Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro
Democratic Party of Socialists Демократска партија социјалиста Demokratska partija socijalista | |
---|---|
President | Milo Đukanović |
Vice Presidents | Sanja Damjanović Ivan Vuković |
Secretary General | Aleksandar Bogdanović |
Founders | Momir Bulatović Milo Đukanović Svetozar Marović |
Founded | 22 June 1991 |
Preceded by | League of Communists of Montenegro |
Headquarters | Podgorica |
Ideology | |
Political position | Big tent[a] |
European affiliation | Party of European Socialists (associate) |
International affiliation | Progressive Alliance Socialist International |
Colours | Purple Gold |
Parliament | 29 / 81 |
Local Parliaments | 336 / 853 |
Website | |
dps | |
^ a: The DPS has been a catch-all party since its formation[1][2] but has been described as left-wing until 1997,[3] and after that as centre-left[4][5] or centrist,[6] with some factions which are right-wing, populist, and ethnic Montenegrin nationalist.[7][8] |
The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (Template:Lang-cnr, DPS) is a populist[9] political party in Montenegro.[10] A former long-time ruling party sitting at the opposition for the first time as of 2020, it was formed on 22 June 1991 as the successor of the League of Communists of Montenegro, which had governed Montenegro within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since World War II, and has remained a major force in the country ever since. A member of the Socialist International[11] and the Progressive Alliance,[12] and an associate of the Party of European Socialists, the DPS was the major centre-left, social-democratic party, broadly embracing democratic socialism and Serbian-Montenegrin unionism but has since shifted to the right and has become a catch-all party embracing Atlanticism,[13] Montenegrin nationalism,[9][14] neoliberalism,[15][16][17] and pro-Europeanism.[18][19]
Since its formation and the introduction of a multi-party system, the DPS has played a dominant role in Montenegrin politics, forming the backbone of every coalition government until the 2020 parliamentary election, when it entered the opposition. This marked the first time since 1945 that the party, including its predecessor incarnation, had not been in power.[20] Prior to the parliamentary elections, there was a further sharp shift to the right, as the ethnic nationalist faction, with which some in party such as the civic nationalist Filip Vujanović had issues since 2011,[21][22] had gained ever greater traction in 2019.[23][24]
Ideology
The party evolved from the League of Communists of Montenegro as a reformist force after Yugoslavia's dissolution. In the 1990s, party was based on democratic socialism, social democracy, and Serbian–Montenegrin unionism. In the 2000s, the party switched policy towards a common state with Serbia and would become the main proponent of the independence of Montenegro in 2006. In the 2010s and 2020s, the party is characterized by populist,[9] big tent politics with a slight centre-left lean,[25] alongside elements of nationalism[26] and a pro-European stance towards European integration.[18] The PDS also followed most mainstream, centre-left, social-democratic parties moving to the right since the 1980s, as a result of the post-war displacement of Keynesianism, by embracing Third Way economics and politics but has been described as one of the most radical neoliberal centre-left parties.[15] Many considered the party and its three decades rule to have been in practice a kleptocratic and authoritarian regime.[27][28][29][30][31]
After its ninth congress in November 2019, the DPS dominantly increased its ethnic Montenegrin nationalist and conservative discourse by officially and institutionally supporting the rights of the canonically unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church, announcing its "re-establishment".[32] According to the ODIHR and Freedom House reports that the party established a hybrid regime as well an electoral authoritarian system. After the fall of its populist regime from the position of power after 30 years due to results of the 2020 Montenegrin parliamentary election, the party said that the Krivokapić Cabinet, a big tent ruling coalition, represents "threat for Montenegrin statehood and its independence". The period before the 2020 parliamentary election was marked by the high polarization of the electorate. Several corruption scandals of the ruling party triggered 2019 Montenegrin anti-corruption protests, while a controversial religion law sparked another wave of protests. Election monitoring observer OSCE stated that "[a]buse of state resources gave the ruling party an unfair advantage" and of inciting ethnic hatred, and said that although the elections were competitive, the governing party also benefited from a lack of independent media.[33] In the aftermath, President Đukanović, the DPS, together with its coallition partners, as well some newly founded nationalist parties, started pushing the narrative of "Montenegro being left to Serbia by the United States and the EU", although they are declaratively pro-Western, which some media presented as a new turn in the foreign policy of the outgoing DPS regime.[34][35][8]
History
Slobodan Milošević | Momir Bulatović |
Background
The history of the DPS begins with the political turmoil in Yugoslavia in the late 1980s. After Slobodan Milošević seized power in the League of Communists of Serbia, he went on to organize rallies that eventually ousted the leaderships of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia local branches in Vojvodina, Kosovo, and Montenegro. This series of events, collectively known as the Anti-bureaucratic revolution, swept into power new party leadership in Montenegro, one allied with Milošević, personified in Momir Bulatović, Milo Đukanović, and Svetozar Marović.
