The Democratic People's Party (, DNP) is a Serb interests political party in Montenegro.
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 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 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.Ukinuta presuda za "državni udar": Počinjene bitne povrede odredaba krivičnog postupka, Vijesti, 5 February 2021
Ideology The party views the Serb community, which it represents, as discriminated against. It sees Montenegro as pursuing the concept of a nation-state and the politics of assimilation. It demands that the Serbian language enters the Constitution of Montenegro as the official language. The party is currently the main advocate of Serbian-Montenegrin unionism, together with its coalition partner the New Serb Democracy.
In relation to the Russo-Ukrainian war, Knežević has stated that he supports "the territorial integrity of both Russia and Ukraine", he does not support Russian military intervention against any country, and he advocates a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. He has stated that while he opposes Montenegrin sanctions on Russia, he believes that anyone involved in committing crimes against civilians should be held accountable, including Putin.
The Democratic People's Party jointly with New Serb Democracy has had cooperation with the Russian far-right Rodina and United Russia parties as well with Serb nationalist Alliance of Independent Social Democrats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the party also maintains a very close cooperation with the right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party regime in Serbia.
Electoral performance Presidential elections + President of Montenegro Election year # Candidate 1st round vote % 2nd round % Notes 2013Miodrag Lekić154,28948.79% — — Independent, support 2018Mladen Bojanić111,71133.40% — — Independent, support2023Andrija Mandić65,38519.32%——Democratic Front
Parliamentary elections ElectionParty leaderPerformanceAllianceGovernmentVotes%Seats+/– 2012Milan Knežević 82,773 22.82% New DF 2016 77,784 20.32% 1 DF 2020 133,261 32.55% 1 DF – ZBCG 2023 44,565 14.74% 1 ZBCG
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