The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) will not join the newly formed Progressive Alliance, which was formed as an alternative to the Socialist International (SI) by the world's most influential left-leaning parties.
The progressive alliance was formed yesterday in Leipzig as part of the celebration of 150 years of social democracy in Germany. The newly formed international organization of left-wing parties is led by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and its leader Sigmar Gabriel, who clashed sharply with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who leads the Socialist International.
Among the 70 members of the Progressive Alliance from around the world are, in addition to the SPD, the American Democratic Party of Barak Omaba, the British opposition Labor Party, the African National Congress...
Unlike the Democratic Party of Dragan Đilas and Boris Tadić, who loudly announced in the Serbian media that they were going to Leipzig and membership in the Progressive Alliance, which at the same time means leaving the Socialist International, the ruling parties in Montenegro shyly announced their presence in Germany, without mentioning of the establishment of a new significant group of socialists and the division in SI. DPS announced that the member of the Presidency Milan Roćen, at the invitation of the German SPD, will attend the 150th anniversary of the existence of this party.
The SDP did not even issue a statement that they had received an invitation, although that and all other Montenegrin parties also advertise for less significant stays abroad.
The SDP did not even issue a statement that they had received an invitation, although that and all other Montenegrin parties also advertise for less significant stays abroad. According to "Vijesti" information, SDP is represented in Leipzig by the vice-president of that party, Ivan Brajović. The Assembly announced the day before yesterday that Parliament Speaker Ranko Krivokapić will attend the ceremony in Leipzig to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Movement and Social Democracy in Europe.
DPS leader Milo Đukanović did not attend the rally in Leipzig, although one source of "Vijesti" claims that he confirmed his attendance, which was not to the liking of some SPD deputies. However, DPS spokesman Časlav Vešović said that the party received an invitation to participate in the SPD anniversary celebration, but not in the initial meeting for the formation of the Progressive Alliance. He added that it was decided that Roćen would represent the ruling party in Leipzig.
"As always, we will follow events in international associations that are programmatically and ideologically close to us and make an adequate decision on cooperation or membership. We will do that, first of all, guided by the interests of the DPS and socialist principles," Vešović said.
The head of the media pool of the SDP, Mirko Stanić, said that his party remains in the Socialist International.
"We are the oldest member of the international and we will remain in it. We have been members since 1996 and our status is not in question. I know that 20 days ago we organized a meeting where there were representatives of European socialist parties and we did not leave that organization," Stanić told "Vijesta".
Stanić said that his party remains in the Socialist International
DPS has been a permanent member of SI since mid-2008, after SDP lobbied for it for years. At the SDP Congress in Podgorica a few years ago, Luis Ayala, Secretary General of the SI, attended.
International Council of Dictators
President of the German SPD and one of the founders of the Progressive Alliance, Sigmar Gabriel, said that the goal of that association is to create a strong coalition of left-wing parties from around the world that will bring democratic, social and ecological progress.
As the reasons for leaving SI, he stated that this organization "became a council of dictators and despots, a concept of non-democracy, and thus collapsed into political insignificance." The establishment of the Progressive Alliance is the culmination of the dissatisfaction of the influential socialist parties and the disagreements between the German SPD and the head of the Socialist International, George Papandreou. In an open letter, Gabriel accused Papandreou of corruption and claimed that he leads the association autocratically.
The former Greek Prime Minister was criticized for not excluding the National Democratic Party of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from the International, but he did so only a few months before that regime was overthrown during the Arab Spring.
Hollande and Gabriel at the celebration
Papandera called the attacks of the German Social Democrats an attempt to create divisions in the International. The ceremony in Leipzig, among others, was attended yesterday by the French president, socialist François Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was a guest of the new group of socialists, as the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union.
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