The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) should, in three months at the latest, elect the president of the party directly, by the votes of the membership, and not by delegates.
This stems from the provisions of the DPS Statute adopted on January 24 last year, at the ninth, extraordinary Congress of that party.
While they are silent about party elections, that party repeats daily the request to hold early parliamentary elections.
The issue of possible personnel changes at the top of the DPS was brought up to date after Sunday's local elections, in which the party was defeated in most cities, including Podgorica, which it has governed for the last 24 years.
The statute of the DPS stipulates that the election of the president and vice-president of the DPS, as well as the heads of the municipal committees, will take place within 24 months from the adoption of that act. This means that the head of the strongest opposition party should be elected no later than January 24, 2023.
Until now, the DPS leader was elected by the delegates, and the new Statute stipulates that this should be done by party members in accordance with that act and "special rules adopted by the Main Board (GB)".
President of DPS Milo Djukanovic he announced that the Congress and the first immediate election of the president will probably take place earlier this year, but they did not answer "Vijesti" from DPS why it did not happen. Đukanović then announced that a re-registration of the membership would be carried out before the Congress.
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Long-time journalist and editor Nikola Markovic, told "Vijesti" that the reason for the poor result of Đukanović's party is that it did not transform itself after the defeat in the 2020 parliamentary elections, that is, it did not show a desire to change from within.
"Simply, the citizens felt the need for something to change. DPS remained in the same format as it was before August 30, 2020, and I think the citizens recognized that and punished him for his inability to make changes, primarily in the party leadership," he pointed out.
After the loss of state power, DPS elected vice-presidents, refreshed the Presidency and GO with new members, but there were no changes at the head of the party.
In contrast to the highest state positions he held for over 30 years, from which he briefly retired on three occasions, Đukanović has been at the head of the DPS continuously since 1998.
"Vijesti" asked DPS and several members of the Presidency and GO what the party's reaction to the poor election result would be, and whether personnel changes would follow as a result, but the answer did not come from any address.
After the electoral defeat on Sunday, the party issued a statement in which it did not mention the reforms, while only a member of parliament and a member of the GO DPS came forward from the officials. Dusko Markovic, who said that the party has always analyzed the results in detail and that he has no doubt that it will be done this time as well, but that he cannot make statements on its behalf because he is no longer in the leadership.
Nikola Marković says that only Đukanović knows the answer to the question of what will happen in DPS after the election debacle. He assesses that the DPS must reform in order to survive, and adds that he thinks the time has come for Đukanović to leave the top of the party.
"In the past decades, we had a situation where the DPS, no matter what it did badly, won the elections because Đukanović carried its lists. Now DPS has come to a completely different situation - no matter what they do well, they lose the elections because Đukanović is at the head of the party. So, just as the DPS used to experience benefits due to Đukanović being at the head of the party, it is now paying for the fact that Đukanović did not leave," the interlocutor emphasizes.
When asked whether someone from the DPS could revolt against Đukanović and demand his departure, Marković replied that Đukanović's possible withdrawal would be a matter of his will, and not some internal party protest.
"Like most parties in our country, the DPS, and especially it, is strictly hierarchically organized as a leadership party. I don't think there can be any rebellion in that party. How DPS will react to the election defeat, we will best see by who they will blame for it. If they justify themselves with a bad campaign, the inertness of the party base, low-quality list holders - it means that they don't want to look in the mirror, that is, they don't want to see the real reasons for their failure. And I see him in Đukanović," he underlined.
In the statement, DPS did not deal with the reasons for the defeat, but only stated that they expected more support in some municipalities, stating that they are aware "that the trend of populist politics, which is global, has also reached Montenegro".
Đukanović's party won 35 fewer votes on Sunday than in the 2020 state elections, in which it lost three decades of power, and recorded a drop in support in all municipalities except Bar.
Marković: The DPS car went downhill
Marković says that Đukanović's position after August 30, 2020 is much easier than the position of the DPS, because he is the only representative of that party who has state power, considering that he is in the position of the president of the state.
He points out that Đukanović, if he is thinking about a new presidential candidacy, is now in a much worse position than before the local elections. Presidential elections should be held in the spring of next year.
"I believe that sooner or later extraordinary parliamentary elections must take place. Perhaps the most logical thing is to combine them with presidential elections. Anyway, Đukanović is not in the position he was in before Sunday. DPS won a little over 38 percent of the votes in Podgorica. I am deeply convinced that DPS already today in Podgorica does not even have 35 percent. When the car goes downhill, you can jump out of it or you can stubbornly refuse to do so, so that you end up with the car in the abyss".
In the DPS, they are also silent in the Political Council
The statute of the DPS also defines that the party has a Political Council, but that body has not been functioning for years.
Đukanović's party did not respond to "Vijesti" as to why it was not formed.
The political council was promoted at the Congress in 2015, and the then vice-president of the DPS, Svetozar Marović, was elected as its first president.
Despite his appointment and the decision of the GO that the body has 11 members, the Council did not come to life because of Marović's arrest after the outbreak of the "Zavala" affair. In June 2016, Marović resigned from all party positions and party membership.
Đukanović said in May 2021 that there were no hidden reasons why the Political Council was not established, adding that the priority was to complete the party infrastructure through the election of the Presidency, commissions and the formation of the Executive Board.
"Now is the time to activate the Political Council, and I believe that will be the topic at the next session of the General Assembly. There is nothing hidden, there are no secrets, there are no conflicts that could intrigue the non-party public," Đukanović said at the time.
The Statute of the DPS states that the President of the Political Council is elected by the GO, and that he is responsible for his work to the Presidency and the GO.
"The President of the Political Council manages the work of the Political Foundation of the DPS", it says in that act.
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