Social Democratic Party of Montenegro ( cnr, Социјалдемократска партија Црне Горе, Socijaldemokratska partija Crne Gore), or just the Social Democratic Party, abbr. SDP is a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and social democratic

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. It is the only party in Montenegro to have full membership in the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...

. From 1998 until the 2016 coalition split, it was a minor coalition partner of the

Democratic Party of Socialists The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro ( cnr, Демократска партија социјалиста Црне Горе, Demokratska partija socijalista Crne Gore, DPS) is a populist political party in Montenegro. A former long-tim ...

, that lead Montenegro from the introduction of the multi-party system until the

2020 Montenegrin parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 30 August 2020. They were the fifth parliamentary in Montenegro since gaining its independence in 2006. Eighty-one members of the Montenegrin parliament were elected. Elections were organized ...

History

On 14 July 1991, members of

Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia The Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Савез реформских снага Југославије, Savez reformskih snaga Jugoslavije; abbr. СРСЈ or SRSJ) was a centre-left political party in the SFR Yugoslavia led ...

(SRSJ) from four coastal municipalities in the SR Montenegro,

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi ( cyrl, Херцег Нови, ) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 ...

Kotor Kotor ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...

Tivat Tivat (, ) is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. , its population was 9,367. Tivat is the centre of Tivat Municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro. Name In Serbian and Montenegrin l ...

and

Budva Budva ( cnr, Будва, or ) is a Montenegrin town on the Adriatic Sea. It has 19,218 inhabitants, and it is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, kn ...

, 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 (SDPR)''. 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 The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

. Eventually, ''Yugoslav People's Party'' and ''Old Yugoslav People's Party'' also merged into SDP in the following years. Notable founders include Žarko Rakčević, Dragiša Burzan and Ljubiša Stanković. 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 A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

held on 21 May 2006. Current president of the SDP and

President of the Parliament of Montenegro The President of the Parliament of Montenegro ( cnr, Предсједник Скупштине Црне Горе, Predsjednik Skupštine Crne Gore) is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Montenegro. The president's term lasts four years, ...

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 Milo Đukanović ( cnr, Мило Ђукановић, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician serving as the President of Montenegro since 2018, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2003. He also served as the Prime Minister ...

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.Vuksanović poručila da neće odustati od kandidature
Vijesti, 14 April 2018 On 29 June 2019, after Krivokapić resignation, Vuksanović was elected new president of the Party, making her the only female president of a Montenegrin political party, at the time. On this occasion, former President Krivokapic has been named honorary president.

Elections

Parliamentary elections

Notes:

Social Democratic Party of Reformists Social Democratic Party of Montenegro ( cnr, Социјалдемократска партија Црне Горе, Socijaldemokratska partija Crne Gore), or just the Social Democratic Party, abbr. SDP is a nationalist and social democratic politi ...

(SDPR). Shortly after the election, the SDPR merged with extra-parliamentary

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

(SP) to form Social Democratic Party (SDP). SDPR-elected MPs
joined the newly-formed SDP's parliamentary group. The electoral threshold was set at 6% using the d'Hondt method, the threshold was returned to 3% for the next parliamentary election in 1998.
Part of Coalition government (2012-2015); Opposition (2015-2016); Part of Provisional Government (2016)

Presidential elections

Positions held

Major positions held by Social Democratic Party of Montenegro members:

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control 1993 establishments in Montenegro Full member parties of the Socialist International Montenegrin nationalism Parties related to the Party of European Socialists Pro-European political parties in Montenegro Progressive Alliance Social democratic parties in Montenegro