Under this new leadership, the League of Communists of Montenegro won by a landslide in the 1990 Montenegrin general election, the first relatively free multi-party election in Socialist Montenegro, held in December 1990, taking 83 out of 125 seats in the Parliament of Montenegro. The party had a significant head start in the elections, as it had the entire established party structure at its disposal, while newly formed competition had to start from scratch. The party changed its name to the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (Demokratska partija Crne Gore) on 22 June 1991.
With Bulatović as the president, the DPS closely aligned Montenegro with Serbia and the policies of Slobodan Milošević. The party was firmly in power during the turbulent early 1990s, which saw the breakup of Yugoslavia and the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. During these years, the party endorsed a union and close relations with Serbia, its sole partner in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) from 1992. The party maintained the support of the electorate in this difficult period for Montenegro, winning both the 1992–1993 and 1996 parliamentary elections.
Split between Bulatović and Đukanović
Milo Đukanović | Svetozar Marović |
On July 11, 1997, the party's national committee Glavni odbor (GO) held a closed doors session after which the committee selected Milica Pejanović-Đurišić to replace Bulatović as the party president.[36] The party split had enormous implications, making a political confrontation between Đukanović and Bulatović inevitable. This manifested in the 1997 Montenegrin presidential election held in October, which Đukanović won by a thin margin. Bulatović went on to form the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP) out of his defeated DPS faction, whose platform held a unionist position on the question of Yugoslavia and its short-lived successor state, Serbia and Montenegro. Meanwhile, Đukanović became a fierce opponent of Slobodan Milošević politics.
As a result of Đukanović's relationship with the United States, Montenegro received significant amounts of economic aid during this period, and negotiated limitations on NATO bombings of its territory in 1999, whereas the rest of Yugoslavia was subject to significantly heavier attacks. The DPS government gradually severed ties with Serbia by taking control over customs and the economy, introducing first the German mark, and subsequently the euro as legal tender, and generally reducing the influence of the federal government in Montenegro.
Montenegrin independence
Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the DPS showed signs of greater support for Montenegrin independence. The campaign for the 2002 parliamentary elections was devoted to the question of Montenegro's independence. The European Union mediated negotiations between the DPS and the newly elected democratic government in Serbia in 2003 imposed a three-year waiting period before an independence referendum could be held. The transitional period saw the transformation of the FR Yugoslavia to a loose union called Serbia and Montenegro. During the existence of the union state, the party congress added the goal of a "democratic, internationally-recognized, independent Montenegro" to its official platform.[37] The party then spearheaded the pro-independence campaign ahead of Montenegro's referendum in 2006. With 55.5% of voters opting for independence, Montenegro became an independent state on 3 June 2006.
Post-referendum era
At the 2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election as well as the subsequent 2009 and 2012 parliamentary elections, the DPS confirmed its position as the strongest political party in Montenegro. The party has formed the basis of all parliamentary majorities and has been the backbone of all government cabinets since independence, usually with its now traditional ally the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro and ethnic minority parties. Former party vice-president Filip Vujanović served as the president of Montenegro for three terms from 2002 until 2018, having won presidential elections in 2003, 2008, and 2013, being succeeded by party leader Milo Đukanović in 2018.
