Andrija Popović (

Montenegrin Cyrillic The Montenegrin alphabet is the collective name given to "" ( Montenegrin Latin alphabet; in Cyrillic) and "" ( Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet; in Latin), the writing systems used to write the Montenegrin language. It was adopted on 9 June 2009 ...

: Андрија Поповић; born 22 September 1959) is a former Montenegrin liberal

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and former professional

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player. He is the ex-president of the

Liberal Party of Montenegro Liberal Party of Montenegro (, LP) is a liberal and nationalist political party in Montenegro. Initially, the party advocated liberalism and the bringing down of Milo Đukanović's rule, saw it as authoritarian and undemocratic. It had continu ...

. Popović lives in Kotor, Montenegro.

Sports career

Popovic is one of Montenegrin athletes with the highest number of medals. He was a member of the water polo team of Yugoslavia and winner of the gold medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, the gold medal at the World Championships in 1986, and the silver medal at the European Championships in 1985 and 1987. While playing for the ”Mladost”, Zagreb he won two European Champions Cup in 1989/90 and 1990/91. He was awarded as the best athlete of Montenegro in 1985. He was Vice President of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee and the Montenegrin Olympians Club president. He is currently the Secretary General of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee.

Political career

He started his political career in the

Liberal Alliance of Montenegro Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by countr ...

(LSCG) as coordinator for sport. After decision of Liberal Alliance of Montenegro to freeze its work in 2005, Popović opted to join the party's ex-members who were formerly excluded from LSCG due to corruption charges, gathered around the newly formed Liberal Party of Montenegro (LP) led by Miodrag Živković. He was a member of the Parliament of Montenegro in 2008-2009. After the 2009 parliamentary elections LP lost its parliamentary status and the old leadership of LP together with its leader Miodrag Živković resigned during the extraordinary conference of the Liberal Party on 20 June 2009. Following this decision, Popović was elected as President of LP. He was a member of the Council of the European Movement for

Independent Montenegro Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

at the state and municipal level. At the 2012 parliamentary elections LP entered the

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

with governing parties DPS and SDP, thus gaining one seat in the Parliament, which was occupied by Popović. 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. During the Fourth Regular Conference of the Liberal Party of Montenegro that was held on 14 September 2013, Popović has been re-elected as President of the Liberal Party of Montenegro.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Andrija 1959 births Living people People from Kotor Montenegrin male water polo players Yugoslav male water polo players Water polo goalkeepers Water polo players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic water polo players for Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in water polo Liberal Party of Montenegro politicians World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo Sportsperson-politicians