The
Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (
MontenegrinMontenegrin language is a South Slavic language, spoken in Montenegro, and in the Montenegrin diaspora. It is based on the Shtokavian dialect. It is the official language of the country...
: Демократска Партија Социјалиста Црне Горе/
Demokratska Partija Socijalista Crne Gore) is the ruling
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
in
MontenegroMontenegro , is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east and Albania to the south...
.
It is the successor of the
Yugoslav Communist LeagueLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , was a major Communist party in Yugoslavia...
's
Montenegrin branchThe League of Communists of Montenegro was the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990...
. It was renamed in 1991. The DPS has governed Montenegro since 1991, though it became factionalized. From 1991 to 1998 under
Momir BulatovićMomir Bulatović is a former President of Montenegro and Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was also the leader of the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro.-Early life:Bulatović was born in Belgrade to a family of a JNA officer from Montenegro...
, the party endorsed union and close relations with Serbia. In 1998, Bulatović was ousted as leader and its present leader Milo Đukanović took over, advocating distancing Montenegro from Serbia, while Bulatović's faction formed the
Socialist People's Party of MontenegroThe Socialist People's Party of Montenegro is a socialist opposition political party in Montenegro. It has 16 MPs in the Parliament of Montenegro, which it won on the 2009 parliamentary election...
which advocated close ties with Serbia under Bulatović's leadership until he was ousted from that party as well.
At the
last legislative electionsThe election for the Constitutional Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro in the newly independent Republic of Montenegro took place on September 10 2006, with Prime Minister Milo Đukanović claiming absolute victory for his centre-left, pro-European Union party the next day...
in Montenegro on the 10 September, 2006, DPS along with
SDPThe Social Democratic Party of Montenegro is a political party in Montenegro....
(Coalition for European Montenegro) won 39 out of 81 seats, and the right to appoint the
GovernmentThe Government of Montenegro is the executive branch of state authority in Montenegro. It is headed by the prime minister. It comprises the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers as well as ministers....
. At the rerun for Albanian minority representatives, it won a single seat, and the Forca merged its seat into DPS, with a total outcome of 40 seat, just the needed parliamentary majority. DPS itself got 32 seats, one was transferred to the partner
Croatian Civic InitiativeThe Croatian Civic Initiative is a Croat minority political party in Montenegro. The party was formed in 2002. It first participated in elections in the Tivat municipality that year, and is still based in the town...
.
History
DPS was created after the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia, with the introduction of a multi-party political system. It is the successor of former Communist party, and so it inherited the party infrastructure, giving it a significant head start on the first democratic elections. Three men emerged as leaders of this new party, swept into power during the "
Anti-bureaucratic revolutionAnti-bureaucratic revolution as a term, refers to a series of mass protests against governments of Yugoslavian republics and autonomous provinces during 1988 and 1989, which led to resignation of leaderships of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro, and capture of power of politicians close to Slobodan...
": Milo Đukanović,
Momir BulatovićMomir Bulatović is a former President of Montenegro and Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was also the leader of the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro.-Early life:Bulatović was born in Belgrade to a family of a JNA officer from Montenegro...
and
Svetozar MarovićSvetozar Marović ; born March 31, 1955) is a lawyer and a Montenegrin politician. He was the only president of Serbia and Montenegro...
.
After an easy win over People's Party of Montenegro and anti-war and independence-oriented
Liberal Alliance of MontenegroThe Liberal Alliance of Montenegro was a liberal political party in Montenegro. The party used to be a member of Liberal International....
, the DPS with Momir Bulatović as the president, opted for a federation with
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans...
, which resulted in the creation of the
Federal Republic of YugoslaviaThe Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or FRY was a federal state consisting of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , created after the other four republics broke away from Yugoslavia amid rising ethnic tensions...
. The entire party leadership were close followers of
Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia...
, supporting his policies and unconditionally aligning Montenegro with Serbia in all decisions during the turbulent 1990s.
In mid-1990s, a split at the party's highest level occurred. As Serbia under Milošević became increasingly internationally criticized for its support of Serb separatists in the controversial wars in
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( or (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Latin: Bosna i Hercegovina; Serbian Cyrillic: Босна и Херцеговина) is a country in Southeast Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula...
and
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a country in southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb...
, Montenegro was also becoming alienated, international observers claimed that Bulatović was little more that a puppet leader of Milošević. While Momir Bulatović insisted on continuing support to Milošević, an emerging faction led by Milo Đukanović distanced itself from Serbian leadership. A bitter fight over control within DPS began, and Đukanović came out as a clear winner. On 1997 Đukanović and Bulatović ran against each other at presidential elections, and after two run-offs Đukanović won with a slim majority. In its refusal to accept the results of elections, justified by alleged irregularities, Bulatović's faction created a near-warlike atmosphere in Montenegro. The results were confirmed. The elections were a turning point for the DPS.