Đukanović remains the party president and its undisputed authority, serving either as Prime Minister or President of Montenegro from 1991 to 2006, 2008 to 2010 and 2012 to 2016. In 2006, the party leadership chose Željko Šturanović, former Minister of Justice, to succeed Đukanović as Prime Minister, until his resignation on 31 January 2008 for health reasons, whereupon Đukanović replaced him, only to resign again in December 2010 while retaining his role as DPS party leader.[38] After winning the 2012 parliamentary elections, Đukanović once again assumed the position of Prime Minister. In 2015, the centre-left Social Democratic Party left the coalition with the DPS, accusing ruling party of corruption and abuse of power. At the 2020 parliamentary election, DPS decided to run independently, with single candidate spot on the electoral list given to the nationalist Liberal Party of Montenegro.[39] Election eventually resulted in a victory for the opposition parties and the fall from power of the ruling DPS, after governing the country for 30 years, since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990.[40]
Party presidents
No. | President | Age | Term start | Term end | Time in office | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Momir Bulatović | 1956–2019 | 22 June 1991 | 19 October 1997 | 6 years, 119 days | |
2 | Milica Pejanović | b. 1959 | 19 October 1997 | 31 October 1998 | 1 year, 12 days | |
3 | Milo Đukanović | b. 1962 | 31 October 1998 | Incumbent | 26 years, 53 days |
Electoral performance
Parliamentary elections
Election | Party leader | Performance | Alliance | Rank | Government | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||||
1990 | Momir Bulatović | 171,316 | 83 / 125
|
- | - | 1st | government | |
1992 | 126,083 | 46 / 85
|
37 | - | 1st | government | ||
1996 | 150,237 | 45 / 71
|
1 | - | 1st | government | ||
1998 | Milica Pejanović | 170,080 | 32 / 78
|
13 | ECG | 1st | government | |
2001 | Milo Đukanović | 153,946 | 30 / 77
|
2 | ECG | 1st | government | |
2002 | 167,166 | 31 / 75
|
1 | ECG | 1st | government | ||
2006 | 164,737 | 32 / 81
|
1 | ECG | 1st | government | ||
2009 | 168,290 | 35 / 81
|
3 | ECG | 1st | government | ||
2012 | 165,380 | 32 / 81
|
3 | ECG | 1st | government | ||
2016 | 158,490 | 35 / 81
|
3 | - | 1st | government | ||
2020 | 143,548 | 29 / 81
|
6 | - | 1st | opposition 2020–22 | ||
gov′t support 2022– |
Presidential elections
Year | Candidate | 1st round popular votes | % of popular votes | 2nd round popular votes | % of popular votes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | Momir Bulatović | 1st | 170,092 | 42.22% | 1st | 203,616 | 76.1 |
1992 | Momir Bulatović | 1st | 123,183 | 42.8% | 1st | 158,722 | 63.4 |
1997 | Milo Đukanović | 2nd | 145,348 | 46.71% | 1st | 174,745 | 50.79 |
2003 | Filip Vujanović | 1st | 139,574 | 64.2% | — | — | — |
2008 | Filip Vujanović | 1st | 171,118 | 51.89% | — | — | — |
2013 | Filip Vujanović | 1st | 161,940 | 51.21% | — | — | — |
2018 | Milo Đukanović | 1st | 180,274 | 53.90% | — | — | — |
Yugoslavian elections
Year | Popular vote | % of popular vote | Seats | Montenegrin seats | ± | Government | Ballot carrier |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | 160,040 | 68.6% | 23 / 136
|
23 / 30
|
23 | Coalition | Miloš Radulović |
1992 | 130,431 | 47.3% | 17 / 138
|
17 / 30
|
6 | Coalition | Radoje Kontić |
1996 | 146,221 | 50.8% | 20 / 138
|
20 / 30
|
3 | Coalition | Radoje Kontić |
2000 | Election boycotted | 0 / 138
|
0 / 30
|
20 | Election boycotted |
Positions held
|
|
|
References
- ^ Berglund, Sten (2013). The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe. Springer. p. 568.
- ^ Vujović, Zlatko (2015). Electoral and Party System in Montenegro – A Perspective of Internal Party Democracy Development. Center for Monitoring and Research. p. 162.
- ^ "Kako su se "razveli" Milo i Momir: Dve decenije od sednice na kojoj se pocepao DPS". Nedeljnik.
