Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro

The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (Demokratska partija socijalista Crne Gore, DPS) is a social-democratic and populist political party in Montenegro. A former long-time ruling party sitting at the opposition for the first time as of 2020, it was formed on 22 June 1991 as the successor of the League of Communists of Montenegro, which had governed Montenegro within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since World War II, and has remained a major force in the country ever since. The party is a member of the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance, and an associate of the Party of European Socialists. During the 1990s, DPS was the major centre-left, social-democratic party in favour of Serbian-Montenegrin unionism. However, since 1997, the party has embraced Montenegrin independence and has been improving ties with the West, slowly turning into a catch-all party embracing Atlanticism, Montenegrin nationalism, neoliberalism, and pro-Europeanism. Since its formation and the introduction of a multi-party system, the DPS has played a dominant role in Montenegrin politics, forming the backbone of every coalition government until the 2020 parliamentary election, when it entered the opposition. This marked the first time since 1945 that the party, including its predecessor incarnation, had not been in power. Prior to the 2020 election, the party strongly supported the controversial religious freedom law, causing tensions across Montenegro and the rise of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegrin politics. The Church gaining more power gave motivation for the ethnic nationalist faction to rise in the party, with which some members such as the civic nationalist Filip Vujanović had issues since 2011. The ethnic nationalist wing of the party also supported renewing the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which led to the DPS being accused of creating a "party church". The party evolved from the League of Communists of Montenegro as a reformist force after Yugoslavia's dissolution.