Liberal Party of Montenegro

Liberal Party of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Либерална партија Црне Горе, Liberalna partija Crne Gore, LP) is a minor liberal[1] political party in Montenegro, an associate member of ALDE and a full member of the Liberal International. The party advocates liberalism and the bringing down of Milo Đukanović's rule, seeing it as authoritarian and undemocratic. It had continued the fight against what it saw as the DPS' authoritarianism that the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro pursued since its foundation in 1990. However, the party changed its discourse and became a junior coalition partner of DPS both on local and national level.

Liberal Party of Montenegro

Либерална партија Црне Горе
Liberalna partija Crne Gore
PresidentAndrija Popović
FounderMiodrag Živković
Founded2004
Split fromLiberal Alliance
HeadquartersPodgorica
Youth wingYouth Liberals of Montenegro
IdeologyLiberalism[1]
National liberalism
Montenegrin nationalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre
Regional affiliationLiberal South East European Network
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[2]
International affiliationLiberal International[3]
ColoursBlue and white
Parliament
1 / 81
Website
http://www.lpcg.me

Currently, LP president Andrija Popović is the party's sole representative in the Parliament of Montenegro, where LP is a part of the ruling majority. The party did not contest the latest parliamentary election but delegated two candidates to the electoral list of DPS, one of which was elected to the Parliament. Currently, LP is part of the parliamentary group with another minor ruling coalition partner, SD.

Ideology

Liberal party of Montenegro is a civic, liberal and secular party. During the 2012 pre-election program, the Liberal Party advocated for legal decriminalization of marijuana, legalizing prostitution and advocated LGBT rights. The party strongly supports the membership of Montenegro in the EU and NATO. However, since 2012 the LP is strongly linked with the ruling DPS, and often does not pursue individual political goals while in the coalition government.

History

The Liberal Party of Montenegro was founded on 28 October 2004 in Podgorica. It emerged from a faction of Liberal Alliance of Montenegro (LSCG), after a split between LSCG's leaders Miodrag Živković and Slavko Perović, and the expulsion of Živković faction due to serious corruption allegations, known in Montenegro as Trsteno Affair (sr). On 24 March 2005, Liberal Alliance of Montenegro decided to freeze its political activities.

In 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, LP aligned itself with pro-independence movement, consisting of Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, Social Democratic Party of Montenegro and parties representing ethnic minorities. Liberal Party of Montenegro supports Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which claims to be the sole legitimate representative of Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro.

At the 2012 parliamentary elections LP participated in coalition European Montenegro, which won the election, receiving one seat in the Parliament. Due to internal disagreements, Liberal Party froze its membership in the Coalition for European Montenegro, and is acting in the Parliament in the group with the minority parties (Croatian and Albanian minority representatives). However, this change has been only formal, because the minority group is also an integral part of the ruling majority.

At the 2016 parliamentary election, LP did not run, but instead was given two candidate spots on the electoral list of Democratic Party of Socialists, one of which was elected to the Parliament.[4]

Parliamentary elections
Parliament of Montenegro
Year Popular vote % of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Coalition Government
2006 12,748 3.76%
2 / 81
 2 LP-BS government support
2009 8,759 2.7%
0 / 81
 2 LP-DC extra-parliamentary
2012 165,380 45.60%
1 / 81
 1 ECG government support
2016 158,490 41.41%
1 / 81
 DPS government support

See also

References
  1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2016). "Montenegro". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  2. "Member Parties". ALDE Party.
  3. "Our Members—Europe". Liberal International.
  4. Na listi DPS-a i dva predstavnika Liberalne partije Vijesti, 8 September 2016
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