Democratic Party of Socialists Демократска партија социјалиста Demokratska partija socijalista | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Danijel Živković |
| Vice Presidents | |
| Secretary General | Aleksandar Bogdanović |
| Founders | Momir Bulatović Milo Đukanović Svetozar Marović |
| Founded | 22 June 1991; 34 years ago (1991-06-22) |
| Preceded by | League of Communists of Montenegro (SKCG) |
| Headquarters | Podgorica |
| Ideology | Social democracy Populism Montenegrin nationalism Pro-Europeanism Historical Democratic socialism Serbian-Montenegrin unionism |
| Political position | Centre[1] tocentre-left[A][2] Historical Left-wing |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists (associate) |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance Socialist International |
| Colours | |
| Parliament | 17 / 81 |
| Mayors | 4 / 25 |
| Local Parliaments | 223 / 844 |
| Website | |
| dps | |
^ A: The DPS has been acatch-all party since its formation[3][4] but had been placed politically asleft-wing until 1997,[5] and after that ascentre,[6] tocentre-left[7][8] with a wing which ispopulist andnationalist.[9][10] | |
TheDemocratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (Montenegrin:Демократска партија социјалиста Црне Горе,romanized: Demokratska partija socijalista Crne Gore,DPS) is asocial democratic[11][12][13][14] andpopulist[15]political party in Montenegro.[16] A former long-timeruling party sitting at theopposition for the first time since 2020, it was formed on 22 June 1991 as the successor of theLeague of Communists of Montenegro, which had governed Montenegro within theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia sinceWorld War II, and has remained a major force in the country ever since. The party is a member of theSocialist International[17] and theProgressive Alliance,[18] and an associate of theParty of European Socialists. During the 1990s, DPS was the majorcentre-left,social-democratic party in favour ofSerbian–Montenegrin unionism. However, since 1997, the party has embracedMontenegrin independence and has been improving ties with the West, slowly turning into acatch-all party embracingAtlanticism,[19]Montenegrin nationalism,[15][20]neoliberalism,[21][22][23] andpro-Europeanism.[24][25]
Since its formation and the introduction of amulti-party system, the DPS has played a dominant role in Montenegrin politics, forming the backbone of every coalition government until the2020 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.[26] Prior to the 2020 election, the party strongly supported the controversialreligious freedom law, causing tensions across Montenegro and the rise of theSerbian Orthodox Church in Montenegrin politics.[27] The Church gaining more power gave motivation for the ethnic nationalist faction to rise in the party, with which some members such as the civic nationalistFilip Vujanović had issues since 2011.[28][29] The ethnic nationalist wing of the party also supported renewing theMontenegrin Orthodox Church, which led to the DPS being accused of creating a "party church".[30][31]
 | .jpg) |
| Slobodan Milošević | Momir Bulatović |
The history of the DPS begins with the political turmoil in Yugoslavia in the late 1980s. AfterSlobodan Milošević seized power in theLeague of Communists of Serbia, he went on to organize rallies that eventually ousted the leaderships of theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia local branches inVojvodina,Kosovo, and Montenegro. This series of events, collectively known as theAnti-bureaucratic revolution, swept into power new party leadership in Montenegro, one allied with Milošević, personified inMomir Bulatović,Milo Đukanović, andSvetozar Marović.
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Under this new leadership, the League of Communists of Montenegro won by a landslide in the1990 Montenegrin general election, the first relatively free multi-party election in Socialist Montenegro, held in December 1990, taking 83 out of 125 seats in theParliament of Montenegro. The party had a significanthead 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 thebreakup of Yugoslavia and the beginning of theYugoslav Wars. During these years, the party endorsed a union and close relations with Serbia, its sole partner in theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) from 1992. The party maintained the support of the electorate in this difficult period for Montenegro, winning both the1992–1993 and1996 parliamentary elections.
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| Milo Đukanović | Svetozar Marović |
On July 11, 1997, the party's national committeeGlavni odbor (GO) held a closed doors session after which the committee selectedMilica Pejanović-Đurišić to replace Bulatović as the party president.[32] The party split had enormous implications, making a political confrontation between Đukanović and Bulatović inevitable. This manifested in the1997 Montenegrin presidential election held in October, which Đukanović won by a thin margin. Bulatović went on to form theSocialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP) out of his defeated DPS faction, whose platform held aunionist 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 onNATO 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 theDeutsche mark, and subsequently theeuro as legal tender, and generally reducing the influence of the federal government in Montenegro.
Following theoverthrow of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the DPS showed signs of greater support for Montenegrin independence. The campaign for the2002 parliamentary elections was devoted to the question of Montenegro's independence. TheEuropean Union mediated negotiations between the DPS and the newly electeddemocratic 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 calledSerbia 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.[33] The party then spearheaded the pro-independence campaign ahead ofMontenegro's referendum in 2006. With 55.5% of voters opting for independence, Montenegro became an independent state on 3 June 2006.
At the2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election as well as the subsequent2009 and2012 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 theSocial Democratic Party of Montenegro and ethnic minority parties. Former party vice-presidentFilip Vujanović served as thepresident of Montenegro for three terms from 2002 until 2018, having won presidential elections in2003,2008, and2013, being succeeded by party leaderMilo Đukanović who became president in2018.
