Podgorica  - Montenegro's parliamentary election Sunday was marked by low turnout, with just around a third of the country's 500,000 registered voters casting their ballots halfway through the day, the CDT monitoring agency reported in Podgorica, the nation's capital.

In voting in September 2006, 4 per cent more voters had shown up by 2 pm, six hours into the election. Polling stations are to close at 9 pm (1900 GMT).

Surveys predicted a big victory for Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's coalition, a repeat of his triumph in 2006, when it claimed an absolute majority in parliament.

Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), allied with the small Social Democratic Party, said they called the polls 18 months early to secure a clear four-year mandate for reforms.

The weak and fragmented opposition accused Djukanovic of scheduling the election hastily in order to avoid a vote later, when they say the financial crisis will have had a crippling effect in Montenegro.

Economic woes already threaten the small country's stability. Its main industries are headed for hard times, with aluminum combine KAP facing closure and the recession hitting the tourism industry hard. The banking system is also tottering under the weight of bad loans.

Pre-election surveys indicated a repeat of Djukanovic's triumph, as in the last election. The main question was whether his bloc would win an absolute majority or not.

First projections are expected a few hours after voting ends. dpa