The party, which has been close to official Belgrade since its founding, and is committed to a "clean slate", has survived six splits during its almost three decades of existence, but has also lost more than 100 voters, going from being the once strongest opposition party to the brink of the census.
Quarrel ahead of yesterday's congress and announcement of the current vice president of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) Dragoslav Šćekić that he could establish a new party, also hints at a possible seventh split in the once powerful party of the late Momir Bulatović.
The party, which was formed by splitting from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in 1998, managed to preserve its voter base after the initial turbulence, and some of the parliamentary parties today are the result of numerous splits.
The SNP won 1998 votes in its first parliamentary elections in 123.957, making it the second strongest political entity in the country. However, numerous splits led to a drastic drop in support, and the party it leads Vladimir Jokovic In the last elections held two years ago, she barely passed the threshold, winning 9.472 votes.
Joković began his third term as party leader yesterday, after 339 out of a total of 434 delegates voted for him at the party's tenth congress, while 19 voted against.
Former vice president Dragoslav Šćekić withdrew his candidacy for the SNP leadership the day before the congress, stating that his participation would be just a “fig leaf for an already rigged election.” He criticized Joković for running for a third term, even though the party statute only allows for two.
Šćekić told "Vijesti" a few days ago that the decision to form a new party "cannot be made by one person, but by thousands of members with whom he is in constant contact," thus hinting at the possibility of a new split in the SNP.
"Since it has already been shown that Congress has neither legitimacy nor legality, then we will all decide together which way to go," he said.
He also criticized Joković for "leading the party to disintegration", especially in his second term...
Schism as a political beginning
The SNP was formed after a split in the then-ruling DPS in 1998. The unified party had two factions - one close to the then prime minister and the party's vice president Milo Đukanović, and the other gathered around the then President of Montenegro and party leader Momir Bulatović.
The point of contention was the attitude towards the authorities. Slobodan Milosevic at the federal level, and in time it will turn out to be towards the federation itself.
The conflict simmered throughout 1997, and many analysts believe that Djukanovic's trips to Washington during 1996 influenced his departure from Milosevic, which Bulatovic also mentioned in his book "Rules of Silence."
Two key figures in the DPS were candidates in the 1997 presidential election, although they were still in the same party. After demonstrations at Đukanović's inauguration the following year, a section of the membership loyal to Bulatović formed the SNP...
Bulatović renounced Bulatović
After defeats at the republican and party levels, Bulatović was elected federal prime minister of the then-fragmented Yugoslavia. He headed the government during the Kosovo War, the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), and the elections that ousted Milošević.
The SNP then ran in the federal elections in a coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left (parties led by Milošević, i.e. his wife). Mirjana Markovic), and due to the boycott of most Montenegrin parties, won 28 out of 30 “Montenegrin” parliamentary seats. This result enabled them to become a key partner in the new majority in Serbia, gathered in the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) alliance.
Momir Bulatović was no longer a favorite of official Belgrade, which is why the SNP decided overnight to nominate him as the federal prime minister. Zoran Žižić.
Such a move was officially explained by the fact that Momir Bulatović, on the eve of the September 2000 elections, without consulting his party colleagues, entered into a coalition with the SPS and JUL in Podgorica, as well as his later refusal to allow the party to enter into an alliance with DOS.
Intra-party conflicts then culminated at an extraordinary congress in Bijela in early 2001, at which Predrag Bulatović, as the only candidate, was elected as the new party leader, while Momir Bulatović did not attend the vote.
Although the new president called for unity, Momir Bulatović left the party and, together with his supporters, formed the People's Socialist Party.
Along with the former boss, the murdered director of "Dan" also left the SNP at that time. Dusko Jovanovic, former editor of TVCG Emilo Labudović, New Vujosevic i Borivoje Cetkovic, having previously clashed verbally with supporters of the new party leadership. Along with them, another 50 delegates left the congress.
The new party leader appointed Žižić and Srdja Bozovic, while Vuksan Simonović became party director...
Milosevic is the reason for the argument again
The first clash between the federal prime minister and the new party leader occurred the same year, after Milošević was extradited to The Hague. Žižić resigned, but his party leader, instead of the expected split with DOS, decided to send a new prime minister to Belgrade. Dragiša PešićIn the years that followed, their conflict simmered and the party was again divided into factions.
The conflict culminated when Žižić, without the knowledge of the party leadership, negotiated the formation of the Movement for a European State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The negotiations on the formation of the Movement, whose mentor was the then Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amphilochius, Žižić led with a member of the GO party Momčilo Vuksanović and professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić Bogoljub ŠijakovićHowever, most of the heads of municipal committees and local governments from the SNP ranks ignored Žižić's invitation to a session of the movement's organizational committee.
