Secretary_of_the_League_of_Communists_of_Montenegro
President of the League of Communists of Montenegro
Leader of the League of Communists of Montenegro
The president was the leader of the League of Communists of Montenegro (LCM), the ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro (SRM) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Party rules stipulated that the LCM Central Committee elected the president. Moreover, the Central Committee was empowered to remove the president. The president served ex officio as a member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) and of the SRM Presidency. To be eligible to serve, the president had to be a member of the Presidency of the LCM Central Committee. The 8th LCM Congress instituted a two-year term limits for officeholders.
The office traces its lineage back to the office of "Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Montenegro," established on 4 April 1920. This body had no distinct rights and was under the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav Central Committee. On 4 October 1948, the LCY convened the founding congress of the Communist Party of Montenegro. On 7 October, the Central Committee of the 1st Congress elected Blažo Jovanović as "Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Montenegro". The LCY 6th Congress on 2–7 November 1952, renamed the party League of Communists, and the Montenegrin republican branch followed suit and changed its name to League of Communists of Montenegro. On 4 October 1966, the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the LCY 8th Congress abolished the office of General Secretary at the national level and replaced with the office of President. The LCM Central Committee convened a meeting later in 1966 in which the office of secretary was abolished, and the "President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Montenegro" was formed. The reforms passed by the LCY Central Committee plenum strengthened the powers of the republican branches and gave more powers to the Montenegrin party leader. The 8th LCM Congress introduced another set of reforms on 1 July 1982, which abolished the existing office and replaced it with the "President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Montenegro". This office was retained until 22 June 1991, when the party changed its name to the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro.