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Socialist People's Party Socijalistička narodna partija Социјалистичка народна партија
Abbreviation	SNP
Leader	Vladimir Joković
Founder	Momir Bulatović
Founded	18 February 1998 (1998-02-18)
Split from	Democratic Party of Socialists
Headquarters	Podgorica
Ideology	Social democracy Social conservatism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Fiscal:Centre-left Social:Centre-right
National affiliation	For the Future of Montenegro (2020–2022)
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (cooperation)
Parliament	2 / 81
Mayors	2 / 25
Local Parliaments	56 / 844
Party flag
Website
snp.co.me
Politics of Montenegro Political parties Elections

TheSocialist People's Party of Montenegro (Serbo-Croatian:Социјалистичка народна партија Црне Горе,СНП ЦГ; Socijalistička narodna partija Crne GoreSNP CG) is apolitical party inMontenegro. It is asocial-democratic^[1][2] andsocially conservative party,^[1] that is positioned on thecentre-left on the political spectrum with regard to economic matters.^[3] It is supportive ofaccession of Montenegro to the European Union, and was historically supportive ofSerbian–Montenegrin unionism.^[2]

In the late 1990s a rift inside the rulingDemocratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro came out. In the1997 Montenegrin presidential election, aside from the then-President of the Republic and the PartyMomir Bulatović, the Premier of Montenegro and party vice-presidentMilo Đukanović ran too, leading a reforming wing opposing mainstream DPS CG's political attitudes regarding support of Serbian presidentSlobodan Milošević. The ruling parties of the Republic ofSerbia (the constitutive partner of theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia like theRepublic of Montenegro),SPS andSRS, soundly and firmly stood on Momir Bulatović's side, while the opposition in Serbia (SPO,DS,DSS andGS) gave their support for Đukanović. It is so that theDPS — Momir Bulatović had officially seceded from the other branch of the DPS, but Bulatović's supporters had only retained a majority in 5 municipalities, while the other 16 in which DPS reigned voiced their support of Đukanović.

Momir presented in the political campaign that his main goal was the preservation of theFRY and the maintaining of the present political status in Montenegro. In the first round on 5 October 1997 Momir Bulatović won receiving most votes, 147,615 or 47.45%, but lost to opposing Milo in the second round on 19 October 1997 when he won 169,257 or only 49.2%. Momir refused to recognize the results, calling them unrealistic and forged — considering that every single of the other candidates that ran in the first round voiced their support for in Momir in the second. One of the main controversial moments, as criticized by OEBS, is that Milo as Premier, managed to seize control of the Montenegrin national media (e.g. TV CG). On the other side, the Serbian national media had also been unbalanced, promoting Momir. The other unbalancing issue is that Milo, as Premier, was in a much stronger position to further his personal goals, controlling the government (the President had very little authority in effect) and had seized control over most of DPS' local authorities, whileDemocratic Party of Socialists — Momir Bulatović got only 5 of total DPS' 21.

On the other hand, Momir enjoyed the support of Serbia and the Federal Yugoslav government itself. With the huge clashes between Momir and Milo, the election respected minimal democratic standards. However, with eventual loss at the election, the rift between the two wings was final.

By 2000, Milošević began to lose his ground in Serbia, and it became apparent that he no longer had support either within the international community or his own country. However, Momir Bulatović was still a close ally of Milošević, and that fact led to a split within the SNP on whether to stay loyal to Milošević or to become a party with a more democratic image. In 2001 the pro-European and democratic wing led byPredrag Bulatović prevailed and he became SNP's president. The party continued to be a proponent of the union with Serbia, while the old-style pro-Milošević faction of politicians formed thePeople's Socialist Party under Momir Bulatović.

As some ethnic Serb parties took advantage of the SNP's new orientation and attracted some voters, SNP became the strongest opposition party in Montenegro. It was the leader of theMovement for European Union ofSerbia and Montenegro, which eventually failed to preserve the union withSerbia. SNP avoided to explicitly state its rejection of the2006 Montenegrin independence referendum results, but it refused to attend the country's inauguration ceremonies. Other pro-union opposition parties openly refused to recognize the results.

In thefirst parliamentary elections in independent Montenengro, SNP saw the largest downfall of the number of its voters since the founding of the party. The coalition it had led in2002 elections fell from 30 to 11 seats in the Montenegrin parliament. SNP lost its status of leader of Montenegrin opposition in favour of theSerbian List led by theSerbian People's Party of Montenegro (12 seats) andMovement for Changes (11 seats). This resulted in resignation of party's leader Predrag Bulatović, as well as the three vice-presidents.

On 27 December 2006,Srđan Milić was announced new party president, after gaining the majority of General Party Congress votes, and beating the other two candidates,Dragiša Pešić and Borislav Globarević, representing the victory of the expresslypro-EU program. SNP CG adopted a strongly civic social-democratic political course and broke off the traditional coalition with thePeople's Party and theDemocratic Serb Party.

