Vujanovic - 3.00
Predrag Bulatovic - 2.45
Slavko Perovic - 3.13
Zoran Zizic - 1.98
Dusko Jovanovic - 1.92
Bozidar Bojovic - 2.0
Zoran Dindic - 1.90

DSP-SDP Coalition leads

For which coalition/party would you vote in the forthcoming elections on April 22?

Coalition DPS-SDP - 37.6%
Coalition SNP-NS-SNS - 30.4%
Liberal Alliance of Montenegro - 9.7%
People's Socialist Party - 2.6%
DUA - 0.5%
Democratic Alliance in Montenegro - 0.7%
Other party - 0.8%
I do not know - 7.9%
Would not vote - 9.8%