Voters in Montenegro have begun casting their votes to choose the country’s eighth president.

Seven candidates, including a woman, are competing in the presidential elections to lead the country over the next five years. Montenegro’s current President Milo Djukanovic of the Social Democratic Party is the most prominent candidate, along with the right-wing Andrija Mandic of the Democratic Front.

According to data from the State Electoral Commission (SEC) of Montenegro, more than 542,000 eligible voters are participating in the elections in the country’s eighth presidential election since the transition to a multi-party system in 1990.

The winner of the elections must receive more than 50 percent of the vote, so that there is no resort to a run-off between the two candidates with the highest number of votes, which will be on April 2.

Djukanovic dissolved parliament last Thursday, and set next June 11 for early parliamentary elections, and the outcome of the presidential elections would enhance the chances of the winning candidate’s party in the parliamentary elections.

Montenegro is a member of NATO and a candidate to join the European Union

Source: Qatar News Agency