The Democratic People's Party (, DNP) is a
populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
and
social conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
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 political ideology ...
in
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
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, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
.
History
The Democratic People's Party was founded in 2015 from the former
Socialist People's Party (SNP) faction led by
Milan Knežević and
Predrag Bulatović
Predrag Bulatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Предраг Булатовић; born 16 July 1956) is a Montenegrin politician, current member of the Parliament of Montenegro and vice-president of the Democratic People's Party since the party's foundi ...
which left the Party and joined the
Democratic Front alliance as an independent group, prior the
October 2012 parliamentary election. DNP currently has four MPs in the
Parliament of Montenegro
The Parliament of Montenegro ( cg, Скупштина Црне Горе, Skupština Crne Gore) is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. The Parliament currently has 81 members, with each member elected to a four-year term. Following the 2006 ...
elected from the list of the Democratic Front alliance on 2016 election.
On 9 May 2019, paty leader Knežević, along with 13 another people found guilty by the Higher Court for the allegedly "
plotting to commit terrorist acts and undermine the constitutional order of Montenegro on the day of
2016 parliamentary election." In 2021, the appellate court annulled the first instance verdict on all counts of the indictment.
Ideology
The party views the
Serb community, which it represents, as discriminated against. It sees Montenegro as pursuing the concept of a
nation-state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
and the
politics of assimilation. Serbs and Montenegrins are viewed of as being one and the same people. It demands that the
Serbian language
Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...
enters the Constitution of Montenegro as the official language. The party is currently the main advocate of
Serbian-Montenegrin unionism
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, together with its coalition partner the
New Serb Democracy
New Serb Democracy (, NSD; officially abbreviated NOVA) is a Serbian nationalist right-wing political party in Montenegro, formed on 24 January 2009 as a merger between Serb People's Party and the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro. Since 2 ...
.
The Democratic People's Party jointly with New Serb Democracy maintains cooperation with Russian far-right
Rodina and
United Russia
United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...
parties as well with Serb nationalist
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika Srpska, with its leader, Milorad Dodik, serving as the current p ...
from Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Deklaracija DNP-a i Jedinstvene Rusije
6 May 2016, Radio i televizija Crne Gore. Retrieved 2021-02-10 and the party also maintains a very close cooperation with the right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска напредна странка, Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) has been the ruling political party of Serbia since 2012.
Founded by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić in 2008 as a s ...
regime in Serbia.
Elections
Parliamentary elections
Presidential elections
References
2015 establishments in Montenegro
Conservative parties in Montenegro
Political parties established in 2015
Serb political parties in Montenegro
Eurosceptic parties in Montenegro
Social conservative parties
Social democratic parties in Montenegro
Right-wing parties in Europe
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