Split in DPS, Pejanović Đurišić founds a party

Circles close to the leadership of the DPS confirmed to "Vijesti" that Pejanović Đurišić decided to make that move because she believes that her previous party has been wasted as a brand due to a series of affairs and that she has already spoken with former Prime Minister Igor Lukšić...

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DPS symbols for many years: Đukanović and Pejanović Đurišić, Photo: Savo Prelević
DPS symbols for many years: Đukanović and Pejanović Đurišić, Photo: Savo Prelević
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Milica Pejanović Đurišić, who is one of the founders of the Democratic Party of Socialists, is leaving that party after 30 years and plans to found a new party, "Vijesti" learned from several sources.

For many years, Pejanović Đurišić was one of the symbols of the DPS together with the president Milo Đukanović and the now fugitive Svetozar Marović, and she is the current ambassador of Montenegro to the United Nations.

According to "Vijesti" information from circles close to the leadership of the DPS, Pejanović Đurišić decided on that move because she believes that her previous party has been wasted as a brand due to a series of affairs and that it is smarter to create a new party than to enter into a "fight" over who will possibly replace Đukanović.

It is expected that formal moves will begin after the constitution of the new government, and the room for action can be seen in the dissolution of the DPS, and in the expected downward trajectory of the Social Democrats after going into opposition, but also in the fact that the Social Democratic Party barely passed the census in the recent elections.

"Vijesti" has learned that the party should be left-of-center and that Pejanović Đurišić has already spoken with potential future collaborators and partners, including former Prime Minister Igor Lukšić.

Allegedly, she met and exchanged opinions with SDP vice-president Raško Konjević and the leader of the "For the Future of Montenegro" coalition Zdravko Krivokapić, whom she knows from the University of Montenegro.

The fate of SPS

Several "Vijesti" sources stated that the DPS leadership fears that it will suffer the fate of Slobodan Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia, which after the loss of power fell to around ten percent of the electorate.

The fact that Đukanović got rid of people who opposed him now leaves the party without a man who could reform it, as the Croatian Democratic Union did in Croatia after Franjo Tuđman, so it remained at the top of the political scene.

That the relations in the DPS are strained are the words and information of "Vijesti" that on the election night, after it became clear that the elections were lost, there were difficult words between the old and new staff and that this argument lasted until he appeared Djukanovic. What followed, explains a source from the top of the DPS, was the encouragement that the highest number of votes was won by far - 140 thousand, but to that Đukanović allegedly replied that "there are not even 70 thousand real votes".

As "Vijesta" explained, it refers to the expected base in the coming period when DPS will no longer be in power, when a large part of members and safe voters are expected to leave.

The DPS reportedly even fears that some members of the list of deputies who are among the first 30 are in negotiations to leave the party. The top of the party appointed Bran Gvozdenović, a member of the immediate presidency, who is perceived by the public as one of the "candidates" for prosecution due to his involvement in a whole series of affairs that rocked the party in previous years, for the analysis of the election results and the strategy of action from the opposition benches.

Đukanović's DPS lost power after three decades and won only about 35 percent of the vote in the elections on August 30, which is the party's worst result since its founding.

The formation of the new government was announced yesterday by the opposition coalitions "For the future of Montenegro" by Zdravko Krivokapić, "Peer is our nation" by Aleksa Bečić and "Black on white" by Dritan Abazović, who together won 41 mandates out of a total of 81 seats in the Assembly.

She was a candidate for president

Milica Pejanović Đurišić has not been active in DPS for ten years. Before joining the UN, she was the Minister of Defense, but before the presidential elections in 2018, she was mentioned as a possible candidate of the DPS.

In part of the public, she was considered Washington's favorite, and at the same time it was expected that international pressure on Đukanović would have the effect of not running for office.

However, Đukanović ran and won in the first round, and after the election, the talk about the candidacy of Pejanović Đurišić came down to the fact that the proposal was allegedly not passed by the top of the party, which is the thesis put forward by circles close to the president of the DPS and the state.

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