Social Democratic Party of Montenegro

Social Democratic Party Socijaldemokratska partija Социјалдемократска партија
Abbreviation	SDP
Leader	Ranko Krivokapić
Founded	12 June 1993
Headquarters	Jovana Tomaševića bb, Podgorica
Ideology	Social democracy[1] Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-left
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance Socialist International
Colours	Red, Yellow
Parliament	4 / 81
Local Parliaments	28 / 786
Website
http://www.sdp.co.me
Politics of Montenegro Political parties Elections

Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Социјалдемократска партија Црне Горе, Socijaldemokratska partija Crne Gore), or just the Social Democratic Party (Montenegrin: Социјалдемократска партија, Socijaldemokratska partija, SDP) is a centre-left political party in Montenegro. It is the only party in Montenegro to have full membership in the Socialist International.

History

On 14 July 1991 reformists from four coastal municipalities in the SR Montenegro, Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat and Budva, who were subsequently joined by reformists from Cetinje, formed the first regional Montenegrin political party - the Alliance of Reformists of the Montenegrin Coastline with Miodrag Marović as President. On 7 July 1992 the League united with Žarko Rakčević's Party of Socialists desiring to create a major Montenegrin party, forming the Social Democratic Party of Reformists of Montenegro. Finally, on 12 June 1993 the Independent Organization of Communists of Bar, the Alliance of Reform forces of Yugoslavia for Montenegro and the Party of National Tolerance merged into it, forming the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro and uniting the forces that opposed the policies of the Milošević regime during the Yugoslav wars. Eventually, Yugoslav People's Party and Old Yugoslav People's Party also merged into SDP in the following years. Notable SDP founders include Žarko Rakčević, Ljubiša Stanković and Dušan Simonović.^[2]

When the policies of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS) turned towards the goal of full independence for Montenegro, DPS and SDP started working closely together to achieve this goal. Allying itself with the DPS and Đukanović ahead of the 1998 parliamentary elections allowed the SDP to enter the parliament for the first time in its history. Since the 1998 election, SDP has continued to a minor coalition partner of DPS and a part of every Montenegrin government between 1998 and 2015. The goal of restoration of the Montenegrin independence was achieved following the victory in a referendum held on 21 May 2006. Current president of the SDP and President of the Parliament of Montenegro from 2003 to 2016, Ranko Krivokapić, officially proclaimed the independence of Montenegro on 3 June 2006.

Following the shift of the party towards a more critical and independent political course, in Autumn 2015 the pro-DPS faction of SDP formed a new party named Social Democrats of Montenegro (SD). On 22 January 2016, SDP officially left the ruling coalition with DPS and announced its support for a vote of no confidence against the government of Milo Đukanović on 25 January 2016. In the following 2016 parliamentary election SDP ran independently for the first time since 1996, and retained its parliamentary status, winning 5.23% of votes.

At the 2018 presidential elections, SDP nominated its MP Draginja Vuksanović, who was the first female presidential candidate in the history of Montenegro. Vuksanović finished third, winning 8.2% of the votes.^[3]

Elections

Parliamentary elections

Parliament of Montenegro

Year	Popular vote	% of popular vote	Overall seats won	Seat change	Coalition	Government
1996	16,608	5.52%	0 / 75	N/A	—	extra-parliamentary
1998	170,080	48.87%	5 / 75	5	ECG	government
2001	153,946	42.04%	6 / 75	1	ECG	government
2002	167,166	48.0%	7 / 75	1	ECG	government
2006	164,737	48.62%	7 / 81		ECG	government
2009	168,290	51.9%	9 / 81	2	ECG	government
2012	165,380	45.60%	6 / 81	3	ECG	Provisional Gov.*
2016	20,011	5.23%	4 / 81	2	—	opposition

*Government (2012-2015); Opposition (2015-2016); Provisional Government (2016)

External links

• Official site

References