Predrag Bulatović, who even then controlled key party institutions, first threatened to expel Žižić and Vuksanović from the party at the Podgorica committee. A fierce showdown did not occur because Bulatović, before the fire broke out, closed all the valves of the party infrastructure, so that the former SNP vice president could eventually count on the fingers of one hand those who remained loyal to him until the end. Žižić did not even attend the party congress in early 2005.
Bulatović was given another mandate as party leader. On that occasion, he announced that the congress had completed the SNP reform process, claiming that there was internal resistance to change within the entity, and that Žižić wanted to turn it towards nationalism.
The following year, Žižić founded the Democratic Unity Party, which did not achieve significant political influence. The party formally still exists, and is close to the parties of the former Democratic Front (DF).
After the 2006 referendum in which Montenegro restored its statehood, the SNP entered a period of serious political crisis and loss of influence. Bulatović resigned as party president due to poor results in the first post-referendum elections, and its new leader became Srdjan Milic, who defeated Pešić at the congress. He remained at the head of the party the longest, for 11 years.
The birth of Knežević and Bečić
In mid-2012, a new internal split occurred within the SNP regarding the party's possible accession to the then new alliance - the Democratic Front, formed by the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and the Movement for Change (PZP). Part of the SNP membership opposed joining the coalition, so part of the leadership opted for independent entry into the DF, which led to a split. The excluded group, led by Predrag Bulatović and Milan Knezevic, in 2014, she founded the Democratic People's Party.
At the end of 2014, new divisions emerged within the SNP during the party congress. Milić was re-elected president, but received a third of the votes. Aleksa BecicThe split occurred in early 2015, when Bečić and his supporters left the SNP and founded a new party - the Democrats.
Bečić blamed Milić, but also a high-ranking SNP official at the time, for leaving the party. Snežana IonicaOn that occasion, he was joined by the "veteran" deputies - Velizar Kaluđerović i Neven Gosovic, but also the then vice president of the Podgorica committee Zdenka Popović.
Joković as a savior
In early 2017, a new crisis arose, caused by dissatisfaction with the way Milić was leading the party. Faced with the crisis, Milić decided to step down as president, after which Joković was elected as his successor on 13 August 2017. The new leader had not had any significant political engagement until then. Milić and members close to him supported Jonica at that congress.
The following year, she and 37 other members of the party's Main Board left the SNP and formed the Socialists of Montenegro. After their request to participate in the 2020 parliamentary elections as a minority (Yugoslav) party was rejected, they withdrew from the race, and participated in the local elections in Kotor that year, where they achieved parliamentary status, but also as part of the "For the Future of Nikšić" coalition in the 2021 elections. However, they did not continue their political engagement after that...
Departure of ministers
SNP entered a minority government in 2022 Dritan Abazović, formed with the votes of the DPS, which led to new internal conflicts, but there was no split.
In May 2023, Danijela Đurović (then Speaker of Parliament), Marko Kovač (then Minister of Justice) and Miomir Vojinović (then Minister of Education) left the SNP. The reason for their resignations, as unofficially reported by “Vijesti”, was “deep and insurmountable differences with the SNP leadership regarding the direction of the party’s activities” which, as the newspaper’s source said at the time, “is moving to the right and damaging the image of a civic party, which is what the SNP essentially was”. Not long after them, a member of the party’s presidency also left the party Nebojsa Vuksanovic (list leader in the 2022 Podgorica elections).
Vuksanović, Kovač and some other former SNP officials were on the "Naprijed" Movement list in the local elections in Podgorica last year, which was led by the director of the Health Insurance Fund Vuk KadicThey failed to reach the local assembly...
Šćekić recently posted a photo with Kovač, but also with the former member of the SNP Central Committee and Minister of Finance. Aleksandar Damjanović and SNP officials Darko Stojanović...
Strongest while Belgrade favored them, leader changes led to schisms
Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) Milka Tadic Mijović believes that the SNP had more than 100.000 votes when "Milošević stood behind it and in the first years after his collapse", when the then president of the FRY Vojislav Kostunica included in the federal government.
"So, they drew their power mostly from Belgrade and were key representatives of the unionist concept, not just an alliance with Serbia, but an alliance under Serbia, a concept according to which Montenegro would be only an underage member, in which all decisions are made elsewhere, and many to our detriment, as was the case in the 1990s. So, when the SNP had both cannons and priests behind it, it also had enormous support in Montenegro."
Tadić Mijović states that Belgrade has switched to another player - the former DF, and that these parties have taken over SNP membership.
"Some of the DF parties were once SNP themselves. Of course, that doesn't mean that SNP doesn't play for (Aleksandra) Vučić"...only Belgrade has more than them."
Editor-in-chief of TV Vijesti Radomir Krackovic reminds that the SNP is one of the longest-standing parties in Montenegrin politics, and that this is one of the factors that influenced numerous schisms.
