1998 Montenegrin parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 31 May 1998.[1] The result was a victory for the So that we live better coalition formed by the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, Social Democratic Party of Montenegro and the People's Party of Montenegro which won 42 of the 78 seats.[2]

1998 Montenegrin parliamentary election

31 May 1998
Party Leader % Seats ±
ECG Milo Đukanović 48.87 42 -19
SNP Momir Bulatović 35.62 29 New
LSCG Slavko Perović 6.21 5 -4
DS Mehmet Bardhi 1.56 1 -1
DUA Fuad Nimani 1.01 1 -1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Milo Đukanović
DPS
Filip Vujanović
DPS

Electoral system

Of the 78 seats in Parliament, 76 were elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency and two were elected in a special constituency for the Albanian minority.[3] The electoral threshold was set at 3% and seats allocated using the d'Hondt method.[3] Closed lists were used with a single list for both constituencies, although parties only had to award half their seats according to the order of the list, with the remaining half free for them to allocate.[3]

Split in Democratic Party of Socialists

In the late 1990s a rift inside the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro came out. On the 1997 Montenegrin presidential election, aside then's President of the Republic and the Party Momir Bulatović, the Premier of Montenegro and party's vice-president Milo Đukanović ran too, leading a reforming wing opposing mainstream DPS CG's political attitudes regarding support of Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. The ruling parties of the Republic of Serbia (the constitutive partner of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia like the Republic of Montenegro), SPS and SRS, have soundly and firmly stood on Momir's side, while the opposition in Serbia (SPO, DS, DSS and GS) gave their support in Milo. It is so that the Democratic Party of Socialists - Momir Bulatović had officially seceded from the other branch of the DPS CG, but Momir's supports had only retained majority in 5 municipalities of Montenegro, while the other 16 in which DPS reigned voiced their support of Milo.

Momir presented in the political campaign that his main goal was the preservation of FRY and the maintaining of the present political status in Montenegro. In the first round on 5 October 1997 Momir Bulatović won receiving most votes, 147,615 or 47.45%, but lost to opposing Milo the second round on 19 October 1997 when he won 169,257 or only 49.2%. Momir refused to recognize the results, calling them unrealistic and forged - considering that every single of the other candidates that ran in the first circle voiced their support in Momir in the second. One of the main controversial moments, as criticized by OEBS, is that Milo as Premier, managed to seize control of the Montenegrin national media (e.g. TV CG). On the other side, the Serbian national media had also been unbalanced, promoting Momir. The other unbalancing issue is that Milo, as Premier, was in a much stronger position to further his personal goals, controlling the government (the President had very little authority in effect) and had seized control over most of DPS' local authorities, while DPS - Momir Bulatović got only 5 of total DPS' 21. On the other hand, Momir enjoyed the support of Serbia and the Federal Yugoslav government itself. With the huge clashes between Momir and Milo, the election respected minimal democratic standards. However, with eventual loss at the election, the rift between the two wings was final.

So that we live better coalition

Following the internal turmoil within the DPS during late 1996 and early 1997 when the party's most prominent members Milo Đukanović and Momir Bulatović bitterly fought behind the scenes for the control of the party, Đukanović emerged as the clear winner of the year-long power struggle. Under his leadership, DPS began entering pre-election alliances with smaller parties under the coalition banner that had a different name ahead of each parliamentary elections.

Đukanović-led DPS called for an alliance between anti-Milošević parties, stating that Milošević's political pursuits were leading FR Yugoslavia into ruin. It made a coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (SDP) that supported outright independence and the People's Party of Montenegro (NS) that wanted Montenegro to remain in a state with Serbia. DPS's own position at the time was that Montenegro and Serbia should be in a single unified state, but they opposed Milošević's rule.

The 1998 parliamentary election on May 31 essentially turned into another showdown between Đukanović and Bulatović over a single issue - Slobodan Milošević. Đukanović's coalition won, seizing 42 of 78 total parliamentary seats. Those 42 seats were then divided up three ways according to the coalition agreement: DPS received 32 seats while its coalition partners NS and SDP got 5 each.

Liberal Alliance of Montenegro

At the 1997 presidential election, LSCG did not table its candidate. However, in the second round the party supported Milo Đukanović over Momir Bulatović, in order to send a message that they are not against the West which supported Đukanović's candidacy. At the Montenegrin parliamentary election, 1998, LSCG won 6,21%, or a little more than 20,000 votes, and 5 seats in the Montenegrin parliament. LSCG lost a significant number of voters due to change of policy of DPS, which gradually started supporting the independence of Montenegro, attracting a portion of their voters. Due to poor electoral result, Perović resigned from his post. At the party electoral convention, held on 23 and 24 January 1999, Miodrag Živković officially became the new political leader of LSCG.[4]

Results

Red: Coalition absolute majority
Orange: Coalition relative majority
Dark Blue: SNP absolute majority
Light Blue: SNP relative majority

Summary of the 31 May 1998 Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro election results

 
Coalitions and parties Votes % Seats +/–
So that we live better 170,080 48.87 42 –19
Socialist People's Party of Montenegro 123,957 35.62 29 +29
Liberal Alliance of Montenegro 21,612 6.21 5 –4
Serb People's Party 6,606 1.9
Democratic Alliance in Montenegro 5,425 1.56 1 –1
Serb Radical Party 4,060 1.17
Democratic Union of Albanians 3,529 1.01 1 –1
Party of Democratic Action of Montenegro 1,996 0.57 —3
Communists of Montenegro 1,885 0.54
"For Serbdom" 1,299 0.37
Serbian People's Radical Party 761 0.22
Natural Law Party of Montenegro 611 0.18
List of Unified Bosniaks – Muslims in Montenegro 419 0.12
Party of Foreign Currency Savers of Montenegro 371 0.11
Yugoslav United Left in Montenegro 345 0.1
Party of Protection of Savings and Social Security 199 0.06
Party of Human Way 195 0.06
Invalid votes 4,634 1.33
Total (turnout 76.04%; +9.14%) 347,985 100 78 +7

Vote share

Vote share
ECG
48.87%
SNP
35.62%
LSCG
6.21%
Others
6.08%

Seats

Name Abbreviation Main ideology Leader MPs
Democratic Party of Socialists
Demokratska partija socijalista
Демократска партија социјалиста
DPS Social democracy
Catch-all
Milica Pejanović
32 / 75
Socialist People's Party
Socijalistička narodna partija
Социјалистичка народна партија
SNP Social democracy
Unionism
Momir Bulatović
29 / 75
Social Democratic Party
Socijaldemokratska partija
Социјалдемократска партија
SDP Social democracy
Separatism
Žarko Rakčević
5 / 75
People's Party
Narodna stranka
Народна странка
NS Conservatism
Unionism
Novak Kilibarda
5 / 75
Liberal Alliance of Montenegro
Liberalni savez Crne Gore
Либерални савез Црне Горе
LSCG Liberalism
Separatism
Slavko Perović
5 / 75
Democratic League in Montenegro
Demokratski savez u Crnoj Gori
Lidhja Demokratike në Mal të Zi
DS Albanian minority interests
Liberal conservativism
Mehmet Bardhi
1 / 75
Democratic Union of Albanians
Demokratska unija Albanaca
Unioni Demokratik i Shqipëtarëve
DUA Albanian minority interests
Social conservatism
Fuad Nimani
1 / 75

References

  1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 1372. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p. 1375.
  3. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 1370. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  4. "Miodrag Živković - leader (archive)". LSCG. Archived from the original on 2016-09-16. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
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