Bulatović's defeated fraction of DPS created a new party,
Socialist People's Party of MontenegroThe Socialist People's Party of Montenegro is a socialist opposition political party in Montenegro. It has 16 MPs in the Parliament of Montenegro, which it won on the 2009 parliamentary election...
(SNP), which became the major opposition party in Montenegro.
From this point, the DPS government gradually severed ties with Serbia by taking over control over customs, introducing first the
German markThe Deutsche Mark or German mark was the official currency of West Germany and, from 1990 until the adoption of the euro, all of unified Germany...
, and later the
EuroThe euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
as legal tender, and generally reducing the influence of federal government on Montenegro. In time, Milo Đukanović became a fierce opponent of Milošević's regime, thus gaining worldwide support and sympathy for Montenegro.
When Milošević's Serbian regime was overthrown, on October 5, 2000, the DPS began to be a proponent of full Montenegrin independence. The campaign for the 2002 parliamentary elections was entirely devoted to the question of Montenegro's independence. However, the
Constitutional Charter of Serbia and MontenegroThe Constitutional Charter of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro came into force on 4 February 2003, and united Serbia and Montenegro under one government, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, replacing the earlier Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
came into force early in 2003 and required a three year waiting period before an independence referendum. Until then Montenegro remained in loose union with Serbia, called
Serbia and MontenegroThe State Union of Serbia and Montenegro , was a union of Serbia and Montenegro, which existed between 2003 and 2006. The two republics, both of which are former republics of the SFR Yugoslavia, initially formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992...
.
The DPS is considered the party most responsible for the success of the
referendumThe Montenegrin independence referendum was a referendum on the independence of the Republic of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro that was held on 21 May, 2006.The total turnout of the referendum was 86.5%...
that was held on May 21, 2006. 55.5% of Montenegrins voted for independence, and as a result Montenegro became an independent state on June 3, 2006.
In the
first parliamentary electionsThe election for the Constitutional Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro in the newly independent Republic of Montenegro took place on September 10 2006, with Prime Minister Milo Đukanović claiming absolute victory for his centre-left, pro-European Union party the next day...
in independent
MontenegroMontenegro , is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east and Albania to the south...
, the Coalition for European Montenegro (DPS and
SDPThe Social Democratic Party of Montenegro is a political party in Montenegro....
) won 41 out of 81 seats in Montenegrin parliament, thus winning an absolute majority of the seats and confirming its position as the strongest Montenegrin political party.
On October 3, 2006, party leader Milo Đukanović announced that he would not accept the nomination for the position of
Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Montenegro, is the leader of the Government of Montenegro. The prime minister directs the work of the Government, and submits to the Parliament of Montenegro the Government's Program including a list of proposed ministers...
again, although he would remain the president of the party. The vice-president of the party, Svetozar Marović, also said that he would not take up any positions in the government. Instead, the party leaders picked
Željko ŠturanovićŽeljko Šturanović is a former Prime Minister of Montenegro who served from November 10, 2006 to February 29, 2008.-Early life:...
, former Minister of Justice, to be the new Prime Minister.
Šturanović resigned on 31 January 2008 for health reasons, with Đukanović occupying the Prime Minister position once again. DPS nominated
Filip VujanovićFilip Vujanović is a Montenegrin politician who, since 2003, has served as the President of Montenegro. He is the first President of Montenegro since it split ties with Serbia and became an independent nation in June 2006...
, party vice president and incumbent
President of MontenegroThe President of Montenegro is the head of state of the Montenegro. The current president is Filip Vujanović, who was reelected in the first round of the 2008 presidential election with 51.9% of the vote...
to run for presidency again in
Montenegrin presidential electionA presidential election was held in Montenegro on 6 April 2008; it was the country's first since independence. According to a compromise with the opposition, local elections in Herceg-Novi and Tivat were held at the same time. The law on presidential elections was passed on 27 December 2007....
on April 6, 2008. He won in the first round with 51% of the vote.
The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro continued its dominance in
Montenegrin politicsPolitics of Montenegro takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Montenegro is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government...
by emerging victorious once again on
2009 parliamentary electionPre-term parliamentary elections in Montenegro were scheduled by President of Montenegro Filip Vujanović on 27 January 2009 by the Decree of Scheduling Elections for the Assembly of Montenegro, in accordance with Article 92 point 5 of the Montenegrin Constitution:..and Article 95:As well as Article...
. The Coalition for a European Montenegro, headed by DPS, won 47 out of 81 seats in
Parliament of MontenegroThe Parliament of Montenegro is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. The Parliament currently has 81 members, each elected for a four-year term. The current Speaker of the Parliament is Ranko Krivokapić, while the deputy speakers are Željko Šturanović and Rifat Rastoder...
. This outcome of the elections implies that DPS will have a major role in
Government of MontenegroThe Government of Montenegro is the executive branch of state authority in Montenegro. It is headed by the prime minister. It comprises the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers as well as ministers....
for another four years.
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