ABSTRACT

Montenegro's first multiparty general elections in December 1990 were won convincingly by the League of Communists of Montenegro, which continued to control the media and benefited from a preponderance of funds, assets, and an extensive political apparatus in comparison to the newly formed opposition parties. The Serbian People’s Party was essentially a Yugoslavist party loyal to Prime Minister Bulatovic, strongly opposed to Montenegro's independence, and closely tied to the ruling circles in Serbia. On several occasions, the Social Democratic Party president Rakcevic threatened that the party would pull out of the government if the Democratic Party of Socialists did not initiate a referendum on Montenegro's independence. The Liberals organized several rallies in March 1992 against the rushed referendum on Montenegro's membership in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and backed a substantial boycott of the ballot. The People's Party of Montenegro started out in 1990 as a vehemently pan-Serbian nationalist party that strongly advocated the maintenance of Montenegro's ties with Serbia.