New Serb Democracy


New Serb Democracy also known as NOVA, is a Serb right-wing political party in Montenegro, formed on 24 January 2009 as a merger between Serb People's Party and the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro. Since 2012, the Party is a constituent member of the opposition Democratic Front alliance.

History

Envisioned as a broad coalition of pro-Serb parties of Montenegro centred around Serb List coalition of 2006, NOVA was planned to include Democratic Serb Party as well as various Serb cultural and political organisations. However, the merger was more limited, as only the Serb People's Party, People's Socialist Party and "Matica Boke" cultural organisation came to a merger agreement. New Serb Democracy is led by Andrija Mandić, leader of the former Serb People's Party. Mandić sought to transform the Serb List coalition into a more moderate and civic-oriented party, in order to boost the party's coalition potential, and even the dropping the "Serb" prefix from the newly formed party's name was considered. This idea was met with strong resistance during the merger talks. A new party was finally established on 24 January 2009.
As a result of more moderate politics of the new party, a series of the opposition uniting attempts follows. In 2009 parliamentary election New Serb Democracy ran independently and won 9.2% of the votes, and 8 seats. Shortly after the election party enters a big tent and pro-EU A Better Montenegro coalition, which includes the entire parliamentary opposition at the time. The coalition eventually collapsed after bad results at the 2009-10 municipal elections.
Just before the 2012 parliamentary election, the party re-joins coalition with the PzP, this time as part of the originally-big tent and populist Democratic Front alliance led by moderate politician and former diplomat Miodrag Lekić. At the election, Democratic Front finished second with 22.8% of the votes and 20 seats, out of which NOVA won 8. In 2015, Lekić split from the alliance due to internal disagreements with leadership of constituent parties, having decided to form a new liberal-conservative political party, DEMOS. The party faction led by Vice President Goran Danilović leaves the party and joins Lekić's new party. After Lekić departing from the alliance, the Democratic Front and NOVA both significantly changed and radicalized its ideology.
On 9 May 2019, party leader Mandić and 13 another people found guilty by the Higher Court in Montenegro for the "plotting to commit terrorist acts and undermine the constitutional order of Montenegro on the day of 2016 parliamentary election."

Ideology

Initially, the party tried to position itself as moderately conservative and centre-right political organization, willingly to compromise with traditionally Montenegrin parties, declaratively supporting accession to the European Union and advocating rights for Serb ethnic minority in more democratic and institucional manner, unlike its predecessor, the Serb People's Party.
In recent years, the party has once again increasingly employed a nationalist, right-wing populist and eurosceptic discourse, with frequent russophilic, islamophobic, christian nationalist and anti-immigration public statements of their high-ranked members. The party is currently the main advocate of Serbian-Montenegrin unionism. NOVA has not recognized the current national symbols of Montenegro, and has repeatedly requested a new constitutional amendment. Party also demands that the Serbian language enters the Constitution of Montenegro as the official language.
New Serb Democracy jointly with Democratic People's Party maintains cooperation with Russian far-right Rodina and United Russia parties as well with Serb nationalist Alliance of Independent Social Democrats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the party also maintains a very close cooperation with the right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party regime in Serbia.

Elections

Parliamentary elections

Presidential elections