Key Political Parties in Montenegro

The Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS:

The governing party in Montenegro is led the republic’s current Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic, party chief since since 1998. Other key members are the country’s President, Filip Vujanovic, the party’s vice-president, Svetozar Marovic, and the mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugosa. The DPS holds 36 of the 81 seats in the Montenegrin parliament, the Skupstina.

This party is the successor to the League of Communists of Montenegro, which ceased to exist in 1990, when it adopted its new name and constitution. The DPS has won every general election held in Montenegro since the first post-communist, multi-party elections of 1991.

The party championed the idea of Montenegro regaining its independence, lost after the First World War, and was the main political player behind the successful pro-independence referendum held in 2006.

Initially, the DPS had favoured maintaining the loose state union with Serbia. Earlier, in the 1990s, the party was close to the Serbian nationalist regime of Serbia’s then leader, Slobodan Milosevic.

But in 1997, a section of the party under Djukakovic began turning towards the idea of independence and against close ties to Belgrade. At the time, while his pro-independence fraction held on to the DPS, pro-Serbian, pro-Milosevic elements broke away to form a new party, the Socialist People’s Party.

Today the party presents itself as the main advocate of EU membership and the attainment of European standards in all areas of the economy and society. For its part, however, the EU has warned Montenegro of the need to repress corruption if it is ever to obtain membership. Brussels has also complained of conflicts of interest related to Djukanovic’s numerous business involvements.

The Social Democratic Party, SDP:

A relatively small party, the Social Democrats have often held an important role in the country’s politics as a coalition partner of the DPS, enabling the larger party to form a majority government. They hold nine of the 81 seats in parliament, following the 2009 parliamentary elections.

Together with DPS, the party was among the main advocates of Montenegrin independence. The party’s president, also now president of parliament, Ranko Krivokapic, had the honour of officially proclaiming Montenegro’s independence on May 22, 2006.

The Socialist People’s Party, SNP:

Currently, the main opposition party in Montenegro, it holds 16 of the 81 seats in the Skupstina. The SNP was founded in 1997 by the pro-Serbian wing of the DPS and was the leading force in the bloc supporting retention of the state union with Serbia in the independence referendum of May 2006.

After the bloc lost the referendum, the SNP suffered a loss of support among voters as a result of which the party’s then president, Predrag Bulatovic, resigned. Soon after, a new leader, Srdjan Milic, reformed party policy. Under his guidance, the party moved away from concentrating on the relationship with Serbia and adopted a more civic, social democratic, pro-European agenda. The change in emphasis shored up the SNP’s voting bloc and enabled it to emerge as the second-largest party in the 2009 elections, after the DPS.

New Serbian Democracy, NOVA:

A pro-Serbian party, led by Andrija Mandic, the party emerged in 2009 as the result of a desire to create a more moderate and civic-oriented version of the Serbian list (an alliance of pro-Serbian parties in Montenegro). NOVA won eight seats in the 2009 parliamentary elections, compared to the 20 seats previously held by the Serbian list.

The Movement For Changes, PZP:

A pro-European party founded in 2006 out of a civic society NGO, it is distinguished by its passionate opposition to the DPS-led government. Its defeat is one of its main goals. The PZP held a neutral position in the 2006 independence referendum. Since then, it has declared that it favoured independence in 2006 but did not want to be part of an alliance led by Djukanovic. Although it started well for a new party, winning 11 seats in the 2006 elections, in 2009 it fell back to only five.

The loss was attributed to voter confusion concerning its choice of allies and partners. Its coalition with the DPS when PZP was part of the 2/3 super-majority vote needed for the adoption of the new Constitution in 2007, alienated most other opposition parties who voted against the constitution (Serbian List, SNP, People’s Party, and Democratic Serbian Party). DPS, PZP, Liberal Party and BS voted in favor.

It won back some support among pro-Serbian voters, but the presence of party members at a a rally against Kosovo’s independence in October 2008 organized by the opposition parties, SNP, National Party, NS, the Serb List and the Democratic Serb Party (DSS) alienated members voters of the country’s ethnic Albanian minority.

The party leader, Nebojsa Medojevic, ran for the presidency in 2008, coming third with 17 per cent of the votes.

The Bosniak Party, BS:

Founded in 2006 to protect the interests of the country’s Bosniak [Muslim] minority, who make  7,77 per cent of the population according to the 2003 census, it was formed out of a merger of four small parties: the International Democratic Union, the Party For Democratic Action, the Democratic Alliance of Bosniaks and the Party of National Equality.

The party lent the DPS-led government significant support in the independence referendum of 2006. Since the Bosniak minority is concentrated in certain areas of the country, such as the Sandzak, the party favours devolving powers to regions.
 
The Democratic Union of Albanians, DUA:

Led by Ferhat Dinosa, it is one of four parties that aim to protect the rights of the country’s ethnic Albanian minority who make up 5,03  per cent of the population according to the 2003 census. It has one seat in parliament. The other three parties are Forca, the Democratic League of Montenegro and the Albanian Alternative. Each also has one seat in the Skupstina.