- ^ "Montenegro". Center for Strategic & International Studies. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Montenegro". Europe Elects. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ Strmiska, Maxmilián (2000). "The Making of Party Pluralism in Montenegro". Masaryk University. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Previranja u DPS-u: Sukob mladih i starih, ljevice i desnice, Vijesti, 19 November 2020
- ^ a b "Od lidera u regionu do opozicije zapadu: Sprema li DPS međunarodni zaokret". www.vijesti.me.
- ^ a b c Dzankic, Jelena (2017). "State-sponsored Populism and the Rise of Populist Governance – The Case of Montenegro" (PDF). Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (August 2020). "Montenegro". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Full list of member parties and organisations". Socialist International. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ "Parties & Organisations". Progressive Alliance. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ "Politički program DPS VIII kongres" (PDF). November 30, 2019.
- ^ Polackova, Zuzana (2017). "Independence lost and regained: Montenegro's contested identity and the failure of Yugoslavia (1918–2006)" (PDF). Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Welfare states in transition" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2011.
- ^ "Karl Marx i neoliberal Milo" (in Montenegrin). Vijesti. 4 September 2014.
- ^ Baća, Bojan (14 June 2017). "The Student's Two Bodies: Civic Engagement and Political Becoming in the Post‐Socialist Space". Antipode. 49 (5). Bojan Baća: 1125–1144. doi:10.1111/anti.12338.
- ^ a b "Koalicija DPS SD – Evropski tim za Herceg Novi predala izbornu listu". vijesti.me.
- ^ "Demokratske partije socijalista Crne Gore. Politički program" (PDF) (in Montenegrin). Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "Seizing the democratic opportunity in Montenegro". EUROPP. London School of Economics. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "Вујановић: Нападају ме црногорски националисти". Politika Online. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ^ "Ima li crnogorskog nacionalizma u Crnoj Gori". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ^ "Нови програм ДПС: Миловa партијска црквa". NOVOSTI (in Serbian). Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ^ "ПРЕДЛОГ НОВОГ СТАТУТА ДПС-a: Радићемо на обнови Црногорске православне цркве". NOVOSTI (in Serbian). Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ^ "Montenegro elects new/old president". N1info.com. 16 April 2018. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 23 May 2019 suggested (help) - ^ Morrison, Kenneth (2009). Nationalism, Identity and Statehood in Post-Yugoslav Montenegro. London: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84511-710-8.
- ^ "Montenegro's Prime Minister Resigns, Perhaps Bolstering Country's E.U. Hopes". The New York Times. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Montenegro's Djukanovic Declares Victory In Presidential Election". Radio Free Europe. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Djukanovic si riprende il Montenegro con la benedizione di Bruxelles". eastwest.eu. 17 April 2018. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Đukanović - posljednji autokrat Balkana". Deutsche Welle. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Montenegro veteran PM Djukanovic to run for presidency". France 24. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ ĐUKANOVIĆ NAJAVIO PREISPITIVANJE VLASNIČKIH ODNOSA CRKVENIH OBJEKATA, Mondo
- ^ Marovic, Jovana (2 September 2020). "Winners and Losers in Montenegro's Earthquake Election". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ Izjava Varheljija podriva objektivnost politike EU, "Vaša izjava je kompromitujuća", RTCG, 29 November 2020
- ^ Razvod sa partnerima sa zapada: Potezi koje povlači DPS vode ih u zagrljaj DF-u i krajnjoj desnici, 10 December 2020
- ^ "Kako su se "razveli" Milo i Momir: Dve decenije od sednice na kojoj se pocepao DPS". Nedeljnik (in Serbian). July 11, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- ^ Samir Kajošević (January 22, 2015). "DPS na kongresu mijenja program". Vijesti (in Serbian).
- ^ "The end of an era, possibly". The Economist. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ Marković nosilac izborne liste DPS Archived 3 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Vijesti, 1 August 2020
- ^ "Rezultati DIK-a na 100 odsto prebrojanih glasova: DPS 35.06, "Za budućnost Crne Gore" 32.55 odsto glasova". vijesti.me (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-08-31.
- 1991 establishments in Montenegro
- Full member parties of the Socialist International
- Montenegro–European Union relations
- Parties related to the Party of European Socialists
- Political parties established in 1991
- Progressive Alliance
- Pro-European political parties in Montenegro
- Social democratic parties in Montenegro
- Neoliberal parties