Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic said he expected the parliamentary elections taking place in that country on Sunday to be held in a democratic atmosphere.

Djukanovic, who cast his vote in the capital Podgorica at noon, said that all tensions concerning the elections are “induced.”

Polling stations opened at 7 am across the country for the fifth parliamentary elections since Montenegro declared its independence in 2006. 

The elections are held amid high tensions between Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, which launched mass protests over the new Law on Religious Freedoms.

According to the Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) the voter turnout by 1 pm was 54.1 percent – 54.4 percent in Podgorica, 57.2 in the south of the country and 48.6 percent in the north. Compared to 2016, the turnout was higher by 14.2 percent and compared to 2012 by 33.3 percent, said the CeMI.

Aleksa Ivanovic, the Chairman of the State Election Commission, presented slightly different information saying that the total voter turnout by 1 pm was 51.51 percent.

President Djukanovic said the higher turnout was a result of the constant calls by political parties who urged the citizens to vote in the morning.

Montenegro Littoral Bishop Amfilohije cast his vote for the first time ever. Asked if the country could see riots on the day of elections, the 82-year-old bishop said there can only be the peace of God.