'Montenegro census delayed: New government makes a decision.'

Montenegro's Prime Minister-elect Milojko Spajic said today that it has been decided to postpone the start of the census by a month, to November 30, and added that this will not require additional costs.

There are two shortcomings that need to be addressed in the meantime. First, the software for controlling the census form needs to be improved so that everyone can check what has been entered into the database," Spajic said, according to the N1 correspondent. Second, opposition members will be added to the census commissions, Spajic emphasized.

The previous government of Dritan Abazovic argued that postponing the census required additional costs. The opposition announced it would boycott the census, which was originally scheduled from Nov. 1 to Nov. 15.

Montenegro has not had a census in 12 years, the last one was in 2011 and was supposed to take place ten years later, in 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the census serves to collect statistics that should help inform public policy, in Montenegro it is a political issue, with a focus on national and religious identification.