In the negotiations for the new Montenegrin Constitution, SNP forged a united political alliance of practically the entire Opposition with theMovement for Changes, both of its old partners thePeople's Party andDemocratic Serb Party, the members of theSerb List alliance, theBosniak Party and the ethnic AlbanianDemocratic League in Montenegro andAlbanian Alternative with a united platform, preparing to boycott the referendum. However, NS, DSS, DSCG and SL retreated from negotiations with the opposition. On the other hand, PzP, BS and AA accepted independently from the alliance terms of the ruling coalition and are ready to give the required super-majority to adopt the constitution. SNP submitted 33 amendments and still did not include the option to support the constitution as well, under the condition that its amendments — previously included in the Opposition's demands — were adopted.

The reforms of Srđan Milić worked well for SNP, as in the2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election it won 16 seats in theParliament of Montenegro, becoming once again the biggest sole opposition party.

Before the2012 Montenegrin parliamentary election the right-wing faction of the party led by their former presidentPredrag Bulatović left the party and joined theDemocratic Front alliance.^[4] In the election, the party ran independently and won only 11.06% of the votes, and 9 seats.

In February 2015, the party faction led byAleksa Bečić split from the SNP due to disagreements with party leader Milić, having decided to form a new political party,Democratic Montenegro.^[5]

In September 2016, SNP decided to enter theKey Coalition withDEMOS andURA in order to participate at the forthcomingparliamentary election.^[6] The Coalition was the third-ranked electoral list with 11.05% of the votes and 9 seats, out of which SNP won only 3. Some time afterwards, member Aleksandar Damjanović left the parliamentary group.

Party presidentSrđan Milić tendered his resignation after 11 years of leading the party for a catastrophically poor result at the 2016 parliamentary elections.Vladimir Joković, supported by the party faction led by former president of the party parliamentary club Aleksandar Damjanović and current mayor ofBerane Dragoslav Šćekić, was surprisingly elected President of the party at the General Congress held on 13 August 2017, in front of favored Snežana Jonica, supported by the fraction close to former party leader Milić.^[7] In mid-2019, the centre-left party faction led by Jonica split from the SNP due to ideological disagreements with the new party leadership, having decided to form a new political group,Socialists of Montenegro (Socijalisti Crne Gore, SCG).^[8]

On 1 May 2019 SNP signed an agreement with the Independent parliamentary group ofParliament of Montenegro composed ofUnited Montenegro (UCG),Workers' Party (RP) and two independent MPs, including former SNP high-ranking memberAleksandar Damjanović, forming new catch-all alliance namedFor the Benefit of All.^[9] The alliance eventually dissolved prior theparliamentary election in August 2020, and all three parties decided to join a pre-election coalition with right-wingDemocratic Front (DF) alliance, under the nameFor the Future of Montenegro, employing a more significantcultural andsocially conservative discourse, supporting2019–2020 clerical protests in Montenegro andSerbian Orthodox Church rights in Montenegro.^[10][11]

With the end of theKrivokapić government, the party took part in the new government led byDritan Abazović.^[12]

No.		President		Age	Term start	Term end	Time in office
1		Momir Bulatović		1956–2019	19 October 1997	24 September 2000	2 years, 341 days
2		Predrag Bulatović		born 1956	24 September 2000	26 November 2006	6 years, 63 days
3		Srđan Milić		born 1965	26 November 2006	13 August 2017	10 years, 260 days
4		Vladimir Joković		born 1967	13 August 2017	Incumbent	8 years, 103 days

Election	Party leader	Performance				Alliance	Government
		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
1998	Momir Bulatović	123,957	35.62%	29 / 78	New	—	Opposition
2001	Predrag Bulatović	148,513	40.56%	21 / 77	8	ZZP	Opposition
2002		133,894	38.43%	19 / 75	2	ZZP	Opposition
2006		47,683	14.07%	8 / 81	11	NS–DSS	Opposition
2009	Srđan Milić	54,547	16.83%	16 / 81	8	—	Opposition
2012		40,131	11.06%	9 / 81	7	—	Opposition2012–16
							Support2016
2016		42,295	11.05%	3 / 81	6	Ključ	Opposition
2020	Vladimir Joković	133,261	32.55%	5 / 81	2	withZBCG	Support2020–22
							Government2022–23
2023		9,472	3.13%	2 / 81	3	SNP–Demos	Government

Chamber of Citizens of theFederal Assembly of Yugoslavia

Year	Popular vote	% of pop. vote	Seats	Montenegrin seats	Changes	Government	Leader / carrier
1997	Split fromDPS	(Split from DPS)	16 / 138	16 / 30	16	coalition gov't	Momir Bulatović
2000	104,198	83.10%	28 / 138	28 / 30	12	coalition gov't	Zoran Žižić

Major positions held by Socialist People's Party of Montenegro members:

• Political parties in Montenegro
• 1997 establishments in Montenegro
• Political parties established in 1997
• Social democratic parties in Montenegro
• Socially conservative parties
• Socialist Party of Serbia
• Pro-European political parties in Montenegro
• Conservatism and left-wing politics

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