Among the candidates for president and vice president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), there is currently only one person who does not hold one of those positions - a member of the DPS Presidency. Aleksandra Vuković Kuč.
In the upcoming direct elections in DPS, she is running for one of the four vice-presidential positions, while the remaining three current vice-presidents are in the running - Ivan Vukovic, Abaz Dizdarević i Jevto Erakovic.
The three were elected to these positions at the extraordinary congress of the DPS in January 2021. She was then appointed vice president Sanja Damjanovic, who recently resigned from all positions in the strongest opposition party due to what she said were personal and professional reasons.
One official of the DPS told "Vijesti" in an informal conversation that the fact that there are no new names in the game for leading positions in that party represents "conserving" the current situation.
As announced yesterday from the DPS, Eraković was the first to submit his candidacy, while the others announced it and have yet to formalize their proposals.
When it comes to the position of head of DPS, only the acting (acting) president of that party has announced his candidacy so far. Danijel Zivkovic.
Although it was speculated in the public that a member of the DPS could also apply for that position Nikola Janović, according to unofficial information from "Vijesti", he will not run for office.
Candidates for president and vice-president of DPS are submitted today until the end of the day. After that, the candidacy commission of the DPS will decide within 72 hours on the applications and their confirmation or rejection, after which it will submit a report to the Party Presidency, i.e. the Main Board (GO), thus creating the conditions to start the pre-election campaign that will last until election day. - January 28 next year.
The decision on the rules, criteria and method of conducting direct elections in the DPS stipulates that the GO of that party can supplement the list, that is, determine the candidacy for the president and vice-presidents on the proposal of at least 20 members of that body.
The decision stipulates that members who meet several conditions can be proposed for the head and vice-presidents of the DPS - that they are registered in the party records (as of December 25) and that they have been members continuously for the last three years, that "by overall behavior, professional , work and moral qualities enjoy respect and trust in the wider social community", that they have personal and party integrity, recognized professional and organizational abilities...
The leadership of the DPS will be elected directly - by the votes of the membership, not party delegates, which is the first such case in Montenegro. Members will elect the party leadership electronically, that is, using an application that will guarantee the reliability and secrecy of that process.
The candidacy for the first person of the DPS requires the signatures of at least two percent of the total number of members, and for the vice-presidents, the signatures of at least one percent of them. Bearing in mind that, as "Vijesti" announced, about 20 thousand members should decide on the leadership of DPS, this means that at least 400 signatures are necessary for the presidential candidacy, and at least 200 for the vice-presidential candidacy.
DPS plans to directly elect the heads of local committees.
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