"At the same time, it is paradoxical that the SNP is one of the 'most democratic parties' in Montenegro because it has had four leaders over the course of 27 years, while other parties have had and continue to have almost eternal leaders who have been in those positions for 15-20 years. However, this democratic practice of, as a rule, changing leaders after two terms has almost always led to a split and cost the SNP the loss of a portion of its membership and voters."
Krackovic assessed that it turned out that it was better for the SNP to have had one strong leader for many years, even though this leads to "the privatization of parties, which we have witnessed in other cases."
The conflict intensifies during the summer
After an argument broke out at the Civic Assembly session held in Podgorica on June 6, an electronic session of that body was scheduled, at which a member was expelled from it. Radisav Nikic, and at the same time the Herceg Novi committee was dissolved. Nikić and the former head of the Novi branch Milan Jancic They complained to the Statutory Commission, claiming that there were irregularities in the voting, and that it was boycotted by certain people listed in the voting list.
Members of the Danilovgrad SNP also complained to the same commission, claiming that there were irregularities in the election of the committee itself and its president.
However, all three appeals were rejected.
“Vijesti” reported, citing a source who attended the GO session, that at that gathering (on the eve of the electronic session) there were arguments and assaults between GO members. Another source claimed that there were “arguments” at the session, that it was “inappropriate”, but that “there was no terrible drama”.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", Joković had a verbal confrontation with Nikić at the meeting.
A conflict over leadership, not ideology
The newspaper's interlocutors agree that the latest intra-party conflict occurred solely because of the struggle for the place of first among equals, and not because of ideology.
"The breakup is happening because there are two strong party officials, both of whom want to be the first in the party. This is especially significant now that the SNP is part of the government because the party leader, directly or indirectly, decides on numerous appointments of party officials in state bodies and employment, which is also the case with other leaders of the ruling majority parties," said Krackovic, adding that Montenegro is "a strong partyocratic system in which party positions are often stronger than state positions."
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He assessed that parties shape the future for everyone, and the best for themselves and their voters and supporters.
Tadić Mijović also believes that this is solely a struggle for supremacy:
"It seems to me that the reason for the schism is not because of ideology - because some are for reforms and some are not, some for Joanniki and some for Methodius, some for 'tacije' and some for students, some for Europe and some for Russia and Serbia, but that it is an internal party struggle for power."
A little perspective for both streams
Tadić Mijović is pessimistic when it comes to the prospects of the future party led by Šćekić, but also of the "truncated" SNP.
"I don't see any prospects for either faction, because these are just unreformed remnants of a difficult past burdened by wars, crimes, and nationalism. If any of these actors have the strength for transition and reform, there might be some chance, but I doubt it because there has been plenty of time for change."
Krackovic estimates that Šćekic's future party is on the same or similar political pole as the parties of the former DF, the Democrats, partly PES, and the SNP.
"That electorate is large, but it is also naturally limited. In elections, when citizens vote for parties with similar profiles, they more often opt for the stronger ones. In addition, a new party means the arduous task of building party infrastructure in all cities, and we see that even many stronger parties have not yet completed it."
When it comes to the SNP without Šćekić and members close to him, Kracković points out that their prospects are not any better, but that they retain the mechanisms of participation in government on which they can build future policy.
"However, here too, the real problem is that there are several parties in that part of the political spectrum that are significantly stronger than the SNP, and it will take a lot of originality for Joković to offer something new or to achieve potentially significant successes in the government, with which he would animate voters. In addition to all that, it is inevitable that some of the membership and local officials will leave with Šćekić, so Joković will have to re-establish his own party infrastructure in a large part of the country."
Joković: You don't leave a match in turbulent moments
Joković said yesterday that one should not leave the game in turbulent moments.
"The value and foundation you believe in are not built from scratch when a challenge arises. The SNP is one because the idea of the SNP was above personal interests... There is room for differences and dialogue in the SNP. The SNP brings together those who are on the left and right. That is why today I want to emphasize what time has shown - the SNP is not a short-term project. Neither family, nor homeland, nor home are abandoned when things are difficult, and neither is the party," he said at the opening of the congress.
Thanking for the choice, Joković assessed that the fact that there were those who opposed it was a warning - "that something was not done well."
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He pointed out that they originated among the people and that there is no concern for the future of the SNP:
"We will devote all our attention to the future of the SNP."
The congress was attended by guests from all parties of the ruling majority, non-parliamentary parties with which the SNP forms the government at the local level, the leader of the Serbian People's Party (GP URA) Dritan Abazović, as well as representatives of the authorities in Serbia and the Republika Srpska.
Minister of Culture in the Government of Serbia and official of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Nikola Selaković thanked the SNP for not one of its members supporting the "attempted color revolution in Serbia".
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