Đukanović was the party president and its undisputed authority, serving either asPrime Minister or President of Montenegro from 1991 to 2006, 2008 to 2010 and 2012 to 2016. In 2006, the party leadership choseŽeljko 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.[34] After winning the2012 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 the2020 parliamentary election, DPS decided to run independently, with single candidate spot on the electoral list given to the nationalistLiberal Party of Montenegro.[35] The election eventually resulted in a victory for the opposition parties and the fall of the authoritarian DPS, after governing the country for 30 years, since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990.[36][37]
In 2023, the presidential elections resulted in Milatović defeating Đukanović in a landslide, becoming the first elected president not being a member of the DPS since introduction of themulti-party system in 1990. It was the first time a runoff vote was held since the1997 election, making it first presidential runoff since Montenegrogained independence in 2006, also the first election since 1997 where an incumbent president actively seeking reelection was denied a second term.[38][39]Stefan Löfven,President of the European Socialists, had endorsed Đukanović prior to the elections.[40] In the aftermath, Đukanović resigned as President of DPS ending his 24 years tenure.[41]Danijel Živković was elected as his successor.[42] The presidential election was followed by the2023 Montenegrin parliamentary election, held on 11 June 2023.[43][44][45]Europe Now! (PES) won a plurality of seats while DPS came in second after losing seats and were once again placed in opposition.[46]
DPS won a plurality of seats in the elections to theCity Assembly of Podgorica held in 2024, with Živković saying it was “time to return the DPS to power”.[47] In December 2024, several former ministers and high-ranking officials from the ranks of the DPS were arrested and charged with embezzlement and corruption.[48] In the same month DPS started boycotting parliament, accusing PES of taking over the powers of the Constitutional Court and delaying the 2025 budget bill adoption, after the PES led constitutional committee decided to terminate the employment of Constitutional Court judge Dragana Djurovic. DPS ended its boycott following an EU-brokered agreement in March 2025.[49]
The party evolved from theLeague of Communists of Montenegro as a reformist force after Yugoslavia's dissolution. In the 1990s, party was based ondemocratic socialism,social democracy, andSerbian–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 was characterized bypopulist,[15]big tent politics with acentre-left lean,[50] with elements ofnationalism[51] and apro-European stance towardsEuropean integration.[24] The DPS also followed most mainstream, centre-left, social-democratic parties since the 1980s embracingThird Way economics and politics while being described as one of the most radicalneoliberal centre-left parties.[21]
In foreign policy, the party maintains Atlanticist and Europeanist positions, condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and positioning itself in an anti-Russian role.[52][53] According to some analysts, the DPS, together with its coalition partners, as well some newly founded nationalist parties, started pushing the narrative of "Montenegro being left to Serbia by theUnited States and theEU", but these assessments have no foundation in the post-Ukrainian invasion international scenario.[54][55][10]
After its ninth congress in November 2019, the DPS dominantly increased its ethnicMontenegrin nationalist discourse by officially and institutionally supporting the rights of the canonically unrecognizedMontenegrin Orthodox Church, announcing its "re-establishment".[56] According to theODIHR andFreedom House reports that the party established a hybrid regime as well anelectoral authoritarian system. After it was placed in opposition, DPS said that theKrivokapić 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 triggered2019 Montenegrin anti-corruption protests, while a controversialreligion law sparked anotherwave of protests.[57] Analysts considered DPS and its three decade rule to have been akleptocratic andauthoritarian regime.[58][59][60][61][62] Although the elections held were considered competitive, they were criticized for a lack ofindependent media and abuse of state resources by DPS.[63][64][65]
| No. | President | Age | Term start | Term end | Time in office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Momir Bulatović | .jpg) | 1956–2019 | 22 June 1991 | 19 October 1997 | 6 years, 119 days | |
| 2 | Milica Pejanović |  | born 1959 | 19 October 1997 | 31 October 1998 | 1 year, 12 days | |
| 3 | Milo Đukanović | .jpg) | born 1962 | 31 October 1998 | 6 April 2023 | 24 years, 157 days | |
| 4 | Danijel Živković |  | born 1987 | 6 April 2023 | Incumbent | 2 years, 202 days | |
| Election | Party leader | Performance | Alliance | Rank | Government | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||||
| 1990 | Momir Bulatović | 171,316 | 56.18% | 83 / 125 | New | - | 1st | Government |
| 1992 | 126,083 | 42.66% | 46 / 85 |  37 | - | 1st | Government | |
| 1996 | 150,237 | 49.92% | 45 / 71 | 1 | - | 1st | Government | |
| 1998 | Milica Pejanović | 170,080 | 48.87% | 32 / 78 | 13 | ECG | 1st | Government |
| 2001 | Milo Đukanović | 153,946 | 42.04% | 30 / 77 | 2 | ECG | 1st | Government |
| 2002 | 167,166 | 48.00% | 31 / 75 |  1 | ECG | 1st | Government | |
| 2006 | 164,737 | 48.62% | 32 / 81 | 1 | ECG | 1st | Government | |
| 2009 | 168,290 | 51.94% | 35 / 81 | 3 | ECG | 1st | Government | |
| 2012 | 165,380 | 45.60% | 32 / 81 | 3 | ECG | 1st | Government | |
| 2016 | 158,490 | 41.41% | 35 / 81 | 3 | - | 1st | Government | |
| 2020 | 143,548 | 35.06% | 29 / 81 | 6 | - | 1st | Opposition2020–22 | |
| Support2022 | ||||||||
| Opposition2022–23 | ||||||||
| 2023 | Danijel Živković | 70,228 | 23.22% | 17 / 81 | 12 | Together! | 2nd | Opposition |
| 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% | — | — | — |
| 2023 | Milo Đukanović | 1st | 119,685 | 35.37% | 2nd | 154,769 | 41.12% |
| 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 | ||
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